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Syracuse University

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityB- Faculty AccessibilityA+
Useful SchoolworkB+ Excess CompetitionB
Academic SuccessB Creativity/ InnovationA+
Individual ValueA University Resource UseF
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyA+ FriendlinessA
Campus MaintenanceA- Social LifeD
Surrounding CityF Extra CurricularsA+
SafetyF
Describes the student body as:
Arrogant, Snooty, Closeminded

Describes the faculty as:
Friendly, Helpful

Female
Quite Bright
Lowest Rating
University Resource Use
F
Highest Rating
Faculty Accessibility
A+
She cares more about University Resource Use than the average student.
Date: Dec 20 2007
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
I went to Syracuse University for my freshman year, and transferred out after the last semester. I thought that in general, the level of schooling that I was getting was pretty good but the overall atmosphere of the school and its people is not fun. The school is in the middle of no where, so there wasn't that much to do. Most people would just go out to get drunk at frat parties. They have groups and organizations but I felt that it was too much of a time commitment for the most part to join a group, I just wanted some activities.

The surrounding city is awful. The only reason I ever went off campus was to go to the Carousel Mall. But after a while, this mall gets really old and boring. I wish there was a way to improve the community and the surrounding city but It's so impoverished and crime-stricken that even if they did make some things for the students to do that were fun, I would not feel safe going there.

Also, speaking of safety, there seemed to be a lot of reports of crime and assault, among other things in the area ON campus. It was wonderful that the school keeps you in the loop by sending email updates, but I felt like I was still not protected from this. I felt very unsafe and adhered to all the warnings to "never walk alone". Also, a lot of the crimes that go unreported are the worse, such as crimes committed at fraternity houses. I heard of a lot of people getting raped, drugged, or having things stolen at these parties. Given that they are putting themselves at risk in when going into these environments, I still feel like the frat boy party scene should be held more accountable for their actions.

The fraternity and sorority scene was such a strong presence there and involved so much drinking that it was a huge problem to me. Drinking at syracuse is a MAJOR PROBLEM. I am not a prude kind of person, I drank in high school and love to party but there, the party scene was out of control, with a huge presence of hard drugs as well. It surpasses normal levels of college partying and is just disgusting. If you go out on a Friday or Saturday night you are guaranteed to see at least a dozen girls falling over, throwing up on the sidewalks, and getting taken away by ambulances. At syracuse, if you are not a part of the greek life you dont really have opportunities to go out and socialize and meet other people. I knew years ago that I did not want to get involved in greek life because of its pro-binge drinking attitudes, but felt swayed to do so as soon as I got there, since all of my friends and everyone i knew was talking about rushing and pledging, and it seemed like the only way to stay socially connected. Otherwise, you seem to stay shut inside most nights, or if you participate in clubs and whatnot thats usually during the day. It's not a very social lifestyle.

Also in general the weather SUCKS. it's awful and miserable there, which was a HUGE factor to me because I have a seasonal depression disorder. Do not go there if you have an issue like this. It mostly rains, storms, snows or is cloudy there. Sun is a very rare thing. Unfortunately the University can't fix this. It's not a very uplifting atmosphere, and the dorms that most of the freshman were living in were very dark as well, it brings down the mood of everyone in general. Sometimes I'd wake up and not even want to go to class because it was so horrible outside. Out of my really good friends at syracuse, a lot of them transferred like myself. Syracuse has a way of not releasing information to people about how many students return for their second semester or second year. I think they do this on purpose, because almost everywhere I go I meet people who have also transferred from Syracuse. Ironically, my new roommate at my new school also transferred from there. The amount of people that I meet who have transferred seems INCREDIBLE to me, and I don't think many people hear about this because it is kept quiet. The people who don't transfer, from what I've seen, have all thought about it at one point or have decided to just "suck it up", usually because the programs are so good. But in my opinion, I can't take 4 years in a school that is not working for me just because I want to graduate with a degree from their school.

However, having been to two other schools now besides syracuse, I can easily see what was working and what wasn't from a clearer perspective. The college I am at now has a lot of organizational issues and I have had a lot of problems with the courses offered to me and the administration. The people in general at Syracuse on the administrative level were all very nice and very helpful and any time I ever had questions, my emails were responded to in a timely manner (I miss that now!) and they made time for me, despite the huge amount of students that go there. I now go to a school that has around 4,000 people but I am not ever even given the time of day. At syracuse, if I had a problem or question, people would sit down with me one on one and solve my issues. Also the online registration for classes was great. Although impersonal, they gave the opportunity to meet with advisors also if you were having trouble with the process. It was so well organized that I had no problems at all. And there were so many sections for different classes that I had a HUGE variety of courses I could take and all sorts of different times, which was REALLY exciting. I'm not a morning person and so I was able to schedule for afternoon classes! It was built around my needs, I didn't have to conform to their needs like I do now at my current school, where I'm forced to take 8am sessions monday through friday which are all overbooked and not even classes I want to take, but were the only things left with room. Syracuse has a huge variety of CHOICE. they offer a lot of choices. I am a vegetarian and even the dining halls were great, every day something new, and really good food with LOTS of options, whereas the school I'm at now has the same things every day which are mainly just fatty foods like pizza and chicken wings. Syracuse had those too, but also a lot of more nutritious options. A great variety in general in the whole school, lots of independence and personal freedom and choice to live how you want to live with the support of advisors and faculties to fall back on if you needed help with anything. In retrospect this is what I really loved about the school but in my case the "bad" far outweighed the "good" and so I transferred, and still consider it the best decision of my life. I'm just glad to be out in general and am glad that I found somewhere that's better for me.

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