Always remember to ask a handful of current students about their opinion of the school. There will probably be a fairly large variety of answers, but If you do choose to attend St.Maryâ??s take advantage of the opportunities that are available to first year students, like the Roommate Matching Profile, orientation, and programs. These all can ease the transition into the school, and can begin the process of building a support system that will last throughout the college experience.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
It is hard to gauge the difficulty of classes, because they vary. In general, I believe that many of the 100 level classes are relatively easy to adjust to and pass, as long as the student is managing their time properly. There are 100 level classes that are very difficult for students, again, with time management these classes are easy to overcome. Upper level classes are fairly predictable in their difficulty, since their challenge rises as their level gets higher.
It should be noted that this is a liberal arts college, so about eight of the courses throughout your four years at the college will be to fulfill the core curriculum. Due to this, students will have to take courses outside of their direct field /major. This alone can create a challenge for students that struggle with certain subjects, and make courses within those subjects seem more difficult. To help students, there are plenty of opportunities available to help students that want support in a course, even if they arenâ??t struggling in it.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
When students are admitted, they are prompted to fill out a Roommate Matching Profile. For many schools, Residence Life would take over from here, and assign a stranger to be your roommate. Unless you already know someone that would be attending, youâ??d get stuck with a stranger. St. Maryâ??s allows there to be an extra step in this process. After filling out the Roommate Matching Profile, students are able to look at the profiles of other students. This allows for students to get to know a few people and choose a roommate from a pool of people, instead of just getting a random stranger. If a student donâ??t find a match, then Residence Life will pair them with someone else. The great thing about this is that students can start off the year comfortable with their roommate and can use this opportunity to make friends with their roommate well before the school year begins.
There are three options: dorms, suites, and townhouses. There are four dorm buildings on campus, including one all-boy dorm and one all-girl dorm. This is a common option for first-years and sophomores. Each dorm consists of seven halls. There are options for both singles and doubles in these spaces, but regardless of the room type you will have to share a public bathroom with the hall youâ??re in. Suites are common among sophomores and juniors. Suites are a more personalized living option. They vary from six person to twelve person suites, each suite usually comes with two bathrooms. Townhouses are the best living option on campus. Each townhouse only has four people residing in it, but they normally have one bathroom. More information on each of these options can easily be found on the schoolâ??s website.
To be frank, the resident experience depends a lot on the building youâ??re in and the people in your environment. Personally, my experience has been great, but I took advantage of the Roommate matching options to get to know perspective people before choosing my roommate. I als...
Describe the food and dining at your college.
The Great Room is the only dining hall on campus. It has buffet style service and serves three meals a weekday. It is open with available food from 7:30a to 8:30p. It has a to-go box option for students that want to eat on the go, or save their meal for later. While the great room is, great and all, it is the only dining hall, so eating the same food regularly can get a bit exhausting.
The Pub is another food option on campus. The Pub has two food service options, Grab & Go and its normal food service. Grab & Go, as it sounds, is a quick stop option for students. With a single meal swipe students can grab breakfast (4 items), or lunch (5items). This is a great place to stop if students are on the go, or would like a quiet place to eat. Both The Great Room and Grab & Go can be used with meal swipes, which makes them perfect for first years, since all first-year students are required to get a meal plan with unlimited meal swipes. The Pubâ??s other option is itâ??s regular food service. This is a dining option that is can be bought with flex, a food amount that is paired with meal swipes, cash or credit/debit. This is a great place to go as a break, treat, or hangout, especially since itâ??s usually open until midnight. While the food here is great, this dining option is costly.
