Siena College - UP: S24 and I visited for Accepted Students Day. Prior to the visit Siena was his #8 choice. He was initially not thrilled about even going but our deal was that after his acceptances he would either visit or cross off the list. He agreed to visit Siena mainly because he had not visited any smaller schools and wanted something to compare with his other options. After visiting, it has become his #1 choice.
When we first arrived they had a sort of “exhibition hall” thing going on. He is extremely introverted and has some social anxiety, so he was initially feeling a little overwhelmed. But as we walked around, people from the school (admission staff, faculty, students, and a couple of the friars) engaged him in conversation and he started feeling more comfortable. Everyone was super welcoming, very friendly, and very upbeat and positive. Eventually he felt comfortable enough to go introduce himself to the members of the men’s club soccer team and talked with them for a bit!
We attended a couple of student panels and continued to get positive vibes - everyone seemed warm, welcoming, and happy to be there. S24 really liked how the student panels emphasized the sense of community and the college’s focus on educating the “whole person.” They also reaffirmed his feeling of being treated like an individual instead of just a number. He’d gotten that sense during the admission process and it was great to hear from students that this isn’t just an admissions thing.
The college itself is small and clean, well maintained, and very, very walkable. It’s basically organized around a central loop, with some outer loops for housing and athletics. They only have one large lecture hall and we were informed that it’s only used occasionally, typically for special guests, as most classes are under 30-40 students.
S24 liked that they have access to public transportation via a bus line right at the campus entrance. He also likes the proximity to Albany without being right in the city, not to mention the fact that it’s basically 3-ish hours from anywhere he’d like to be (Boston, NYC, Montreal, and our home in Rochester). He also felt that being near the state capital would offer a good market for potential internship/job options.
They split the parents and students up for lunch. The students were assigned small groups based on shared interests (these were determined based on the admissions team’s observations of their applications, which S24 felt was another example of being “seen” as an individual). The parents were sent to the main dining hall to eat - the food was quite good and there was lots of variety. S24 was a little disappointed that the prospective students were unable to try out the dining hall and commented on this in his follow up survey. A week later, they emailed him and offered him a coupon for 2 free meals (for him and a friend/family member), which continued to help him feel seen and heard. This is the only school where that has been so apparent and honestly I think that’s a huge thing for him.
So now we wait for financial aid packages… We have 2 other Accepted Students visits scheduled for late March. If they wow him, or if the financials don’t work out, things could certainly change…but so far, Siena is definitely the front runner, in large part due to his experience during our visit.