While it is true that many students all across the country and worldwide do prepare themselves to face getting into college or university with enough time, there are, as well, those that don't. It's an honest mistake, to be fair, we don't all think things in the long run when we're young and have so much ahead of us. Well for both of the above mentioned types of people here's a couple of tips and advises.

Type: Private
State: Pennsylvania
Website: www.scranton.edu


Quick Overview:
Large classes, beer and hard liquor is popular, great library

The word from: the Students
Being a Jesuit school Scranton strives not only to provide a rich and meaningful academic experience to its students but also to help their ambitions grow, so its to be expected to be challenged to become a better person, to develop a strong convern for the poor and marginalized, and to grow spiritually and intellectually. All this while not making you have to face religion directly. Undergrads are encoraged to broaden their knowledge in other fields besides their majors as well. Special education, occupational education, biology and business are just a few examples of quality majors available at Scranton University to choose from. The workload can sometimes be overwhelming but students can attend the Tutoring Center that provides free tutoring to anyone needing it as well as offering positions for work-study to students who qualify to tutor. Not only this but professors are very helpful and will do everything in their reach to aid, guide and make sure students understand the subjects. As for the administration, its great and always trying to be in touch with students needs.

There's a real sense of community at Scranton University, a close one at it as well. As for activities outside of classes, there are plenty of options on the weekends from trips, to dances, movies for free. Be it the school or student organizations, there is always much variety to choose from. Intramural's and varsity sports are always an option too. Due to the nature of the school, being Jesuit, social issues are a big concern, being taught in classes students often do a lot of volunteering work. Hometown Scranton is not that much of a small town, it provides Scranton's students with a wide array of places and activities such as malls, movie theaters, a zoo, bowling alley and even a skiing/snowboarding mountain. As for party goers there are places for them as well, since students here party a lot, dance, meet people, drink and have fun, there's always at least one party going on any given day of the week.

Typically the Scranton student is a white, Catholic suburban person, that of course is a generalization. Scranton has diversity too even if it's 2 ends of the same spectrum, there are people here that care for religion and others that don't for example. Theology is part of the curriculum but not at all an imposed belief and the school leaves room for personal opinion and respects everyone. People are friendly and welcoming, the common cliques in other schools are almost nonexistent around Scranton University and popularity comes from being a nice person, outgoing and friendly to everyone.

Type: Public
State: Florida
Website: www.ucf.edu


Quick Overview:
Good library and computer facilities, food off campus is great and athletic facilities are excellent.
The word from: the Students

The university of Central Florida's reputation is not yet on par to it's true academic image. It's a great school with a very good academic program, the engineering and science programs are very well known and students also say great things of the hospitality, management and business programs. It's a very technological campus, things like internet all over the campus are a reality. The university has witnessed a very rapid growth these last decades and its size serves as evidence for this fact, it can be a bit overwhelming for new students and others that would like a more familiar approach to higher education. Classes are large and professors can be either very good, always available to help and make sure students understand what they teach, or simply bad, come into class read their notes and leave after. Upper-level classes don't seem to have these kinds of problems, they are fun and professors really know about what they teach and so students do learn more from them. When it comes to the administration, students say they are very genuine when it comes to caring to students needs, although it's hard to keep track of the entire student body needs since it's so large in size. Registration is not so great, it's difficult and if you don't schedule yourself right you can miss important classes sometimes.

The UCF campus is a beautiful, scenic and comfortable campus. Everything is quite close together, making it easier to go from one class to another, parking is still a problem no matter how big the campus gets though. It's a very socially active campus so if that's the kind of thing you like, it will be a perfect fit. The campus organizes a lot of social events and there is an enormous array of clubs and organizations to choose from. Sports are a very relevant part of UCF and the university has every kind of sport one can think of, a huge gym with all kinds of workout machines, football is a very popular sport among students as well. Fraternities and sororities have their representation at UCF as well but they're a minority here. The university's location provides the best of both worlds, on one hand the city of Orlando is a nice getaway for upperclassmen for nice relaxing breaks, on the other hand the surroundings around campus provide the typical college environment with clubs, bars and dance floors, for all sorts of college activities at night.

Variety seems to be a key factor when trying to describe the typical UCF student, other than being majorly from in-state, there is no other typical characteristic that can be applied to describe the student body. Very different people with their own set of things, friends, experiences, etc. There are big differences among students from the different schools in campus and even between schools. It's a huge mix of cultures and backgrounds, races, ethnicities.