The Great Room and The Pub are the only dining options on campus and between the two, the food is good. The school also has a coffee & smoothie shop/ convenience store knows as The Daily Grind. This store sells plenty of snacks. However, for quick room snacks and fridge refills, the food is over-priced. For snack items, I suggest stocking up on these at a stores, like Walmart or Target. It should be noted that these stores, along with fast food and off-campus dining options, are a twenty minute drive from campus, so if you donâ??t have a car and donâ??t like the food options on-campus, youâ??ll be stuck having to find a ride to eat elsewhere.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
Since the campus is a twenty minute drive from town, and thereâ??s not even much there, the college tries to regularly host events for students to attend, like movie nights, comedy events, arts & crafts, games, and so on. Outside of events that are planned by the SGA and Programs Board, clubs and sports on campus also have events that can be attended. If you are not interested in these, there are plenty of things that students get together to do on-campus, like visiting Church Point.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Being a public school, the cost of attending St.Maryâ??s is similar to the other public school in Maryland. The idea of the school being a public honors college is often mentioned during admissions. This basically means that you get a small private school for the cost of a public school. The location of the school is unique, but outside of that the school is what you make it. If you hate the experience of a small school, or you just donâ??t like the campus, the cost wonâ??t be worth it.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
Ponding is a fun birthday tradition on campus. As the name implies, the birthday student is carried to the pond, and thrown in. There is also the shoe tree. Like the pond, the shoe tree is one of the seven wonders of St. Maryâ??s, and it is truly a wonderful sight. The shoe tree is a tree filled with shoes. Each pair was thrown to celebrate a memorable first. Whatever your first may be, as long as itâ??s a memorable or impactful moment in your college career, you can throw a pair of shoes to celebrate it.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
If you enjoy small, pretty schools, youâ??ll like it here. The water is a unique and beautiful sight. To be frank, the school can find its place in anyoneâ??s heart as long as they donâ??t mind attending a small school.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
There are plenty of clubs, programs, and activities on campus to join and participate in. From sports, to creative clubs, to volunteer activites, it all can be found at St.Maryâ??s if youâ??re willing to look.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
There is no greek life on campus.
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
Since the school is twenty minutes away from the areaâ??s police department, the school has its own 24 hour Public Safety department on-campus. While Public Safety is not an official police department, many of the officers have the authoritative power to arrest someone is necessary. All of the officers are extremely kind and genuinely care about the students on campus. Above all, they care about student safety. In general, Public Safety is usually contacted for medical emergencies, missing/stolen electronics, and room lockouts.
When it comes to the feeling of safety on campus, the campus is very well lit, making for comfortable late night walks. To further this, there are blue light phones around campus. These phones immediately deploy a Public Safety officer to the location in case of an emergency. No matter where you are on campus, when Public Safety is called, they respond quickly. Personally, I usually feel safe on campus.
It should be noted that the school is about forty minutes away from a hospital. Medical emergencies that need immediate doctor intervention take time to access. For many this is not a deal breaker, but it is something that should definitely be said. For non-emergencies there are plenty of Residence Assistants (RA) and Public Safety officers that are trained in first aid. There is also a Wellness Center on campus that is opened on weekdays that can be used for non-emergencies.
Always remember to ask a handful of current students about their opinion of the school. There will probably be a fairly large variety of answers, but If you do choose to attend St.Maryâ??s take advantage of the opportunities that are available to first year students, like the Roommate Matching Profile, orientation, and programs. These all can ease the transition into the school, and can begin the process of building a support system that will last throughout the college experience.
It is hard to gauge the difficulty of classes, because they vary. In general, I believe that many of the 100 level classes are relatively easy to adjust to and pass, as long as the student is managing their time properly. There are 100 level classes that are very difficult for students, again, with time management these classes are easy to overcome. Upper level classes are fairly predictable in their difficulty, since their challenge rises as their level gets higher. It should be noted that this is a liberal arts college, so about eight of the courses throughout your four years at the college will be to fulfill the core curriculum. Due to this, students will have to take courses outside of their direct field /major. This alone can create a challenge for students that struggle with certain subjects, and make courses within those subjects seem more difficult. To help students, there are plenty of opportunities available to help students that want support in a course, even if they arenâ??t struggling in it.
When students are admitted, they are prompted to fill out a Roommate Matching Profile. For many schools, Residence Life would take over from here, and assign a stranger to be your roommate. Unless you already know someone that would be attending, youâ??d get stuck with a stranger. St. Maryâ??s allows there to be an extra step in this process. After filling out the Roommate Matching Profile, students are able to look at the profiles of other students. This allows for students to get to know a few people and choose a roommate from a pool of people, instead of just getting a random stranger. If a student donâ??t find a match, then Residence Life will pair them with someone else. The great thing about this is that students can start off the year comfortable with their roommate and can use this opportunity to make friends with their roommate well before the school year begins. There are three options: dorms, suites, and townhouses. There are four dorm buildings on campus, including one all-boy dorm and one all-girl dorm. This is a common option for first-years and sophomores. Each dorm consists of seven halls. There are options for both singles and doubles in these spaces, but regardless of the room type you will have to share a public bathroom with the hall youâ??re in. Suites are common among sophomores and juniors. Suites are a more personalized living option. They vary from six person to twelve person suites, each suite usually comes with two bathrooms. Townhouses are the best living option on campus. Each townhouse only has four people residing in it, but they normally have one bathroom. More information on each of these options can easily be found on the schoolâ??s website. To be frank, the resident experience depends a lot on the building youâ??re in and the people in your environment. Personally, my experience has been great, but I took advantage of the Roommate matching options to get to know perspective people before choosing my roommate. I als...
