Marist College

Marist is an alright school, however I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone. First off, the social life sucks. Poughkeepsie, to be honest, is a complete shit-hole. Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the majority of the campus crams into taxis filled with 10+ kids and heads over to one of three awful bars. It's the same thing every. damn. weekend. If the bar scene is your thing, then you'll love it, but I got sick of it REAL quick. Which meant most weekends were spent in my dorm alone.

The campus itself is safe, and very beautiful at that. The walk over the Hudson is something you should do at least once, as the view is amazing. However, if you're like me, a pretty view gets old after a couple days, and you're left realizing how small the campus actually feels. They try to do activities like weekly movies in the SAC, but as I mentioned previously, most people spend their weekends elsewhere.

The academics is fine. I am a com major, and the workload is extremely imaginable. 90% of it is busywork like forum entries and the other 10% is papers. So it gets pretty boring after a while, but it's not hard to maintain a solid GPA, which is always nice. The teachers are pretty helpful for the most part, I always felt my questions were answered sufficiently.

The worst thing outside of the social scene for me was the priority points system. This is the points system that controls your housing and schedule making, and it's idiotic. Housing and scheduling are super important, and the system they have in place now leaves most underclassmen scrambling to get settled. It's so bad, that they're actively trying to get rid of it. So it might not end up being an issue for future students, but it's annoying now.

Dorm-life is typical, noting really noteworthy about it. The student body is small, so things feel super high school sometimes, which is frustrating. For guys at least, everyone seems like they're either a frat dude/party animal (or are desperately trying to be one) or an introvert that only cares about getting good grades. To summarize, Marist is an eh school that isn't worth its exorbitant price. If you're in love with it, give it a shot I guess, but I would look elsewhere for incoming freshman.

1st Year Male -- Class 1922

Campus Aesthetics: A, Individual Value: F

So, i must admit, that my background is not like most of the students that apply to this institution. I WAS A TRANSFER STUDENT. I grew up internationally for most of my life and attended one of the best international schools in South East Asia. I've had a bunch of 'world' experiences. I am not like every other "American" college student applying to this university. i am about the 10% of the international population of this school. There are about 36 international students out of like 4,000 students that attend this school.

That being said, i am an american citizen and grew up with an american education, just happened to live overseas and i just wanted to seek, a well-rounded college experience that will push me forward to becoming an adult and seeking a profession.

SO that's where i come from, and you can assume that i had my fair share of expectation's for this school.

I was studying Fashion Merchandising at Marist, which i must say, was an amazing department. they make you work hard and they prepare you for a great well-rounded introduction into the industry. The classes are tough and the professors make you work hard for it. Once you get out of college or have an internship, you'll understand that the industry isn't any different. It's difficult, you have to push through the work and get to your goal. The Marist fashion department is great in that sense.

HOWEVER, there were a lot of mishaps going through this process and living and learning at Marist. I TRANSFERRED into Marist from another school. i wanted to study fashion as i was just attending a general liberal arts university previously. SO i came to marist, knowing little about Poughkeepsie and the entirety of the Marist experience.

If you come to this school as a TRANSFER student, i would not recommend this to anyone. They do not cater to transfer students what so ever and there is no guidance in trying to adjust. I am pretty independent and i know how to deal by myself, but this was much more challenging than i had imagined. They put the transfer students in the Marriott Residence, which is a huge step up from the normal college dorm. HOWEVER, you have to drive back and forth from school, you're basically a commuter and they offer free transportation that fits about 6 people in a family sized van. You will probably need a car for this. I say this because Marist runs on a point system when it comes to housing. Now, what kind of school runs on a point system? The point system basically allows you to gain on-campus housing, the more points, the better housing. So you have to be involved in clubs and other organizations.

As an international student, i joined the international club, as i thought i would meet people in this. The clubs start around 10pm and are about 5 minutes. So i had class from like 4-6pm, and i would drive back to the resident inn and then have to drive back to school and then back to the residence. The van doesn't drive that late. There was a lot of back and forth and very unnecessary to obtain these points? not to mention how worthless the clubs actually are, they force the students to be more focused on points rather then trying to be in involved into a club.

If you are seeking diversity, unfortunately, this school is not it. Mostly tri-state area students, which is not a bad thing. But it is a an experience. I am proud to be part of the LGBT community and this was the most depressing school to try to figure yourself at. I almost felt like it was a high school environment, and people weren't that friendly. i thought that being in the fashion department, i would have fit in, but the department is mostly 90% girls and most of them aren't that creative.

The town of poughkeepsie isn't very safe either. i was 21 when i attended marist for the year and the party scene is big here. If you have an ID you get into the same three places that everyone goes to. and of course all of the girls that see their friends act like they haven't seen each other for years when they run into each other at the bar. but that's just a regular college experience. The social life can be good if you make friends and put yourself out there. it isn't easy, and marist makes it very difficult.

I wanted to go college to figure myself out and to find out what i like. Marist was just not the place for me to do this. The people that i still talk to that have finished studying at Marist, did enjoy it, but it's really up to you to make the experience. as a transfer student, it was very challenging for me, and most of the transfer students that attended with me for that first semester, left. which speaks a lot about the transfer experience at Marist.

1st Year Male -- Class 2015

Education Quality: A+, Surrounding City: D-