It's a great school for nursing majors who want a small, traditional school with little to no diversity but a great nursing program.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Tour the school, of course, to see what you think. Alumni is a beautiful building. If you are physically handicapped and need ramps and elevators, this is NOT the school for you....almost all of the buildings are not handicap accessible, at least not the dorms. Don't come here if you want diversity. Pretty much everybody here is white, upper middle class, from Massachusetts or NH, and Catholic/Christian. Visit if you want a small, traditional school that is established and has a rich history and cool haunted buildings like Alumni. Visit if you want to be more than just a number in your classes. If you're into politics or nursing, definitely come here. The political debates happen here every 4 years, and the nursing program is well known for being great.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
It depends on your major....I'm a nursing major which is what the school is known for. It's a VERY rigorous program. Freshman year wasn't bad because a lot of my classes were just core, non-nursing classes. But once sophomore year hits.....get ready! Clinicals start second semester of sophomore year for nursing majors (which is sooner than a lot of other schools). My nursing friends and I RARELY have free time. We are constantly doing homework, even on the weekends (in order to attempt to catch up or get ahead even though it never seems to happen). Biology majors also seem pretty busy. Elementary education majors seem like they have a lot of little, annoying things to do like group projects and papers, plus student teaching of course. But then my friends with other majors (like environmental science) seem like they have all the time in the world........so it really just depends. If you're going to do nursing, though, then be ready for a LOT of work, especially once sophomore year hits. It's very easy to fall behind if you procrastinate or don't study. And the requirements are tough. For example, you fail a class if your test average in the class isn't at least a C (or C+? I forget). So even if you get a B in the class, if your test average is lower than a C/C+, you'd fail the class. Also, your GPA must be above 2.5 for nursing majors. That sounds easy but if you fail one class then that could mean failing the entire program even if all your other classes are As and Bs. Lots of people fail/drop out of the nursing program after taking/failing biochemistry freshman year.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
The dorms are very old, simple and traditional. The only new dorm is New Hall, which is hard to get into. All the rest are very old. Freshmen girls live in either JOA, Baroody, or Streets. Most like in JOA, which is really nice. The rooms have sinks! There is also a large basement with a TV, tables, a study room, a kitchen, and 2 laundry rooms. Each floor (there are 3) has a common room with a TV, couches, and a kitchenette. JOA is great. Freshman boys live in Dom (nicknamed Dirty Dom) which is said to be gross, but I guess you can't expect much since it's a bunch of freshman boys. Anyway, sophomore year is a huge downgrade. Girls can live in either Bertrand (all girls), Brady (boys on 1st floor, girls on 2nd and 3rd floors), Courts (guys and girls), or New Hall (guys and girls; hard to get into -- has sophomores, juniors, seniors). Bert and Brady are pretty much the same thing except Brady has boys on the first floor (which also means locked hallways). They're a huge downgrade from JOA. There are no sinks, no common rooms, no basement, and only 4 washers and 4 dryers for the entire building. It's ridiculous. Oh, and the showers don't have changing areas! Boys can live in Brady, Hillary, or Courts. Hillary seems a bit crazy and loud (they have lots of parties). Housing gets better for upperclassmen.....typically juniors live in 4-person apartments in Lowers, and seniors live in 4-person town houses in Uppers. Uppers is where the parties happen. Also, dorms technically have intervisitation hours (intervis) where guys/girls can only visit the dorm of someone of the opposite sex until a certain hour.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
The food at Saint Anselm is really good. The chefs make it themselves rather than having a company do it. You can have stuff be made for you at The Grill like omelets or grilled cheese. There's a deli and salad bar as well. Then there two lines for the main meal (Chef's Choice and Entree). Every other Thursday is crepe night. The school also has an annual (free) Christmas feast which is DELICIOUS (I recommend getting there an hour or two after it starts rather than an hour or two early.....they don't run out of food). The food is really good, especially things like their panini and apple glazed chicken. However, it can get old. Especially if you don't like what they are serving and the only other options you'd have would be salad, deli, pasta, or grilled chicken. Also, the food is TERRIBLE at to-go options. My sister's college has a bunch of to go items that you'd find at, say, a convenience store and you can heat them up later. Davison has next to none. So pretty much if you're hungry you'll either have to come to Dav or buy to go items from an off-campus grocery store, which you won't want to do since you automatically have to have like a $4,000 meal plan if you live in a dorm and you'll want to spend that money. Oh, but Saint Anselm does also have a coffee shop (again, no to go items). They have unhealthy food but it's delicious. The calzones are amazing. There's also a pub in the coffee shop. Once you're 21 you can get your own personalized mug in the coffee shop. It's pretty cool.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
