Monmouth University

Date: Nov 18 2013
Major: Music - Composition/Theory (This Major's Salary over time)
Total expenses of coming here are about Ivy League price and I wouldn't say it's worth it. I love to surf and I heard they had a good music program, and during visit/before coming I thought it was all around awesome. However, I didn't really research enough. I quickly found that it was much too small for me. I saw the same people in passing every day, and being from out of state I felt completely out of place because if I had to give an estimate, the student body is about 90% from New Jersey. The athletes here get treated like royalty from a social standpoint which was somewhat annoying. The rest just seemed like either rich jersey kids or "swag" type. Most people are approachable though. Very cliquey as well. The food is awful on campus. The party and social scene is OK at best, it gets hard to find fun things to do on weekends if you don't have connections and the parties are kinda fun, but get busted all the time. Professors are nice and helpful, and classes are moderately challenging with small size. Administration and Advising are pretty good too. Only parties are Greek/sports houses, and Greek life here is pretty lame and both Greek and sports houses are at least 2 mi. off campus. The area is very hard to get around if you don't have a car…but freshmen ARE allowed vehicles. The town of Long Branch doesn't have anything going on at all, and there's litter everywhere and a really ugly beach. The restaurants and markets around campus are great though, and Asbury Park is only about a 7 minute straight drive from campus. Overall this is a good school academically and just okay socially. It is very small. I'm trying to transfer only after 1 semester to somewhere bigger because I strongly dislike it, but many people like it here. Don't come here looking for the average college experience with lots of parties and amazing school spirit. Football and Basketball team are OK at best. If you like a small school, a small and good looking campus, aren't too picky about a clean natural environment, aren't too picky about food, and like to just sit and chill with friends a lot or go home on weekends, all while not giving up D1 sports, this is the school for you. I personally think it is not worth the upwards of $56k I'd be spending without scholarships/aid. Also keep in mind that most people writing reviews for anything are mostly unhappy people, and I read the negative stuff on this site before coming here as well. An online review doesn't take into account individuality, as I found out my dissatisfaction by coming here. Trust in whatever school decision you make, don't let unhappy people online decide for you, and know that wherever you go you can always change. College is not jail.