See Saint Mary's University of Minnesota reviews submitted by students. Find out what students have to say about various aspects of attending Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. Read about academic experiences and campus life in these free Saint Mary's University of Minnesota reviews, or contribute your own Saint Mary's University of Minnesota review if you're a current student there.
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2 out of 2 people found this review useful.
Julianne from Mokena, IL
Reviewer is A current student here.
Categories Rating Comments Am learning a lot My classes keep me engaged because of my professors' enthusiasm about their class topics.
Am enjoying being here The campus has an amazing community atmosphere. I love how I always see friends and familiar faces when walking through the plaza. Also, there are a lot of opportunities on campus to get involved.
Bang for the buck SMU seems expensive; however, it is the least expensive school in the MIAC conference. Also, there are A LOT of scholarship opportunities which you automatically apply for when you submit your application to the university.
Tips for prospective students If you visit campus, do it in early fall because the trees in the bluffs surrounding campus are beautiful.
Great for these types of students SMU has a great drama program and education program. However, all areas of study are of great quality because of the value on professor-student relationships.
There are so many opportunities to get involved on campus that there is not a specific type of student that fits on campus.Login to rate or flag the reviews
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Allison from Schiller Park, IL
Reviewer is A current student here.
Categories Rating Comments In three sentences Saint Mary's University of Minnesota is a small conservative Lasallian school. It has your basic majors business, education, and science. It is in a very quite town which nothing stays open past 8pm so everyone makes their own fun.
Tips for prospective students Do not be afraid to branch out and try new friend groups out. Bring what ever you think will be fun for the dorm I brought a slip in slide. Every year you have to take a course called LCT it is a waste of time, but there is no way out unless you get into the Lasallian Honors Program which involves good grades. Take Physics over the summer because there is no way you will get an A or even a BC in the course, the teachers are nice, but have no clue how to teach. Sometimes there are absolutely nothing to do on the weekend your just going to have to deal with it. Hide your liquor well.
Academic Rigor We have the basic majors, but everyone who stays is usually a science, business, education, or theatre major. We have so many general education requirements you can have enough credits to create a major. in The science department is not to bad stay away from the physics department! Take the needed courses over the summer this will save you a lot of headaches. The education department focuses a lot on elementary education, so for secondary education majors it is a struggle to listen to the teacher talk in a high squeaky voice while showing the class how to read a story book to your future students. Every year you must take an LCT course that will absolutely bore you to death and it is a waste of time. I am sorry ,but there is no way out of it.
Dorm Life Everyone lives on campus because the school will take away your scholarships if you live off campus. The freshmen and sophomore buildings are somewhat decent and the upperclassmen dorms are complete crap. There are five dorms for freshman and five dorms for sophomore and then there are three dorms for juniors and seniors. ( because we get a lot of freshmans,but a lot of people leave after that year) There is no air conditioning in 4 of the freshman housing. Their is one sophomore building that is out in the middle of the woods that has rooms smaller then Harry Potters broom closet. Most of the buildings have mold growing in the bathroom the schools solution is to paint over it year after year. The juniors are placed in a village type area that was suppose to be temporary in the 70's , but the trailer like buildings still stand having reports of black mold growing and one student being hospitalized for it. On the plus side they just built a new dorm this year and it is really nice. The Board of Education reserves rooms for example one building will have 40 rooms for sophomores and 100 for juniors and seniors. Housing is not based off of credits in the whole school, but only in your grade.
Food and Dining We have three eating establishments: Cafeteria, Cardinal Club, and Cotter cafe. The food is prepared by Chartwells which everyone calls it Shartwells and we eat food one level up from prisoners. The meal plans are okay. The Chartwells employees seem angry all the time and do not do your work study in the cafeteria it is depressing. The cafeteria food is okay healthy. Cotter is the healthiest but the most expensive and only open till 2pm everyday. Cardinal club is by far the unhealthiest everything is deep fried , but it is open unitil 10pm so everyone eats at the local Taco Bell.
What to do for fun Drink. Everyone drinks heavily at school. The school tries to give the students fun things to do, but all of that ends at like 8pm. Not everyone drinks, but a good 89% of the student body does.
