Suffolk University

Date: Mar 13 2016
Major: Finance (This Major's Salary over time)
Suffolk University was the perfect school for me. I choose Suffolk since it was a private school at a good cost (tuition was ~20k when I attended). Northeastern and BU were overpriced by 10k or so. I also received a partial scholarship. There are plenty of clubs to join where you can make close friends. I am still good friends with people I met at Suffolk. I majored in finance. There was a co-op requirement for finance which in hindsight was exactly what I needed. It helped me obtain a good job after graduation. I remember visiting Suffolk in 04' and saw the classrooms, dorms and library. They were state-of-the-art. In contrast, a state school like Umass was not up to par in my opinion. The location especially for a finance major could not be better (State Street is a short walk away).

Education- I received a high quality education by choosing excellent professors. In my freshmen year I had some good professors but I also had some mediocre ones. I started to ask my friends and use ratemyprofessors.com to choose the best professors at Suffolk. Many of them taught at other schools in Boston such as Northeastern, BU and Ivy League schools. It really changed my life. Learning got much easier and I started earning an excellent GPA. However, it was not easy and I hard to work hard especially in my major courses. Suffolk also has an honors program which has challenging courses.

Social life/clubs- There are plenty of clubs at Suffolk but you have to be proactive. You have to figure out where you fit in. There are plenty of bars/clubs in the area.

Students- Overall, the students were friendly and mature especially in junior and senior year. Of course there are people that you don't care for just like in real life. You might have to work in groups with people that you do not like. But it really helps you mature and prepares you for the real world. The admission standards are similar now compared to 2004. The average GPA is a B and SAT scores are slightly above the national average. I think the admissions rate of over 80% is misleading. The quality of students that apply tend to be better. Some people apply to schools like BU and Northeastern and they use Suffolk as a backup. With that said, there are others especially in freshmen year that should not be there. They drop out and leave negative comments about Suffolk instead of being thankful for the opportunity that they were given.

Co-ops- In finance there was a mandatory co-op requirement. I applied to plenty of jobs and it took a few months to land a co-op. I am very thankful as it helped me after graduation. It is valuable experience for entry level jobs after college which require a few years of experience.

Location- The location on Beacon Hill does not get any better! It was very convenient to work in the financial district and attend classes. It is a nice neighborhood. I took many classes at night and always felt safe.

I graduated Magna Cum Laude. There are plenty of opportunities after graduation. Some of my classmates in finance are making 6 figures a few years out. My experience at Suffolk was very positive. In hindsight I would not change anything. I would actually choose Suffolk over Harvard. One of the reasons is that Harvard is a liberal arts school and does not have finance as a major. I would actually have less job opportunities as an economics major than a finance major. There are Suffolk grads that have dream jobs at the largest banks. Ultimately, my experience has taught me that success depends on your major, doing co-ops/internships, and making good connections. I was accepted to other colleges but I made the right decision. I think of Suffolk fondly and remember when I received the acceptance letter. It changed my life!