The Great Room is the only dining hall on campus. It has buffet style service and serves three meals a weekday. It is open with available food from 7:30a to 8:30p. It has a to-go box option for students that want to eat on the go, or save their meal for later. While the great room is, great and all, it is the only dining hall, so eating the same food regularly can get a bit exhausting. The Pub is another food option on campus. The Pub has two food service options, Grab & Go and its normal food service. Grab & Go, as it sounds, is a quick stop option for students. With a single meal swipe students can grab breakfast (4 items), or lunch (5items). This is a great place to stop if students are on the go, or would like a quiet place to eat. Both The Great Room and Grab & Go can be used with meal swipes, which makes them perfect for first years, since all first-year students are required to get a meal plan with unlimited meal swipes. The Pubâ??s other option is itâ??s regular food service. This is a dining option that is can be bought with flex, a food amount that is paired with meal swipes, cash or credit/debit. This is a great place to go as a break, treat, or hangout, especially since itâ??s usually open until midnight. While the food here is great, this dining option is costly. The Great Room and The Pub are the only dining options on campus and between the two, the food is good. The school also has a coffee & smoothie shop/ convenience store knows as The Daily Grind. This store sells plenty of snacks. However, for quick room snacks and fridge refills, the food is over-priced. For snack items, I suggest stocking up on these at a stores, like Walmart or Target. It should be noted that these stores, along with fast food and off-campus dining options, are a twenty minute drive from campus, so if you donâ??t have a car and donâ??t like the food options on-campus, youâ??ll be stuck having to find a ride to eat elsewhere.
Since the campus is a twenty minute drive from town, and thereâ??s not even much there, the college tries to regularly host events for students to attend, like movie nights, comedy events, arts & crafts, games, and so on. Outside of events that are planned by the SGA and Programs Board, clubs and sports on campus also have events that can be attended. If you are not interested in these, there are plenty of things that students get together to do on-campus, like visiting Church Point.
Being a public school, the cost of attending St.Maryâ??s is similar to the other public school in Maryland. The idea of the school being a public honors college is often mentioned during admissions. This basically means that you get a small private school for the cost of a public school. The location of the school is unique, but outside of that the school is what you make it. If you hate the experience of a small school, or you just donâ??t like the campus, the cost wonâ??t be worth it.
Ponding is a fun birthday tradition on campus. As the name implies, the birthday student is carried to the pond, and thrown in. There is also the shoe tree. Like the pond, the shoe tree is one of the seven wonders of St. Maryâ??s, and it is truly a wonderful sight. The shoe tree is a tree filled with shoes. Each pair was thrown to celebrate a memorable first. Whatever your first may be, as long as itâ??s a memorable or impactful moment in your college career, you can throw a pair of shoes to celebrate it.
If you enjoy small, pretty schools, youâ??ll like it here. The water is a unique and beautiful sight. To be frank, the school can find its place in anyoneâ??s heart as long as they donâ??t mind attending a small school.
There are plenty of clubs, programs, and activities on campus to join and participate in. From sports, to creative clubs, to volunteer activites, it all can be found at St.Maryâ??s if youâ??re willing to look.
There is no greek life on campus.
Since the school is twenty minutes away from the areaâ??s police department, the school has its own 24 hour Public Safety department on-campus. While Public Safety is not an official police department, many of the officers have the authoritative power to arrest someone is necessary. All of the officers are extremely kind and genuinely care about the students on campus. Above all, they care about student safety. In general, Public Safety is usually contacted for medical emergencies, missing/stolen electronics, and room lockouts. When it comes to the feeling of safety on campus, the campus is very well lit, making for comfortable late night walks. To further this, there are blue light phones around campus. These phones immediately deploy a Public Safety officer to the location in case of an emergency. No matter where you are on campus, when Public Safety is called, they respond quickly. Personally, I usually feel safe on campus. It should be noted that the school is about forty minutes away from a hospital. Medical emergencies that need immediate doctor intervention take time to access. For many this is not a deal breaker, but it is something that should definitely be said. For non-emergencies there are plenty of Residence Assistants (RA) and Public Safety officers that are trained in first aid. There is also a Wellness Center on campus that is opened on weekdays that can be used for non-emergencies.