Bang for the buck The school does need improvement on somethings, but the good thing from it is that it is not that hard to start a new program on campus for one example there is a new sorority being created and new clubs are being made all the time. Office of Campus Ministry is one of the nicest programs on campus they are always creating new trips and volunteer work. You get close with people pretty fast and since the school is so small you can do what ever it is you want doe example I know a few students who found there way on top of the school roof. You can get close with campus security so they do not get mad at you for doing something bad.
Great for these types of students If you are religious this place is heaven for you. And if your not you get a good laugh making fun of bible thumpers
Clubs and Activities The school is conservite so we have a club called Pro-Life and a lot of religous clubs, but their is a wide variety of clubs!!! There are fun clubs like Girls and Boys Lacrosse, Ski and Snowboard club, Habitat for Humanity, 3 Greeks organizations, Up till Dawn and much more and agian you can always create a new one easily.
Greek Life We have four Greek organizations:
Delta Psi Alpha- Coed multicultural Fraternity they do not do much on campus or throw parties
Phi Mu Alpha- is a music Frat they are great guys they do shows all the time and are very active on campus
Sigma Alpha Iota- Music sorority the girls are nice they are not that present on campus as well
Eta Omega Tau- Is a multicultural sorority that is being established for the 2012-2013 yearCampus Safety Their great expect on the weekends you need to hide your booze and not play your music loud, and make sure you have a fan blowing the smell of alchol out of your room window
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Sara from Becker, MN
Reviewer is A current student here.
Categories Rating Comments In three sentences the community atmosphere is great! the food isn't the best. but the teachers are really helpful and want you to succeed.
Tips for prospective students do over nights no matter where you are planning on going, it is so helpful. if you feel like it's the right one, it probably is. don't limit yourself, you may think a state college is better but you will want to visit both types of schools to see what seems right.
Academic Rigor the classes are challenging but there are many resources on campus to help with classes. saint mary's offers tutors, the teachers are willing to help, and other students start study groups. everyone has to put forth effort for almost all of the classes so if you're a person who really tries and wants to do well you probably will get good grades.
Dorm Life there are four different freshman dorms and they aren't great but it's a place to sleep and hang out. skemps has the best girls dorms, they are a lot bigger than vlazny which is the other girls dorm. there is also a co-ed dorm and in 2011-2012 some of the girls were having problems with the boys. i have no information on the all boys dorm. skemp has 3 floors, vlazny has 1, eds has 2 (girls on top floor, boys on bottom) and benilde has 2 floors. all of them have sinks in the room except vlazny. they aren't high class dorms but the upper classman dorms are nicer.
Food and Dining the food isn't great in the cafeteria. as freshman coming in you have to eat in the cafeteria for every meal. but after the first semester you get to choose your meal plan. there are 3 other places on campus that you can eat. the food is better there than the caf. the dining areas are nice though. they have quite a bit of space for everyone and they are set up nicely.
What to do for fun saint mary's has different activities that the student life puts on. there are a lot of clubs and activities that you can get involved with. in the basement of toner there is an activities area with pool tables, foosball, and ping pong tables. another place to go is the rac. the rac has an indoor track and four basket ball courts. there is a weight room, racquetball courts, and exercise room as well in the rac.
Bang for the buck saint mary's is expensive but it is less expensive than most of the private colleges in mn. they give out a lot of scholarships and financial aid. the programs are solid and the teachers want every student so succeed. all the staff works hard to make sure that you have everything that you need. the quality of the education at smu is very good and the staff will push you to do your best.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus they say that saint mary's is a haunted campus. there are supposedly three ghosts on campus. one thing that smu does before finals first semester. they host a pancake dinner and before the dinner they have a christmas service and lighting of the tree.
Great for these types of students students who like small class sizes. there are a lot of business and education majors that go to smu because their programs are really good.
Clubs and Activities there are many diverse clubs and activities. there are so many that i don't know them all. but if you come and visit the campus they have a list of all of the activities and clubs.
Greek Life i think smu only has two. there is a music fraternity, and a music sorority.
Campus Safety very secure and they make sure that no one is out of line and every person on campus stays safe.
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Chase from Reno, NV
Reviewer is Researching this school. Reviewer has not been to campus.
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