Saint Joseph's University

Date: Oct 20 2013
Major: Finance (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm currently a sophomore at SJU, and I'm transferring out next year. I'll go over the negative aspects of the school, then discuss the positives so this review is fair.

First, the student body. It's basically entirely white and upper-middle class, and almost everyone is from PA or NJ. I knew this coming into the school, but didn't expect it to be reflected in their personality as much as it is. People are very conservative and close-minded, and if you don't fit into the personality profile of 90% of the school, it's hard to find somewhere to truly fit in.

Social life at the school consists of either going to a party or bar, and that's it. Which doesn't seem bad on face value, except that the parties themselves suck. If a packed basement and (maybe) 2 cups of natty light sound good to you, along with the cops coming almost always before midnight, then you'll enjoy the party scene here.

The school is noticeably declining in quality. In the administration's efforts to increase the size of the student body, they are lowering admissions standards and accepting more students. This has led to a noticeably lower quality student body. Students aren't passionate about their courses and they do the minimal work required. Whenever they have substantive work to get done, they have to rely on the adderall they buy from their friends just to get a mediocre grade. The school's rankings are reflecting the lower quality student body- the business school used to be ranked in the top 60 for their undergraduate program, now they barley rank in the top 100. U.S. News dropped the university as a whole in its 2014 ranking as well.

This is not to say that everyone is unintelligent and apathetic. There are some students here on significant merit scholarships who are working very hard, but they are a small minority and do not reflect the student body as a whole.

There is a long list of student clubs and organizations, but don't let that deceive you- the vast majority are barley active, and will meet maybe once or twice per semester. There are several clubs that are worth it, but they are far and few between. So getting involved and finding your passions becomes significantly more challenging here than it would at other schools.

Now to the positives: the faculty is accomplished and generally very good. You are not just a number, and if you make a point to reach out to your professors, it's easy to get to know them. Even if you don't reach out to them, they'll most likely learn your name quickly and actually try to get to know you. It's pretty shocking, actually, to see a faculty so good catering to a student body so mediocre.

Also, the campus is gorgeous, and the facilities are generally very nice and well-kept.

In conclusion, I regret turning down higher ranked schools to attend SJU because of the significant merit scholarship they gave me. I had heard about the social scene before attending, but thought that I would still be able to make the most of it. This is not the case- what you're hearing about is the reality here. I'm leaving to attend a school with a greater variety of students (who are also, frankly, smarter) and a more involved campus. The problem with the quality of the student body at SJU is shocking, and I don't see it getting better any time soon. The university won't be able to meet it's goal of attracting better students and becoming more selective if they continue to admit people who won't excel at the school. And why would anyone want a diploma for the rest of their lives from a school that not only isn't improving, but is declining?