St Josephs, Xavier or Duquesne?

Ginger40 · 11-09-2009, 02:50 PM

If anyone has any inputs on these 3 schools, we would greatly appreciate it. They seem to have a lot similarities. All three are in or near a large city. Xavier has the large Cinta center for their basketball games but seems to have a smaller # of students than the other two.

Thanks!

TominVT · 11-11-2009, 11:06 AM

Xavier! The other 2 don't compare.

*SJUAdmissions* · 11-12-2009, 01:01 PM

Xavier and SJU are both Jesuit schools so there will be many similarities. I've never been to Xavier, but I have been on Duquesne's campus. It is an urban campus, unlike SJU which lies on the border of Philadelphia.

TominVT · 11-12-2009, 05:30 PM

SJU is an urban campus too! Isn't the campus in Philadelphia?

*SJUAdmissions* · 11-13-2009, 10:40 AM

The SJU campus is not in an urban setting despite being in Philadelphia. Campus is suburban; it actually sits on the border of Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township.

Collegehelllp · 11-16-2009, 04:27 PM

I haven't been to Xavier, but the Duquesne campus is straight-up hideous, while SJU's is beautiful.

I can't comment on Duquesne's academic/social scene, but the campus is absolutely awful.

Ginger40 · 11-19-2009, 08:06 PM

Thanks to all for your input.

jerseyT · 11-20-2009, 11:59 AM

Yeah, SJU is absolutely GORGEOUS!

TominVT · 11-23-2009, 03:48 PM

I've been to St. Joseph's campus. It is an urban campus. SJUA for some reason wants to portray it as suburban but it is an urban campus. Haverford is suburban. Middlebury is rural. St. Joseph's is urban.

TominVT · 11-23-2009, 04:09 PM

Here is a link to the wikipedia article on Wynnefield, the location of St. Joseph's. Wynnefield, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

*SJUAdmissions* · 11-24-2009, 09:35 AM

I'm not sure what aspect of SJU's campus you view as urban. The Wynnefield section of West Philadelphia is largely residential and the very edge of the city limits. Half of campus is in Lower Merion Township, which also includes Haverford College just a couple miles away.

irishbird · 11-24-2009, 12:57 PM

Yeah, I don't know that I would consider SJU truly an "urban campus". While it straddles the city line between Montgomery County and Philadelphia county, it is much more suburban in feel than downtown, center city Philadelphia where Penn, Drexel universities are located.
You need to travel @ 20 minutes to hit most of the main part of center city Phila, like the main train station, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, City Hall and the business district. A bit further away is the historic area of Independence Hall and Old City and Penns Landing, as well as south toward the Italian Market, and the sports stadiums.

So for most out of towners who think the Philadelphia address of Saint Joseph's means the school is in the middle of Center City, it is not.
Come see it in person & you'll get the idea.

yabeyabe2 · 11-24-2009, 07:51 PM

I am not a St Joe alum, but have been on the campus. It has very pretty, suburban feel despite bordering the city on one side. Penn, my school, is much more urban, although the campus itself is nice. Philly has much more to offer than Cincy, as it is much larger, but both Cincy and Pittsburgh are nice cities.

*SJUAdmissions* · 11-24-2009, 11:04 PM

I suppose this urban/suburban debate is largely a matter of perspective, but I think like you, yabeyabe2. SJU is only a few miles away from Penn, but the campuses couldn't be more different.

TominVT · 11-25-2009, 01:03 PM

What I mean really is that St. Joseph's is in an urban area. The campus itself has a suburban feel since it is mostly separate from the surrounding neighborhoods (but so is LaSalle). Definately not urban like NYU where you their is not really a distinct campus. But the area around St. Joseph's is heavily populated (i.e. urban), especially on the Philadelphia side of city line ave. If you stay on campus there are trees and fields but off there are houses. Many of the houses on the Philadelphia side are row homes and it is densely populated.

Even the surrounding neighborhood of Wynnfield is not especially dangerous near the campus. However, it is not a suburban paradise either. There are drug problems and poverty in the neighborhood as well as gang issues. There are fledgling groups associated with west coast gangs (bloods/crips) as well as the typical street corner gangs.

The other part of the campus that is in lower merion township is more upscale. It is pretty densely populated as well but with more upper middle class homes. The traffic around them is heavy though. It is considered part of the main line but is a far stretch from Gladwyne. The population density of wynnewood is 3882 people per square mile. Gladwyn is 820 per square mile. The population density of Wynnefield (the Philadelphia side) is around 8,000 per square mile.

BTW, the US census Bureau considers an urban area as an area with a population density of 1,000 people per square mile or greater. By definition, all of the surrounding areas of St. Joseph's are considered urban.