Marist College

Marist College is located within of the busy city of Poughkeepsie, New York. One of the main benefits of the location of the campus is that there is always something to do during downtime or on the weekends. Despite having a lot of entertaining places to visit, there are also many historical and educational sites to see. For instance, FDR's presidential library is about a ten minute ride from campus. My history teacher took us on a field trip there, and I gained a new insight on the Great Depression.

Marist's Campus is also very beautiful and serene. When I first came to visit the college, I saw how great the campus was and could only hope that the academics were just as great.

To my great pleasure, I learned of how highly praised Marist was for their academics and that the professors and advisors were committed to their student's academic and social success while on campus. What is really unique about Marist is that the class sizes are small. This allows for the student and professor to really get to know each other and for the student to gain one on one help from their professor as well.For those who were wondering about campus life, it really isn't that hard to fit in. Almost everyone I met were really friendly and welcoming. As for the dorms, they are your classic dormatories. While the rooms may not be as spacious as we all would like, they are not that bad to live in. Compared to some of my friend's colleges, Marist dorms can instantly appear bigger. Once you get used to sharing one room with a roomate, it doesn't seem like such a big deal anymore!

1st Year Female -- Class 2011

Education Quality: A+, Useful Schoolwork: A-

I am a Digital Media major at Marist College. Marist College's Art Department is very small (its a good thing) all your profs will learn your name and things about you and you will most likely have your art profs more than once. I have had some of them 3-4 times and I've only been here 2 years, I came in as a transfer. They are readily available to help you when you need it (good at the office hours thing) and overall just wonderful people to be around. They make the major a lot of fun, the art dept. doesn't get as much attention as it should. Art is not nearly as "big of a deal" at Marist as Fashion or Communications, and you don't need a portfolio to get in the major (which is actually good if you are passionate about it, but maybe don't have much of a background in it). On the other hand, since the major is made up of people with a variety of backgrounds, don't expect your classmates to contribute much during a critique. I transferred from a school where profs would rip up artwork he didnt like (a bit on the extreme side yes), but the students at Marist are kind of hesitant in how to go about a critique even though if done properly its just constructive critisism and not offensive at all. The few that will say anything in a critique will kind of just parrot what the prof. says, that is really my only major complaint, but the people in the major are nice and it's more of a team environment that a competitive environment. You will also becaome a jack of all trades rather than just focusing on one single medium, which is helpful in getting a job. Even the adjuncts (there is only like 1 or 2) or readily available if you ask for the help, and they are working in the field so they are good for some real world applications.

As for Marist in itself, outside the Art Dept. Im somewhat of a Tomboy especially when seen with my classmates. A lot of the girls choose to go minimal on the clothing and can't go without the Coach bag (this is less so with the art kids though the art kids are very conservative compared to a typical art school) and most people are from Jersey or Long Island looking for a way to drink every night without mommy and daddy knowing about it. The people in the registrars office are highly incompetent, make sure you stay on top of them if you need anything like a transcript and do the same thing when you apply to the school because I litterally had to hunt down my transcripts over the phone myself (yes you are paying tuition to do someone's job FOR them) because the person who was going to evalualte them for credit or advise me or whatever would not pick up the phone or get out of their office chair. Look in the right places, there are a couple of helpful people who will bend over backwards for you in the administrative areas, but i've only met one, they are few and far between, but I am forever grateful to that person.

The campus is not diverse at all, though a lot of my classmates seem to think it is....it really isn't. Everyone looks pretty similar, dresses pretty similar, acts pretty s imilar etc.

Please also keep in mind that the incompetent administration issue and their red tape is very common amongst almost every college, this is not a special Marist characteristic. As I stated earlier if you need something from the Registrars office etc. just make sure you keep up on it until it's done and don't take any flack. Overall I have absolutely loved my professors even outside of my major. Marist requires a religious studies course for every student and I loved my prof. so much I took a course with that Prof. again even though it was a subject I initially thought I wouldn't be interested in. I also adored one of my Lit profs even though I was an art student in a class of lit majors. Most of the professors are way worth the administrative hassles. Registering for classes is kind of a lame process, you have to meet with your advisor (usually a prof in your major) and they approve you for the courses you select. Once they approve you, you are then able to "Pre-register" for your courses on the internet and then someone somewhere then decides who to let in their courses (it is based on what year you are and priority points) a month or so later you get the results of this pre-registration, you may get one, none, or all of the classes you selected. The only people who really seem to get all the classes they asked for at this stage are people who are going to be seniors, though most profs are very cool about signing a waiver to let additional people in (if you put in the effort you can probably get what you want). Then they have the add/drop period where you can add or subtract courses to this. This period is only for a certain length of time and the seniors go first followed by the juniors etc. Once this week or so passes you can't really edit your schedule again until classes start, where its just a normal add/drop period.

2nd Year Female -- Class 2008

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Social Life: F