Providence College

First things first: I feel like I was duped into coming to Providence College. Because members of my family were alumni and had an excellent experience there, I was subject to biased perspectives from their standpoints. Understandable. What is reprehensible is how Providence College deceives potential students who come on campus tours, to Family Day, and even at Orientation. First of all, if one sifts through the school website, very little is said about how strict a Catholic School it is. Namely, I am talking about the Parietals enforced in all dorms (this means that no one of the opposite sex may stay in the dorms later than midnight Sunday - Thursday, or 2am for Friday and Saturday), the lack of reproductive health care offered to women, the emphasis on Theology classes(2 Courses) as graduation requirements (99% of which focus solely on Catholicism), and the broad knowledge of Catholicism needed to understand the Development of Western Civilization. Indeed, Providence College excels in hiding all these unfavorable conditions, which are truly a huge part of the "PC experience", from prospective students. Unfortunately, I unknowingly chose to attend Providence College because of the hefty merit scholarship I was offered and my admission into the Honors Program. Now, as a student at Providence College there are a few 'safe places' which manage to escape total domination by the administration. Personally, I have been impressed by the Honors Program, the Political Science Department and the Women's Studies Department in particular. These safe havens I have encountered make my stay at Providence College easier, but as a whole, I am not sure if they are completely enough to change my opinion of the school. In other realms of academics, I have been astonished at the ideological intolerance of many professors (outside of the Political Science and Women's Studies Departments). In my Development of Western Civ class, one professor went so far as to firmly assert that it was a 'travesty' that feminists can't seem to understand the differences between male and female, and that, although Eve was created as submissive to Adam that it did not mean that they weren't created equal. First of all, as a women's studies student -- feminists don't typically argue that women are the exact same as men. Secondly, and more importantly, this professor completely used his authority as a tool for intolerance with total disregard for making students who disagreed with his viewpoint uncomfortable. This is only one story... there are many more. Aside from academics, the double standards applied at Providence College are atrocious. Within the past couple of years, several students were expelled for printing flyers concerning abortion as an "immaculate conception" and posting them in the central academic building. Recently, an unnamed college basketball star was arrested on assault charges for attempting to choke his girlfriend IN his dorm room, AFTER parietals, and, as of yet, he has not been expelled. Another, more minor example? Students are encouraged to go to the on-campus bar and watch "Sex and the City" on HBO but the administration refuses to support (and largely discourages) the student production of Vagina Monologues, where all proceeds go toward preventing domestic violence. Another example? Guards are only present in the all-female, freshman dorms and largely serve the purpose of enforcing parietals. In the co-ed dorms and all-male dorms, no guards are present and parietals are very loosely enforced. Another things? The fine for breaking parietals is the same as having alcohol in your room underage. And quite apparently, the police do not exist on the PC campus because there was 263 Liquor Law Violations subject to on-campus discipline but O arrests. Check the PC Security website for details at http://www.providence.edu/Student+Life/Services+for+Students/Safety+and+Security/Cleary+Act+Statistics.htm . For the most part, students are completely complacent with the dictatorial nature and "double standards" of the administration. It is utterly disappointing. Although I am impressed with the Political Science Department, The Women's Studies Department and the Honors Program, the administration and student population here make my experience at PC completely unenjoyable. On the issue of transferring, I am caught between a rock and a hard place because 1) it is difficult to get merit scholarship money as a transfer student 2) credits from DWC don't transfer well -- AT ALL. If you are considering going to PC, I have one piece of advice. Find someone who you think is alot like you who goes there -- make sure of it -- if they like it, you probably will. If they don't like it and you are friends with them, take that as a warning. Although a large population of students do enjoy Providence College, they are all the same. Similarly, PC typically drives away the same kind of student: namely, those of us who are socially-conscious, politically aware, liberal, friends of LGBTQQ people, non-drinkers, and/or non-Catholic.