Type: Public
State: Rhode Island
Website: www.uri.edu/admissions


Quick Overview:
Social gatherings and student publications are popular, off campus food is good as well as the university's library.


The word from: the Students
It's a nice medium sized school with a very good location. Among their best majors we can find nursing, engineering and sciences. The pharmacy program is well acclaimed nation wide and very competitive. Classes are rigorous at URI, for the grand part, while the others can even be very easy, but when it comes to help it can be found for both cases. Resources are always available, good ones even. There are really good teachers in URI, very knowledgeable in their fields and very helpful, always offering their free time to lend an hand to a student in need of aid, there are however teachers that are the opposite, cancelling classes and don't offer that much help in academics. Not only the teachers at URI receive this kind of dual review, the administration can be either very helpful or simply too bureaucratic at times, not looking into what really matters in the university very often.

URI is a beautiful school to study in, located on a big hill, in a rural area. Some of the dorm buildings may not have the best conditions possible but since so many students go home for the weekend, the great majority leave nearby, it's not a very big issue. Involvement in the campus activities is key for a good social experience in URI, sports teams are very popular among students, such as basketball and hockey. Being close to very nice beaches lets students enjoy water sea activities like surfing and swimming. Policies concerning alcohol are very strict, maybe above average, but that doesn't really stop students from getting wasted. Much of the social life at URI happens off campus, with parties a mere 15 minutes away, huge house parties almost every weekend at Narragansett, bars are popular as well. Urban activities lovers might just have to travel a bit to Providence.

For in-state students, URI is a very affordable option, as for out-state ones, mostly come from wealthy families or have scholarships. The student body has many typical college students that go to college for the social aspect of it. Most of the population is composed of guys that want to party and drive expensive cars and girls that wear expensive accessories and clothes. The political view is, in general, liberal, but very apathetic to politics. There isn't a great variety of ethinicities and even the ones that do exist don't mix.

We must apologize to our readers for the small lack of updates, being away from a computer for almost a week has its toll and in this case the lack of the regular post.

We shall resume the normal schedule by tomorrow, our apologies.

Type: Private
State: Connecticut
Website: www.quinnipiac.edu


Quick Overview:
Reduced class sizes, good library and computer labs, campus is enjoyable.


The word from: the Students

Quinnipiac can be a very beautiful sight to the eye. The campus is very appealing and at the background rests the Sleeping Giant Mountain, boasting a very picturesque vista. It can also be proud of a stunning library, in size and beauty. When it comes to academics Quinnipiac holds its undergrad academics in 5 different schools special notice to its School of Health Science with very good majors. One of the good things about Quinnipiac is the size of classes with a bit less than 30 students each. One other positive thing regarding academics is the fact that no class is taught by a teachers assistant, a good thing since this way they always get a much more knowledgeable person to teach them, which makes us go to another point that is the "real world" experience professors have in their respective areas, thet are also very helpful out of class and quite quick to aid whoever asks for they're help.

When it comes to out of classes activities there's an established sort of tradition going on, there are fixed days for specific places and activities, like going to the clubs in New Haven, parties at the campus and going to Toad's, a popular New Haven club.There are no problems regarding transportation as Quinnipiac shuttles take students to the clubs. For the people not into the nightlife clubbing, Quinnipiac has an email newsletter with all sorts of useful information about events such as comedians, movies, game room nights among other things. For fans of nature there's hiking in the trails of the mountains around the university.

On a general look, the student body looks very preppy-looking, with a lot of clean-cut kids around, which gives a general idea of their social-economic background. Moving to intellectual levels, the vast majority isn't the top of class or overachiever, they are however, very hard working. There can be a lack of female representation around campus and there are also very few minorities represented as well. Regardless of the background students at Quinnipiac are friendly and make the university very enjoyable and comfortable to study and live in.

Type: Private
State: Ohio
Website: www.udayton.edu


Quick Overview:
Stundents are very friendly and overall happy with their courses, sports are a very popular choice of activity.


The word from: the Students

The university of Dayton is a medium sized school. At UD the community feeling is the most important and present thing in the daily academic and non-academic activities. From studying, to partying, praying and doing services, the fact that everyone gets along well and are so connected is a key element for the UD experience, so it's only natural that there are so many opportunities to build and be part of the community. Academic work is not taken lightly here, the same goes for services.
As long as you show determination and will to learn in your academic life, you will earn the deserved credits for that, teachers see to that. Among the best programs UD can offer some of special relevance can be accounted such as a great premed program and teacher education, and specific departments are also to be praised such as the engineering department and the business school. There are a lot of options even if the school is not very big.

