I visited Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York with my family during the February break. Before we visited, all I knew about Marist was what I had gleaned from The Princeton Review guidebook.
The admissions director gave a little speech about Marist, then showed a video, and then did a longer presentation about the school and all the opportunities it provided. This presentation was very impressive. The school’s best major is Communications (they offer many branches of communications as well) which is something I am very interested in. It seemed like the school really wanted the students to be able to explore prospective jobs by using their alumni to provide an endless number of internships to both freshmen and upperclassmen. This is great for me because I enjoy learning a lot more when I can apply it to something useful like a job or an internship. Marist’s location allows them to have a lot of internships in NYC and Albany.
Marist also had very impressive statistics as far as returning students (I believe it to be about 88%), percent of students admitted to Law School (100%) and accepted to Medical School (I think 97%). I like that the school really focused on getting their students out there in the world and providing them with a well rounded education.
The school did not have anything like FYE (Skidmore) or Minerva’s (Union) or any freshmen seminar like other schools. Aside from the first introduction week you are somewhat on your own. But this did not seem to be a problem because the school really encourages its students to get involved. They do this by having a point system, for clubs or sports, or anything where you are being a part of the community you get points which add up and determine if you will get your first choice housing after freshmen year. This seems like a good idea because you are being rewarded not just for being a part of the community but also for being a student in good standing.
I was very impressed and excited by Marist. Every student I spoke to, even those not affiliated with admissions, seemed to be really excited about the school and they were all being set up with amazing internships.
Contributed by the Smith family. Thank you!
Contributed by the Smith family. Thank you!