Well pretty much people go to Uppers on the weekends to party. There's also a fire out in the woods on Thursdays whenever it's warm. The school also puts on a lot of free events. Like they'll sometimes have comedians or hypnotists. They'll also have dances and concerts (the spring concert this year is T Pain). Besides that.....you'll probably have to go off campus for other things, so bring a car if those things won't be enough to satisfy you. St. A's is a small school so we don't have a movie theater or anything like that. Although often times clubs and whatnot will show movies for free....usually old ones, though. Or they'll have trips to go places. Like the club Unhooked takes people apple picking. And I know that when the Hunger Games movie came out there was a bus for people to go. And there was also a bus for people to go vote. So if you don't have a car there will be ways for you to get places....but still, I'd recommend a car. I didn't have my car freshman year and by the end of the year I felt like I was going insane from being stuck on the small, little campus for almost an entire year. You definitely need to get off campus every now and then, or you might go crazy.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
St. A's is EXPENSIVE. They also don't really pay for things for the students or give us things for free. We get free events but I'm talking about, for example, paying for the Manchester bus that comes to the school every hour (other schools, such as SNHU, pay for the bus, so it's free to students). Furthermore, if you're a nursing major, you have SO MANY other costs that come into play......textbooks (about $1000 per semester), scrubs, shoes ($100+), stethoscope ($100), blood pressure cuff, CPR certification, vaccinations, a car to get to and from clinical, gas to get to and from clinical, TOLL MONEY to get to and from clinical if your clinical is far away, etc. Also, they force you to pay like $4,000 for a meal plan if you live in a dorm. This isn't fair to small girls like me who eat about half of that. Other issues on campus include the HORRENDOUS WI-FI (students complain about it constantly), as well as the old buildings. You'd think you'd have better dorms for paying 50k, but no. Us sophomores in Bert/Brady only get 4 washers/dryers for over 100 people, no changing area for the showers, no sinks, no closets (just holes in the wall), no common rooms, only 1 kitchen (with broken microwave and fridge).........the list goes on. You get used to it and it's honestly not bad. The benefits outweigh the bad. BUT you'd think they'd give us more perks for the amount of money we pay.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
There is the gingerbread house contest each winter. There's also the Christmas feat. For nurses there's the Blessing of the Hands (sophomore year before starting clinical -- they wear their scrubs) and the Pinning Ceremony (senior year -- they dress up in the old-fashioned, white nursing dresses with caps). When you're 21 you can get a personalized, engraved Saint Anselm mug for the pub. You can keep it there (at the pub) while you're a student at St. A's.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
Students who like small, traditional, private schools. Students who want to learn and have a good academic program and don't mind working hard (depending on their major). Students who don't want a huge party school but also don't want a school where people don't drink (trust me --- the students at St. A's are BIG into drinking. But if you don't want to drink then that's fine too. You can find your place either way). Students who care more about going to a good school and learning a lot/having a community than they do about having gorgeous dorms or a ton of student perks. Students who don't mind when there is almost no diversity and mostly everybody has the same/similar backgrounds.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
There are a good amount of clubs at St. A's that you can join if you wish.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
There are no REAL sororities or fraternities at Saint A's, but there are fake/unofficial ones (societies). There are none recognized by the school and there is no greek housing.
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
I always see campus safety (Campo) around. I feel very safe on campus. I don't really mind walking around campus alone at night (the most you'd have to worry about are obnoxious drunk people walking around.)
