Stonehill College provides a well-rounded, liberal arts education to students majoring in everything from English to Chemistry. You will never meet a friendlier group of students, faculty, and staff because Stonehill is such a small, close-knit community. The only downside is that admissions seems to want the school to expand; however, the number of classes offered and faculty members available to teach seem pretty stagnant, which leads to issues during course registration for underclassmen.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
- Make sure Stonehill has the major(s) you are looking for or could potentially be interested in if you are coming in undeclared - many people change their mind and you don't want to be forced to transfer because we don't offer classes for your major (you can make your own interdisciplinary major, but you still need classes in your discipline)
- This is a small school - news, rumors, and gossip spread like wildfire, so either keep your private life private or find a bigger school where this won't be such an issue
- Befriend your professors - the faculty here are fantastic and many practically live on campus because they are here so early in the morning and so late at night; they love students to come ask them questions, whether it is about course content or their favorite sports team - so don't be shy!
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
If you do your work, study, and participate in class, you will do well at Stonehill; the grades definitely tend to be on the high end of the scale (A, A-, B+) for every major. This does not mean you are guaranteed one of these grades, but if you put in the effort it is definitely possible. That being said, I have taken some incredibly challenging courses at Stonehill and have never been prouder of my grades.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
More than 90% of students live on campus at Stonehill and none of the dorms are incredibly far away from the rest of campus (besides the Sem). Most students live in doubles, whether it is in hallway style housing (mostly freshmen and sophomores), small houses of 20-30 people (mostly juniors and seniors), or suite style living (mostly juniors and seniors). There are some rare singles and quads. The lottery system for housing is based on merit points that you earn by attending clubs during the year and individual merit point events. You start each year with 10 merit points and can earn as many as 15 (but don't get written up, otherwise you will permanently lose a merit point per infraction). The RAs are a great group of students - definitely people you can turn to if you need to talk and don't want to go to a member of the professional staff. Both the RAs and hall council frequently put on programs at night for when you are not busy doing homework, watching tv, or hanging out with friends. And on the subject of friends - definitely get to know the people you live near freshmen year - they have become my greatest friends at Stonehill and people I will definitely keep in touch with after graduating. The downsides of the dorms is that most have limited (if any) control of the temperature - so some parts of the building will be freezing while others will be boiling in the middle of the winter. There are also space problems living in a forced triple and frequently conflicts living in quads.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
Compared to most college food, the food at Stonehill really isn't that bad. Is it going to be like a gourmet, home-cooked meal every time? No. But will it be acceptable the majority of the time - yeah. There are two cafeterias on campus - the main one where everyone eats is the Roche Dining Commons (known as the Commons), which contains The Hill downstairs, and the Sem cafe, which is mostly frequented by students living in the Sem and people looking for Sem brunch on the weekends (definitely worth a trek to the Sem at least once a year for brunch - yes it is that different). The Commons opens at 7 am for a la carte and 7:30 for hot food. There is a good variety in breakfast items from cereal to breakfast sandwiches and a fruit and yogurt bar to freshly baked pastries. The Commons stays open until 10 for breakfast and then you are left with a la carte again until 11:15 when lunch starts. There are generally 5 or 6 options for lunch (vegetarian, pasta, international, main line, grill, and sandwiches). Lunch remains open until 3, but I am pretty sure the last hour is just deli and not hot food. Some of the most popular lunch options are crispy chicken wraps, buffalo chicken penne, taco Tuesday, and burger mania. Dinner runs from 4:45 to 6:30 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and from 4:45 to 7:30 Monday-Thursday. You definitely have to plan when you go to dinner because the crowds can be insane at certain times (I'd give you pointers but it seems to vary from year to year - but the best bet is to stay away around 5:30). Dinner favorites include pastabilities, grilled cheese bar, and pancakes, however, there are many other options as well. Food is definitely better during the week than on the weekends. The Hill is very convenient on the go (if you grab something from behind the registers - not so much if you order food) - and offers mostly fast food types of meals. It is also great because it is open later at night (until 11 pm on weeknights and 1 am on the weekends) ...
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
Many people get involved in intermural sports in the free time. There are also tennis courts, a beach volleyball court, and basketball courts around campus. The main quad and smaller stone quad by O'Hara are often used by students to lay out, play frisbee/catch/lacrosse/etc, or studying in the sun. Movie nights are frequently sponsored by the movie/comedy committee, trips are planned about once a month or so by trip committee, and the ever popular bingo nights are held about once a month - with some of the best prizes you have ever seen. Many clubs and organizations will hold events on the weekend and weeknight evenings to give students something to do as well.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Tuition is pretty high, but we do have a fair number of perks. Printing and laundry are both free (which you won't see as a perk until you talk to friends/siblings at other schools who spend hundreds of dollars doing both during their college careers. There are also many resources available to students - from tutoring in many classes to health services (though their competence is often brought to question, so take their opinions with a grain of salt) as well as the counseling and testing center.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
The most exciting night on campus is probably the Thursday before Halloween when Haunted Sem and Midnight Madness are held. During Haunted Sem, each of the residence halls are assigned a wing of the Sem to decorate and form a team of scarers to terrify fellow students and members of the surrounding community. Following that is Midnight Madness, which is the official launch to winter sports (with a strong emphasis on basketball). More than half the school comes out for Midnight Madness, and even if you don't care about sports, it is one of the craziest environments you will ever experience.
