The University of Scranton

Date: Aug 22 2015
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
The University of Scranton was not a good fit for me; I really was the proverbial square peg jammed into a round hole. I recognized this very quickly after beginning my freshman year, but I opted to stick it out because I realized that transferring could cause me to lose credits and therefore damage my ability to study abroad my junior year.

There are positives to the school, the biggest being that academics are strong and there are plenty of excellent professors. Other positives:

1) Class sizes are very reasonable.

2) There is an intercession period that allows you to fit in an entire course during January, and if you don't pursue that route it means you get an exceptionally long semester break. This is a positive if you want to work over the semester break or just enjoy a nice stretch of time at home, away from the pressures of academic life.

3) The dining hall meals were always very good and I'm sure they've only gotten better with the new DeNaples cafeterias. I never had a problem finding delicious vegetarian meals there.

4) There is a cleaning staff for dorms, which is a nice perk.

5)I thought the study abroad program was fantastic.

6)I took a few cool and unexpected classes while there.

As for the disadvantages, and why I disliked the place…well, when I was there—and I get the impression this has not changed much in the 19 years since I graduated—the student body was very homogenous. The bulk of the students were white Catholics from NJ, NY, and PA. There weren't many students who were foreign or from other ethnicities and religions. I encountered very few unique, offbeat, artsy personalities. So if you're seeking a lot of diversity, this isn't the best place for you.

It's a big party school, too, with a very active drinking culture. If you're not into drinking to oblivion or partying every weekend night, Scranton might not be a good fit for you. The university does organize fun activities for students but—at least when I was there—all roads seemed to end in grotty house parties and bars by the end of the night. Not being a drinker, I found it difficult to make friends because everyone was so focused on partying every weekend.

Unfortunately the city of Scranton doesn't offer a lot of diversions within walking distance, either. It's an economically depressed city, one that's rather bleak, and it doesn't offer a lot in terms of arts and culture or even more mainstream activities like decent shops and cinemas. A good host city can be a real lifeline for a student who is unhappy with his/her university life and unfortunately this won't be the case for unhappy University of Scranton students.