It's a great school for nursing majors who want a small, traditional school with little to no diversity but a great nursing program.
Tour the school, of course, to see what you think. Alumni is a beautiful building. If you are physically handicapped and need ramps and elevators, this is NOT the school for you....almost all of the buildings are not handicap accessible, at least not the dorms. Don't come here if you want diversity. Pretty much everybody here is white, upper middle class, from Massachusetts or NH, and Catholic/Christian. Visit if you want a small, traditional school that is established and has a rich history and cool haunted buildings like Alumni. Visit if you want to be more than just a number in your classes. If you're into politics or nursing, definitely come here. The political debates happen here every 4 years, and the nursing program is well known for being great.
It depends on your major....I'm a nursing major which is what the school is known for. It's a VERY rigorous program. Freshman year wasn't bad because a lot of my classes were just core, non-nursing classes. But once sophomore year hits.....get ready! Clinicals start second semester of sophomore year for nursing majors (which is sooner than a lot of other schools). My nursing friends and I RARELY have free time. We are constantly doing homework, even on the weekends (in order to attempt to catch up or get ahead even though it never seems to happen). Biology majors also seem pretty busy. Elementary education majors seem like they have a lot of little, annoying things to do like group projects and papers, plus student teaching of course. But then my friends with other majors (like environmental science) seem like they have all the time in the world........so it really just depends. If you're going to do nursing, though, then be ready for a LOT of work, especially once sophomore year hits. It's very easy to fall behind if you procrastinate or don't study. And the requirements are tough. For example, you fail a class if your test average in the class isn't at least a C (or C+? I forget). So even if you get a B in the class, if your test average is lower than a C/C+, you'd fail the class. Also, your GPA must be above 2.5 for nursing majors. That sounds easy but if you fail one class then that could mean failing the entire program even if all your other classes are As and Bs. Lots of people fail/drop out of the nursing program after taking/failing biochemistry freshman year.
The dorms are very old, simple and traditional. The only new dorm is New Hall, which is hard to get into. All the rest are very old. Freshmen girls live in either JOA, Baroody, or Streets. Most like in JOA, which is really nice. The rooms have sinks! There is also a large basement with a TV, tables, a study room, a kitchen, and 2 laundry rooms. Each floor (there are 3) has a common room with a TV, couches, and a kitchenette. JOA is great. Freshman boys live in Dom (nicknamed Dirty Dom) which is said to be gross, but I guess you can't expect much since it's a bunch of freshman boys. Anyway, sophomore year is a huge downgrade. Girls can live in either Bertrand (all girls), Brady (boys on 1st floor, girls on 2nd and 3rd floors), Courts (guys and girls), or New Hall (guys and girls; hard to get into -- has sophomores, juniors, seniors). Bert and Brady are pretty much the same thing except Brady has boys on the first floor (which also means locked hallways). They're a huge downgrade from JOA. There are no sinks, no common rooms, no basement, and only 4 washers and 4 dryers for the entire building. It's ridiculous. Oh, and the showers don't have changing areas! Boys can live in Brady, Hillary, or Courts. Hillary seems a bit crazy and loud (they have lots of parties). Housing gets better for upperclassmen.....typically juniors live in 4-person apartments in Lowers, and seniors live in 4-person town houses in Uppers. Uppers is where the parties happen. Also, dorms technically have intervisitation hours (intervis) where guys/girls can only visit the dorm of someone of the opposite sex until a certain hour.
