Syracuse University

Date: Jul 13 2006
Major: Journalism (This Major's Salary over time)
Syracuse is overall a good school. Of course most people who come on here are upset and want to complain, but I would say that 90% of people I know here really like it. The campus is beautiful, dorms are great compared to other schools, food is decent, and the social life is good if you put yourself out there. I'm not in a sorority but have had no problem making friends with people; there are not that many snobby JAPs here like others said, it's just that the ones that are here stand out a lot. Most people are friendly and approachable. There are restaurants, bars, ice-skating rinks, the movies and a huge mall here and some people complain that's not enough, but honestly, most college students can't afford much more than that. There are a lot of great concerts and comedians that come to the school, as well as plays and other student-run entertainment. The weather here really isn't that much different from Boston, where I come from, it's just that you have to walk outside a lot more than in high school to get to class and some people can't seem to handle that, but it'll honestly be the same anywhere else in the northeast.

As far as academics go, my experience has been great. Newhouse is obviously a great school, very innovative teachers I've had so far and great connections for internships and jobs after college. I'm also a political science major, which is a great program (the grad school is top notch too) and has been very interesting so far. Some of the huge intro requirement classes are easy and boring, but that's the same at a lot of schools.

So the down side… the thing about Syracuse is that there are 10,000 undergrads or so, and sometimes you really are treated like a number, especially when it comes to class scheduling and housing, which really screwed me over. I have a great advisor, but some of them are bad, so you just have to get a new one if yours sucks, a lot of them really do help you out though. This school is really what you make of it, some people seem to come in expecting someone to hold their hand and take care of everything but you have to learn to be independent and help yourself. Get involved in some clubs and make an effort to make friends and good grades and you'll have the best time ever.