Stonehill College provides a well-rounded, liberal arts education to students majoring in everything from English to Chemistry. You will never meet a friendlier group of students, faculty, and staff because Stonehill is such a small, close-knit community. The only downside is that admissions seems to want the school to expand; however, the number of classes offered and faculty members available to teach seem pretty stagnant, which leads to issues during course registration for underclassmen.
- Make sure Stonehill has the major(s) you are looking for or could potentially be interested in if you are coming in undeclared - many people change their mind and you don't want to be forced to transfer because we don't offer classes for your major (you can make your own interdisciplinary major, but you still need classes in your discipline) - This is a small school - news, rumors, and gossip spread like wildfire, so either keep your private life private or find a bigger school where this won't be such an issue - Befriend your professors - the faculty here are fantastic and many practically live on campus because they are here so early in the morning and so late at night; they love students to come ask them questions, whether it is about course content or their favorite sports team - so don't be shy!
If you do your work, study, and participate in class, you will do well at Stonehill; the grades definitely tend to be on the high end of the scale (A, A-, B+) for every major. This does not mean you are guaranteed one of these grades, but if you put in the effort it is definitely possible. That being said, I have taken some incredibly challenging courses at Stonehill and have never been prouder of my grades.
More than 90% of students live on campus at Stonehill and none of the dorms are incredibly far away from the rest of campus (besides the Sem). Most students live in doubles, whether it is in hallway style housing (mostly freshmen and sophomores), small houses of 20-30 people (mostly juniors and seniors), or suite style living (mostly juniors and seniors). There are some rare singles and quads. The lottery system for housing is based on merit points that you earn by attending clubs during the year and individual merit point events. You start each year with 10 merit points and can earn as many as 15 (but don't get written up, otherwise you will permanently lose a merit point per infraction). The RAs are a great group of students - definitely people you can turn to if you need to talk and don't want to go to a member of the professional staff. Both the RAs and hall council frequently put on programs at night for when you are not busy doing homework, watching tv, or hanging out with friends. And on the subject of friends - definitely get to know the people you live near freshmen year - they have become my greatest friends at Stonehill and people I will definitely keep in touch with after graduating. The downsides of the dorms is that most have limited (if any) control of the temperature - so some parts of the building will be freezing while others will be boiling in the middle of the winter. There are also space problems living in a forced triple and frequently conflicts living in quads.
Compared to most college food, the food at Stonehill really isn't that bad. Is it going to be like a gourmet, home-cooked meal every time? No. But will it be acceptable the majority of the time - yeah. There are two cafeterias on campus - the main one where everyone eats is the Roche Dining Commons (known as the Commons), which contains The Hill downstairs, and the Sem cafe, which is mostly frequented by students living in the Sem and people looking for Sem brunch on the weekends (definitely worth a trek to the Sem at least once a year for brunch - yes it is that different). The Commons opens at 7 am for a la carte and 7:30 for hot food. There is a good variety in breakfast items from cereal to breakfast sandwiches and a fruit and yogurt bar to freshly baked pastries. The Commons stays open until 10 for breakfast and then you are left with a la carte again until 11:15 when lunch starts. There are generally 5 or 6 options for lunch (vegetarian, pasta, international, main line, grill, and sandwiches). Lunch remains open until 3, but I am pretty sure the last hour is just deli and not hot food. Some of the most popular lunch options are crispy chicken wraps, buffalo chicken penne, taco Tuesday, and burger mania. Dinner runs from 4:45 to 6:30 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and from 4:45 to 7:30 Monday-Thursday. You definitely have to plan when you go to dinner because the crowds can be insane at certain times (I'd give you pointers but it seems to vary from year to year - but the best bet is to stay away around 5:30). Dinner favorites include pastabilities, grilled cheese bar, and pancakes, however, there are many other options as well. Food is definitely better during the week than on the weekends. The Hill is very convenient on the go (if you grab something from behind the registers - not so much if you order food) - and offers mostly fast food types of meals. It is also great because it is open later at night (until 11 pm on weeknights and 1 am on the weekends) ...
Many people get involved in intermural sports in the free time. There are also tennis courts, a beach volleyball court, and basketball courts around campus. The main quad and smaller stone quad by O'Hara are often used by students to lay out, play frisbee/catch/lacrosse/etc, or studying in the sun. Movie nights are frequently sponsored by the movie/comedy committee, trips are planned about once a month or so by trip committee, and the ever popular bingo nights are held about once a month - with some of the best prizes you have ever seen. Many clubs and organizations will hold events on the weekend and weeknight evenings to give students something to do as well.
Tuition is pretty high, but we do have a fair number of perks. Printing and laundry are both free (which you won't see as a perk until you talk to friends/siblings at other schools who spend hundreds of dollars doing both during their college careers. There are also many resources available to students - from tutoring in many classes to health services (though their competence is often brought to question, so take their opinions with a grain of salt) as well as the counseling and testing center.
The most exciting night on campus is probably the Thursday before Halloween when Haunted Sem and Midnight Madness are held. During Haunted Sem, each of the residence halls are assigned a wing of the Sem to decorate and form a team of scarers to terrify fellow students and members of the surrounding community. Following that is Midnight Madness, which is the official launch to winter sports (with a strong emphasis on basketball). More than half the school comes out for Midnight Madness, and even if you don't care about sports, it is one of the craziest environments you will ever experience.