The food at Saint Anselm is really good. The chefs make it themselves rather than having a company do it. You can have stuff be made for you at The Grill like omelets or grilled cheese. There's a deli and salad bar as well. Then there two lines for the main meal (Chef's Choice and Entree). Every other Thursday is crepe night. The school also has an annual (free) Christmas feast which is DELICIOUS (I recommend getting there an hour or two after it starts rather than an hour or two early.....they don't run out of food). The food is really good, especially things like their panini and apple glazed chicken. However, it can get old. Especially if you don't like what they are serving and the only other options you'd have would be salad, deli, pasta, or grilled chicken. Also, the food is TERRIBLE at to-go options. My sister's college has a bunch of to go items that you'd find at, say, a convenience store and you can heat them up later. Davison has next to none. So pretty much if you're hungry you'll either have to come to Dav or buy to go items from an off-campus grocery store, which you won't want to do since you automatically have to have like a $4,000 meal plan if you live in a dorm and you'll want to spend that money. Oh, but Saint Anselm does also have a coffee shop (again, no to go items). They have unhealthy food but it's delicious. The calzones are amazing. There's also a pub in the coffee shop. Once you're 21 you can get your own personalized mug in the coffee shop. It's pretty cool.
Well pretty much people go to Uppers on the weekends to party. There's also a fire out in the woods on Thursdays whenever it's warm. The school also puts on a lot of free events. Like they'll sometimes have comedians or hypnotists. They'll also have dances and concerts (the spring concert this year is T Pain). Besides that.....you'll probably have to go off campus for other things, so bring a car if those things won't be enough to satisfy you. St. A's is a small school so we don't have a movie theater or anything like that. Although often times clubs and whatnot will show movies for free....usually old ones, though. Or they'll have trips to go places. Like the club Unhooked takes people apple picking. And I know that when the Hunger Games movie came out there was a bus for people to go. And there was also a bus for people to go vote. So if you don't have a car there will be ways for you to get places....but still, I'd recommend a car. I didn't have my car freshman year and by the end of the year I felt like I was going insane from being stuck on the small, little campus for almost an entire year. You definitely need to get off campus every now and then, or you might go crazy.
St. A's is EXPENSIVE. They also don't really pay for things for the students or give us things for free. We get free events but I'm talking about, for example, paying for the Manchester bus that comes to the school every hour (other schools, such as SNHU, pay for the bus, so it's free to students). Furthermore, if you're a nursing major, you have SO MANY other costs that come into play......textbooks (about $1000 per semester), scrubs, shoes ($100+), stethoscope ($100), blood pressure cuff, CPR certification, vaccinations, a car to get to and from clinical, gas to get to and from clinical, TOLL MONEY to get to and from clinical if your clinical is far away, etc. Also, they force you to pay like $4,000 for a meal plan if you live in a dorm. This isn't fair to small girls like me who eat about half of that. Other issues on campus include the HORRENDOUS WI-FI (students complain about it constantly), as well as the old buildings. You'd think you'd have better dorms for paying 50k, but no. Us sophomores in Bert/Brady only get 4 washers/dryers for over 100 people, no changing area for the showers, no sinks, no closets (just holes in the wall), no common rooms, only 1 kitchen (with broken microwave and fridge).........the list goes on. You get used to it and it's honestly not bad. The benefits outweigh the bad. BUT you'd think they'd give us more perks for the amount of money we pay.
There is the gingerbread house contest each winter. There's also the Christmas feat. For nurses there's the Blessing of the Hands (sophomore year before starting clinical -- they wear their scrubs) and the Pinning Ceremony (senior year -- they dress up in the old-fashioned, white nursing dresses with caps). When you're 21 you can get a personalized, engraved Saint Anselm mug for the pub. You can keep it there (at the pub) while you're a student at St. A's.
Students who like small, traditional, private schools. Students who want to learn and have a good academic program and don't mind working hard (depending on their major). Students who don't want a huge party school but also don't want a school where people don't drink (trust me --- the students at St. A's are BIG into drinking. But if you don't want to drink then that's fine too. You can find your place either way). Students who care more about going to a good school and learning a lot/having a community than they do about having gorgeous dorms or a ton of student perks. Students who don't mind when there is almost no diversity and mostly everybody has the same/similar backgrounds.
There are a good amount of clubs at St. A's that you can join if you wish.
There are no REAL sororities or fraternities at Saint A's, but there are fake/unofficial ones (societies). There are none recognized by the school and there is no greek housing.
I always see campus safety (Campo) around. I feel very safe on campus. I don't really mind walking around campus alone at night (the most you'd have to worry about are obnoxious drunk people walking around.)