Marist College

Marist is a great college if you are looking for a small school with a low diversity of people. It is a rich school, very preppy. I have only had a few complaints about Marist, one being the cafeteria food. Not the best meal plan in the world. The campus is the most beautiful one anyone will ever lay their eyes on. Sometimes I just wonder if its worth the 44,000 to go here.

1st Year Female -- Class 2016

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Useful Schoolwork: B

3 things you should know about Marist before you come here (from a Senior with 3 weeks until graduation):

1) Marist will NOT care about you as an individual. Whether it be financial, housing, academics, etc - you are just a number. Doesn't matter how much they tell you they love students, they won't try to help you.

2) HOUSING.
a) Priority points don't get you anything. I've seen way too many people bust their butt to get priority points and get waitlisted for housing.

b) Housing pays NO attention to your individual needs (I had a friend - a sophomore - get kicked out of housing whose doctor was in contact with Marist Housing requesting a single for her since freshman year because of medical reasons. Rather than honor her needs, they kicked her out of housing with 3 weeks left of school with ONE DAY to find an apartment in Poughkeepsie. She is an international student with no car and no local relatives.) I had two other friends get kicked out of housing, both minorities from NYC whose non-Marist financial aid package covers most of their Marist-provided housing, which then means that they will have to pay out of pocket for off-campus housing until they graduate. They might as well have just told them "You're from the city so go live in Poughkeepsie, so now we have more room for rich white kids whose parents won't give us money unless we give them housing." It's really as simple as that. They don't care.

3)If you're seeking an open-minded, accepting community that fosters differences and creativity, this is NOT the school for you. 95% of Marist students are photogenic, financially fortunate clones who care more about how much they drank the night before than what they are doing when they graduate. Honestly, it's pathetic. Overall, Marist cares more about their own well being as a business than the students they are helping reach their dreams (if the students here even have dreams other than being/sleeping wtih the hottest girl at Barstool Blackout). Find somewhere that will help you as an individual person regardless of your background, health, or situation.

4th Year Female -- Class 2013

Campus Aesthetics: A, Individual Value: F

My comment is not meant to be negative nor positive. It is written non-biasly by a Marist student herself. At the end of reading this comment, it is my promise that you will have a true, "backstage" understanding of Marist College- from the academics to the students to the surrounding community. This will be the best, truest and most helpful review you will read.

ACADEMICS:
I was a decently smart student in high school. Obtaining a solid 3.5 average throughout my HS years(including many honors and AP's), I was sure Marist College would provide me with a challenging education well worth a "40 something" thousand dollar tuition.

Unfortunately I was wrong. Although the professors were/are very friendly and intelligent, the course work was simply not challenging enough (Note: this is saying a lot coming from a biology major). Quizzes and tests took a maximum of twenty minutes to complete and homework/projects were non-existant. This really disappointed me as I found myself spending more time on Facebook/Twitter than homework/projects. Although this may be some students dream, it is not worth the money in my opinion.

STUDENT BODY:
The people I met at Marist were all the same, often described as "cookie cutters" of one another. NY, NJ and Long Islanders were the main groups represented. If you are looking to be with people from those areas, then Marist is your school, however I would have liked to see more diversity. Unfortunately, I felt that I was entering 13th grade. The girls were "cliquey" and judgmental. Physical appearance seemed to mean a lot to the girls as I would see a number of them walking to their 8am classes in five inch heels. (Note: I do NOT speak for ALL Marist students when I say this, I have certainly met a few people at Marist whom do NOT fit this description.)

As my freshman year progressed, I noticed there was a constant competition among the students to prove they came from a rich, upperclass family. This was upsetting. Although I am sure it is great to own three shore houses, two boats, a mansion on the LI sound and every designer pair of shoes one could possibly imagine, it just simply did not matter to me. Regardless, the popular activity among the student body was drinking. Tuesday through Sunday, there was always a 21+ bar in the heart of Poughkeepsie filled with drunken Marist freshman- another thing i was not fond of. I will say, however, on the nights I did go out for some fun (typically normal nights such as Friday and Saturday...maybe the occasional Tuesday since I was so light on homework) were fun. I wouldn't say it was the greatest time I ever had, my high school threw bigger parties, but none the less it was a decent amount of fun.

School spirit among the student body is so low its non-existant. Hardly anyone goes to the basketball games (basketball is probably the "biggest" sport on campus) ((Plus, the weather is always so rainy and cold since the school sits right on the river, that during basketball season you DO NOT even want to THINK about leaving your dorm))

SURROUNDING AREA:
Oh boy. Granted, I came from a very small, safe town, Poughkeepsie gives a whole new meaning to the term "unsafe." It is SCARY. Please, all future Marist students reading this, if there is ANYTHING to take away from my review it should be PLEASE do not go into downtown Poughkeepsie. There were several girls in my freshman class who ended up in the wrong spot (anywhere outside the campus walls) and got brutally mugged. For anyone wondering, yes, they are now O.K. physically..mentally a little scared. I hope you were all able to find this review helpful. Re-reading it now, it does sound a little negative but unfortunately that is the way I, and a lot of other people, view Marist College. However, I must thank Marist for one thing- allowing me the opportunity to transfer to an Ivy League school. Due to my 3.9 GPA after my first semester at Marist, I was accepted into an extremely prestigious university that I would not have even imagined attending as a senior in High School. I encourage all reading this to truly think about their college decision before enrolling, however always remember that all mistakes can be fixed if submitted before the transfer deadline.

1st Year Female -- Class 2016

Faculty Accessibility: B, Surrounding City: F