1st Year Female -- Class 2007

Faculty Accessibility: A, Perceived Campus Safety: F

I sincerely regret choosing to come to Providence College. I thought it was the perfect college for me after visiting it a few times. The tours do completely downplay religion. I had no real Catholic background and upon coming here found that you are supposed to know pretty much everything about it in every class not just the theology classes. The tourguides told me that religion was not a significant thing to worry about here. Everyone is Catholic and knows pretty much everything about it and it's really difficult to get used to this environment coming from a public school. All of the students are from Catholic private schools except for a few who feel alienated because of it. Everyone is rich and preppy. There are about five people on campus who don't everyday put on their Abercrombie and Fitch jeans, popped collar polo shirt, and Vera bradley bag (which happens to be the craze at the moment)... the rest of us are looked at like we don't fit in. This is a school where they should blast Dave Matthews Band over the intercom all day because that is all anyone listens to. You'll find about two indie rock lovers here and the rest are obsessed with party music and the like. Everyone here drinks. If you don't drink or party... you might as as well not exist becasue no one will want to befriend you after they find out you are straight edge or something of the sort. All there is to do every night is drink or party or go to bars and that is all anyone on campus talks about. The usual conversation I hear everywhere I go is "Hey did you go out last night?", "Ya, I got wasted, I don't even remember it".... and it's disappointing because some of these kids are in the honors program. The students are intelligent but closeminded conservatives. If you are liberal your ideas will be smashed and you will be looked at weird and you will find no friends. Everyone is obsessed with going to house parties which are really boring for non-drinkers. The classes are decent. The teachers are really good most of the time. The Development of Western Civilization is a worthwhile class but again all classes require knowledge of Catholicism. Providence the city is pretty fun if you can actually find someone to go out and explore it with you. Good luck. There' s a lot to do in the city though, but you are a lot farther away from downtown than you might think. And the twenty minute bus rides watching all the PC kids get off at the mall and then you turn around and see all of the more unfortunate people who take the bus because they actually NEED to, are quite depressing. Overall, do not come to this school if you are looking for something diversse. There is no diversity. And not just racially but also in types of personalities. The only types of people you will find here are preppy rich kids from upperclass families. You will not be respected for not drinking or not having as much money as them. I am transferring next year along with about 10 other people that I know of. I warn you to stay away from Providence College. I never cried so much in my life.

1st Year Female -- Class 2007

Faculty Accessibility: A, Social Life: F

I thought that college would be different from high school, and especially a Catholic college...I thought that students would be more disciplined and more willing to learn. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

First off, the school is very Catholic, which is downplayed in the tour and pamphlets, etc. If I had known last fall how religious the school actually is, I probably would not have come here. Many (if not most) students went to a Catholic high school, and almost all are Catholic to some extent. If you have no background in religion, then you will probably have a hard time getting used to the atmosphere and you may have trouble in some of the courses such as the required Development of Western Civilization courses where a working knowledge of Cathlolicism is assumed (though the professors will never admit it).

I am very disappointed with the student body as a whole. I am not particularly concerned with racial/ethnic diversity (which is just as well, because the school has none), but I am disappointed that almost everyone has the same background and mindset. A lot of students come from upper-class Massachusetts or Long Island. I sometimes feel that I am looked down on for being from rural New Hampshire and for going to a public school. The students are overwhelmingly unaware of anything going on in the real world, and they know this and do not care. Service is a big deal at the school, but I can't help wondering if students do it out of the goodness of their hearts or because it "looks good" on applications. Speaking of applications, I wonder how some of these students got into college in general, and this supposedly prestigious school in particular, even some students in the Honors Program. While I have come across some students who are very bright, there are few who seem to want to learn for the sake of learning. Many articles have run this year in the student newspaper blasting student apathy, but it continues, often almost treated as a joke. It's almost "cool" to ignorant. Students in general here are very superficial; many conversations I've heard are more shallow than ones I heard in high school.

The social scene is essentially drinking, which is frustrating if you choose not to drink. Talking to students, you get the feeling that the point of college is to drink. Providence cops seem to turn a blind eye to underage drinking. The administration has strict rules regarding drinking on campus, but I'm not sure how much they are enforced. Parietals are also strict. I don't mind them so much, but it seems that administration concentrates too much on some things and not on real problems.

The one redeeming value of the school is the core curriculum, which requires students to take courses across a variety of subjects; the probably above-average academics is the only reason why I have not yet transferred. Most students don't like the core, however, being apathetic as they are, so they do not take advantage of the core and of what it is intended to do. The Honors program is good, and the four semesters of Development of Western Civilization teach you the things that an educated person should know. I think that this program is underappreciated by the students, who are only (if at all) concerned with learning as it applies to the real world.Basically, if you are shallow, well-off, ignorant, alcoholic who does not like to learn or put any effort into anything, then this is the place for you. If you're not, then go somewhere else. I'm planning on it.

1st Year Female -- Class 2006

Faculty Accessibility: A-, Perceived Campus Safety: C-