Ask me questions!

racquetballer13 · 03-12-2009, 01:07 PM

Hey guys,
I'm a current freshman at PC, and I remember coming to this site last year when I was applying to schools. I know how helpful it would have been to be able to talk with current students, so please post or message me any and all questions and I will be happy to answer them!

Let's go Friars!

Debruns · 03-12-2009, 09:20 PM

My twins are going to visit Providence next month (live in CT) and will probably apply next year. We are Catholic and go to a Dominican church so that will be famililar but they are non-drinkers, non-smokers and like a quieter environment with students that like to have fun but want to learn. They want to be involved and have classes where they aren't a number or one of 200. They both like history and one is interested in business/accounting also (at least the last few weeks)
I know Providence has a drinking problem, as many colleges do, but if you are a non-drinker, can you find active things to do outside the bars? How does the housing work?
Thanks for any feedback. We look forward to visiting soon.

optimist91 · 03-19-2009, 04:20 PM

My D was accepted EA. She's waiting for a few more RD decisions to come in before deciding where to go next year. We've been hearing feedback from a couple of grads and current students about Civ that concerns us. We've been told that it's a bonding experience for your class- a rite of passage, but it can be a gpa buster too. A few have said that the Civ credits don't transfer anywhere, so many students get stuck at PC that don't like the school since Civ takes up alot of time/credits in fresh/soph years. Also, the new campus alcohol policy is leading more students to go off campus than before to the bars in the not so great areas around the school.

What has been your experience so far? Are these valid concerns? Thanks!

racquetballer13 · 03-25-2009, 12:12 AM

Debruns:

From your post, it sounds like PC is a good choice for your twins to visit. Visiting the campus will definitely help give them a feel as to whether or not PC is somewhere they can see themselves. I am a fellow non-drinker, non-smoker, non-partier, and while those activities definitely are present on campus, those are present on ALL college campuses, so the rumors and PC's reputation shouldn't negatively sway your children's ultimate decision. It was quite easy for me to make friends that have similar, dare I say "wholesome" interests. Instead of going out to parties on weekends, we take the free PC shuttle to different locations in Providence, and explore new restaurants, shops, museums and points of interest. As for students' attendance at bars, you should just stress to your children the severity of being caught with a fake ID, as that is the only way they will be granted admission to a bar. I also would like to point out that the Campus Ministry center, along with PC After Hours and the Office of Residence Life are constantly hosting free movie showings (with food!), bands, trivia nights and fun, on-campus, alcohol-free events for students to participate in. If your students decide to come here, they will be privileged to enjoy a brand new Slavin Center, which is our student center here on campus. It is getting outfitted with new hang-out spaces open longer for students who don't want to leave campus to be able to hang out past parietals.
Parietals bring me to your quesion of housing. Students fill out an application, as they do at all schools, as well as an interest survey to find the best fit for their roommates. Freshman girls live in doubles in McVinney or Dore Halls, or triples in Ray or Meagher (pronounced MAR) Halls. Freshman boys live in triples in McDermott, St. Joseph and Guzman Halls, or doubles/singles in Fennell Hall. All of our traditional style dorms are single sex save for Aquinas Hall, which is typically for sophomores and juniors, and is co-ed by wing (boys are on the hallway on the left, girls on the hallway on the right, with the doors being only accessible by swiping your student ID card). Parietals, something I mentioned before, are rules for having opposite-sex guests in your room. ALL members of the opposite sex MUST be out of the rooms by midnight Sunday-Thursday, and 2AM Friday and Saturday. After 6PM girls must register their male guests, regardless if they are PC students, at the front desk with the security officer. If a female student has a male guest come visit overnight from another school, she must make arrangements for him to stay with one of her male friends in a male dorm.
The history and business (esp. accounting) departments are both excellent at PC. As for being a number in a crowd of 200, that is only during dorm fire drills (haha). With the exception of Western Civ and some of the science courses, classes tend to have 20-30 students in them. All of my professors know me by name and have a sincere interest in my academic success. This was a big factor in my decision to come to PC, because I attended a small high school where everyone knew my name, and I wanted to experience the same thing in college. Thankfully, I am!
Sorry to go on forever, but I hope I answered your question! Let me know if you need anything else, and I wish your twins the best of luck!

racquetballer13 · 03-25-2009, 12:29 AM

Optimist91:

First of all, congrats to your daughter for her acceptance! Now to quell the civ fears. It definitely is a rite of passage, and you form bonds with your classmates because you have it every day. Since it has more classes per week than a regular class, it does count for more credits than a regular course would. If you do well in civ this is a blessing, and if you do poorly, it is something to work on! As long as your daughter can handle the readings and keep up with the work (and I'm sure she can, otherwise she wouldn't have been accepted), civ won't be a problem for her. The professors do expect you to put in an effort, but that should be expected anyways. The professors do understand that you have other courses and that freshmen are making a big adjustment, and accordingly assign workloads that are reasonable. Again, if a student is willing to put in time and effort, civ will be a non-issue.
As for transferring, most students come here and love it so much that they don't want to leave. However, I do have a couple friends/classmates that are transferring to schools back home due to family illnesses, and transferring the credits wasn't a problem for them. However they did have AP credits from high school, so you'll want to speak with an admissions officer or College representative about this, as it doesn't apply to me.
The new campus alcohol policy does not effect whether or not students are going off-campus to party - they always have been doing this because RAs will write them up for being in dorms. Also, as freshmen, unless they are athletes who have completed post-high school institutions, they are most likely not 21 years old, so nothing should be "forcing" them to bars off campus (they will need ILLEGAL fake IDs to be granted access to said establishments!). However, should they find themselves venturing to these locations, our school shuttle makes stops at the convenience stores (CVS, Walgreens) and restaurants near them, so they won't need to walk back. Just caution them to use precaution EVERYTIME they are out walking, even during the daytime, as Providence is a city, and they should be aware of their surroundings.
My experience has been that while drinking is prevalent here, it will be at all colleges, and we don't have more or less partying and drinking than other schools I have been to when visiting friends, and there is always something else to do on campus, most of these events costing only 1 or 2 dollars, if they aren't free.
I am very glad I chose PC because there is something here for everyone, and if there is something they want here but don't see, most of the time a student just has to ask and they will receive! Some examples: shuttles carting students to Thayer Street, a popular area near Brown and RISD with terrific restaurants and shopping, reduced-price tickets to movies and shows, on-campus speakers and visitors such as Joel McHale from "The Soup" and BJ Novak from "The Office."

Good luck and let me know if there's anything else you need!

Debruns · 03-25-2009, 01:09 AM

Thank you raquetballer13, for answering in so much detail. I will be driving to PC on a Saturday in April and if that goes well, my D's would like to stay for a day in the Fall.

I'm glad they are getting stricter with alcohol policies, you can't eliminate drinking of course, but colleges near me like Quinnipiac, have frequently been in the news for drinking mishaps and had deaths because of drinking....anything you can do to be pro-active and try to curtail some of it is a step in the right direction. As my niece said her freshman year, "the excitement of seeing drunk, vomiting freshman get carried away in arms or ambulance wears off pretty quickly."
I was worried about Civ too....5 days a week doesn't leave you with one day without a class, but I guess you adjust.I was surprised when one young man told me he ended up liking it and it prepared him for other upper level classes. (you never know)

racquetballer13 · 03-25-2009, 09:29 AM

Debruns,

You're very welcome. Apologies for the delay with answering, I've had tons of midterms and papers due.

While students don't have a day without classes because of civ, I think it's better because students are waking up to go to class, even if it's only civ, and once they are awake they tend to do crazy things (like study or do homework!) they normally would not have woken up on a free day to do. I hope that makes sense.

I have a cousin that goes to Quinnipiac (I actually was accepted there with quite a bit of scholarships, but turned it down for PC) and from what she has told me, students can get out of control. At PC you won't see students puking and getting taken away in ambulances too much, although there are some occasions where students need to be transported for alcohol reasons. This does NOT happen as frequently as everyone thinks, fortunately.

Civ actually does help in all areas of study, I think, because what we learn in civ carries over to the philosophy cores and theology cores we take, and it teaches us time management and how to prioritize.

Please let me know if there's anything else you would like answered!

KollegeKid · 03-25-2009, 07:17 PM

racquetballer- Thanks for all the insight and detailed responses. This is very helpful!

Danny15 · 03-26-2009, 10:19 PM

Hi,
I wanted to ask a question regarding University of Houston's pre med program. I wanted to know if it is a strong program and if I were to graduate with a 3.5 or above from University of Houston, would I have a good chance of getting into Baylor College of Med or UTMB Houston? Any advice would be great, thanks

optimist91 · 03-27-2009, 10:42 PM

racquetballer- thank you so much for your responses to our PC questions! It certainly helps as she endeavors to make her decision of which school to attend in the fall.

londonb · 03-28-2009, 08:59 AM

racquetballer - would you mind if I asked you a racquetball related question via private message?

lacy1 · 03-28-2009, 01:24 PM

Hey Racquetballer,
I have just been accepted to Providence College, and I have a few questions.

Are there any cross registration among other schools?

How is the Providence students relationship with the Brown and Johnson and Wales students?

Where do many of the students at Providence do for fun outside of campus?

Are there shuttles to Boston?

Do you know if the science department is intense?

freshie17 · 03-29-2009, 10:01 AM

Hey Racquetballer i was accepted to PC a week or two ago and had a couple of questions about it.
how is the social life on campus? what clubs can u get involved in?

how are the dorms? what is the style of housing (triples doubles suites)?

What are the class sizes?

thanks

TheDukeofEarl · 04-01-2009, 12:46 PM

Thanks for the thread, raquetballer13.

Can you address "parietals" -- the policy recently being enforced on-campus which disallows having a guest stay over in your room? What has been the effect on sudent life? Does this mean if my girlfriend comes to visit me (or my brother for that matter) that I have to send her/him packing at midnite?

Thanks.

racquetballer13 · 04-02-2009, 04:08 AM

Hi all,

Sorry for the delay with answering, it's been a very busy couple of weeks what with midterm exams and break coming up. I will answer all of your questions by Friday. Sorry for the delay!

**Londonb, it would be my pleasure!**