The University of St Francis

Date: Oct 05 2016
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
Okay listen up because I am about to speak the truth about University of St. Francis, as I have been through the emotional ups and downs and gone from liking, to hating, then back to liking, to leaving, then to missing it a little.

I only attended this school for one year (freshmen year). I chose USF over University of Illinois, in Champaign which is where I am from, and even some schools in New England. My main incentive on going here was because of it's successful cross country and track program and I was on athletic scholarship.

Which brings me to my first point… this school has GREAT resources and extracurriculars. Their FAFSA came in clutch, the student counselors are very helpful, and any organization on campus is legitimate. I was only involved is cross country and track and some service work, but everyone on campus is involved in SOMETHING and you can always hear about them and what they are doing. Which brings me to point out and tell you that this school is VERY small. Only about 1,200 undergraduates total. I knew just about everybody on campus and they knew me. You will see the same people everyday and WILL be very limited to who you choose to hang out with.

So I personally did not mesh well with the majority of the student body because, well they were pretty closed-minded and uninteresting. I would say more then half of everyone on campus is a student-athlete. And not that there is anything wrong with that (I mean I was!), but pretty much everyone is not "in-tune" with the life around them and are quite frankly really boring and kinda sad to be around. You'd that with the Liberal Art curriculum that USF has more of the students would be more enriching and down to earth but that is NOT the case. Also pretty much everyone at this school is from the Suburbs. I was one of the very few cases being from Illinois but NOT the suburbs.

That's really the only killer about this school. I mean, that's part of the reason that made me want to transfer. Another downer is the location of campus. Don't get me wrong, it is in pretty top notch neighborhood, but Joliet is a decaying suburb with a lost post-industrial hardship. The rust belt really took a tole on this city! And it IS a city. Downtown has buildings and lot of people. A good thing about st. francis and getting places though is that is a fanatic shuttle system that is very flexible and free of charge to the students and staff! I loved it. I would go the most random places around the city to study and just really explore. Also, the commuter railroad in the Chicago metropolitan area, Metra, is so awesome and very inexpensive. You can be in downtown Chicago from downtown Joliet (taking the school shuttle to get there) in a half hour. I loved taking the Metra.

I was technically an "undecided" major when I attended, but if I could have chose a major at this school it definitely would have been English as the professors were the cream of the crop and just so authentic. For the most part, all the professors I had at USF were very very good, and refrained from using slide show and just reading what they said. Instead, they really explained things and were interactive with the class. Their lessons and discussion really get you to think.

Dorms are pretty great! Food is average but extremely convenient. The system of their meal swipes and using your I.D. is very easy and makes going out eat enjoyable.

I often wonder if I would have been better off then I am now if I stayed at St. Francis to be honest. USF IS BY NO MEANS A DREAM SCHOOL. But pretty much all school aren't. And had to notion that I would find mine once I transfered. But the school I switched to was even worse. USF can be pricy be it that is a expanding private liberal arts school, but I will go on record to say USF is underrated. I probably would have been FINE if I stuck around. It's a great place to earn a good education and to develop some independence. If you are interested I say apply as it is very easy to apply there and they get back to rather quickly.