When it comes to social life, students have some very particular traditions and ways to have fun, different from other universities and colleges. The family feeling and the student neighborhood that UD has, makes it so that certain activities are a must do such as porch sitting in sunny days, encoraging interaction with other students. Another aspect of this community-based student body is that whenever there is a party at someone's house the doors are always kept open to encourage people to come in. As for campus organizations, they keep others busy by organizing weekend events that go from trips to Chicago, movies, arts and crafts, football games, comedy nights, karaoke, among others. There's always something to do besides studying when it comes to the weekend. Being a catholic school, there is also the community service they provide to locals and others, aiding their surrounding inhabitants to the best of their abilities.

As for the students that compose the student body of UD, they're, the great majority, friendly, semireligious, welcoming and very open to accepting others. The love for the university's basketball and beer is evident in pretty much everyone as so is their the helpful nature. Even if complete strangers everyone greets one another with a friendly hi. An average look is the most predominant one around campus, so there isn't really a strict dress code among students. One downside might be, for non-catholic students, is that UD has quite some religious matters into its service type activities so it might turn some people off.

Type: Public
State: Pennsylvania
Website: www.iup.edu


Quick Overview:
Small classes, student groups and frats are very common and popular as well as student publications. Drinking is a popular activity along side smoking.


The word from: the Students

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a nice place to study. Said to be academically challenging although not overwhelmingly hard if of course some effort is put into it. Great professors and even greater availability, not needing any kind of special appointment to get in contact with and are very well concerned with the students welfare and academic growth. These educators and the fact that classes have a relative small size make it so that it's possible for students to develop their critical thinking and it's even possible for those with the need for a bigger challenge to enroll in honors programs and classes. As for the administration, it is said that it sometimes can be a little out of touch with the world with constant changes they make but still accessible to any one that needs aid, although in some cases scheduling problems can be an issue. Overall at IUP there is potential to get as good of an education as any other college or university in the U.S. students just have to make the effort to learn.

Socializing is a big part of the IUP experience. Since it's location is in a more village area, parties are a great way to pass the time and have fun. The large majority of these involve alcohol of course but there are alternatives to those parties like movie nights and games. When the weather is nice there are also out door activities to be enjoyed. Clubs and other associations are popular at IUP making it another viable alternative to past the time and meet people.
The town also provides nice places to hang out, like a theater, pool hall, bowling alleys, restaurants and bars.

As for its student body, IUP is diverse, contrary to the local area. Being a public university makes it a mix of many different people. Students can meet and socialize with a diversity of people from conservatives to unique. It's easy to find people with similar interests given such array of diverse individuals. Even if frats and sororities are popular within campus, there is always some place to fit in at IUP, overall it's a very down to earth community.

Type: Public
State: Colorado
Website: www.colostate.edu

Quick Overview:
Good library and computer facilities, great food outside campus, campus is safe and publications are common.

The word from: the Students

Between the vast array of majors available and the strong science programs there is a whole lot to get excited about at Colorado State University (CSU). Even with a large student body, every student can get his own individual attention when he needs it.
Professors are very much willing to help and very approachable, they also like knowing their students name, making the general environment a bit more familiar than the regular university. If however students feel the need for an even more personalized experience there is also the Honors Program, although it requires a little extra effort but the benefits are great in comparison.
Classes keep improving each year but introductory ones seem to be getting too large on size unfortunately for students.

There's not much time spent indoors at CSU, there is a lot of activities to be done outside and students know that. Among the immense variety of things to do there's biking, hiking, visiting the Horsetooth Reservoir, Poudre Canyon, camping, skiing, snowboarding, the list goes on. Some students can even skip classes to enjoy the outdoors activities. Regarding the few indoors activities that still exist, drinking and partying are the most usual ones. But even with this selection of "distractions", students still find a very good balance between schoolwork and all the rest. The town has a very community feeling to it and it's a very nice place to hang out with stores, restaurants and bars. It's no surprise that people don't go home much on weekends with this amount of things to do in and out of campus.

CSU has a student body typically composed of white, middle-class, athletic and tipically Coloradoan. In general people are very laid-back. Of course atypical students still exist and everyone still finds a niche to fit in. The large student body provides a large pool of cliques and groups for everyone but it's size and amount of people can be overwhelming for freshmen. Minorities seem to fit very well into the community since it's so friendly and open to others.

Type: Private
State: New York
Website: www.colgate.edu



The word from: the Students

Colgate provides a very rigorous academic environment, excellent student and faculty population and plenty of opportunities at a social level for their student body to take. As for academics, Colgate has very strong courses and programs when it comes to humanities, political science, English, psychology and economics, as well as good natural science programs.
students must fulfill some general education requirements that make them to widen they're views beyond their majors, sometimes even leading to new finding new interests in other areas.
Its size and location makes it so that a tight community can be created and developed, a very nice thing to look for since it helps creating bonds between students.
Administration and faculty staff care very much for their students education and create a very passionate, hands-on, inspiring place to learn. Colgate also offers great opportunities to research with its professors but the tough workload can be a bit intimidating.

At first glance, Colgate students don't seem too diverse, its majority is white and dressed very similar, but despite this great discussions can start in and out of class due to very different points of view and opinion among the students. It's a very preppy campus, with a very laid back but well groomed student body. All of them are very passionate about something and everyone has their own thing to enjoy. Colgate students are very active members in the community as a whole.

Type: Private
State: Massachusetts
Website: www.bu.edu

Quick Overview:
Sports facilities are good, the city is great, food outside campus is very good and the campus feels safe.

The word from: the Students

At Boston University students have a very wide range of choices then can make when it comes to academics. It's the perfect place for independent students to explore all the options they have with access to over 65 majors and to top-notch pre-professional programs. Boston University(BU) fosters independence, students do whatever they want, they just need the motivation to. academic wise it's very rigorous, maybe even having a hidden grade deflating policy, regarded as unfair by the student body of course.

BU doesn't have a traditional campus so social life doesn't revolve around the university itself therefor the city is the place to go, it's great and has plenty to do on weekends. Walking around is very enjoyable with lots of places to go to, downtown, the entertainment areas, Cambridge, Central Square or the river. Everything is really close to campus.
Parties are for the great majority held off campus due to the school's strict policy on alcohol and drugs. Bars and clubs are plenty so going out for a drink or dancing is a common thing on weekends. For the ones that don't enjoy parties and prefer school activities, Boston university tries to provide as much as possible, things such as comedy clubs, student concerts, several interesting lectures for every kind of interest.

There's no typical student per say, at BU, they tend to be liberal and political aware, still there are no types. The strong focus on athletics and strong arts programs creates a very good mix of people and everyone gets along. There is an amazing dynamic in class discussions due to the diversity. The great majority of people are rich, well dressed and snobby but still there is a broad array of nations represented in campus.

Type: Private
State: New Jersey
Website: www.princeton.edu

Princeton seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding.

Quick Overview:
Students are happy, great facilities, the campus feels safe




The word from: the Students

Princeton is well known for its history, high academic profile and their excellent financial aid policies. Studying here will be quite an experience and its network will change lives. Its undergrad focus gives students tremendous resources, they not only have the access to classes but also to a scholarly community. The school can fund students' own researches and that is very gratifying, this can be done because it has one of the nation's largest endowments. Princeton helps students with almost everything from studying abroad to working abroad as well as class trips. Its rigorous admission process brings some of the top young minds in America to one place and so the school has high expectations making you work hard and thus succeed.
Professors are very down-to-earth and love to interact with students, talk about ideas and goals but they have to be sought at.
The school's administration is very cooperative and does an excellent job in incorporating students opinions in various decisions they make.

At Princeton there's a very present logic among students, work hard, play hard. Academic discipline is very present but everyday there are so many interesting events going, either by students or the university that everyone is kept very busy going from one to another and studying in between. There is of course plenty of time on weekends for fun, sometimes though, sacrificing studying or sleeping. It has a small beautiful campus and so everyone lives close to each other. There is never a dull moment with lots of concerts, sporting events, performances and movies to attend.


Everyone has a nerd side in them at Princeton and some are even hyper ambitious who spend all their time studying. It's a friendly environment and people always ready to have fun. Students come from all over, different ethnicities, beliefs, passions and priorities but all very focused on their future careers. Most come from different backgrounds and have different pursuits in life. The small campus makes it so that everyone seems interconnected and at the same time it's size is enough to keep meeting new people.