I’m looking to transfer to either one of these unis, accepted by both, but can’t seem to make the decision right now. I’m at a CC right now, however I was at SIUC at first (some problems came up and forced me to withdraw). As much as people say SIUC was a bad school, I took advantage of the research aspects and gained many valuable connections as well as once in a life time experiences. Mind you, I was there for zoology, and I wasn’t a party animal, and much preferred to stay with a small group of friends opposed random people at a party. I was able to find some friends within the honors college and find my own median between having a social life and school. I wasn’t overwhelmed by school enough to seclude myself off.
If I was to go to Loyola, I’d be majoring in Biology with emphasis in Ecology. I’ve heard that it’s a more rigorous school and students don’t really have time to be social. And that’s a big thing to me as I want to have a small group of friends. I’m also looking to find a place where I can: 1) Study 2) Have a social life 3) Research/Intern. I’ve also heard that the students that go there are a notch above those who are at DePaul.
If I was to go to DePaul, I’d be majoring in Biology with emphasis in Evolution and Ecology. I don’t know too much about this program and was told DePaul is not as known as Loyola in this aspect. It’s more of a commuter school from what I heard, and that’s kind of making me take a step back. However, I have heard it’s more ‘socially open’ than Loyola. The classes aren’t as hard and it gives you more time to make friends. The quarter system kind of throws me off too, and I’m not sure how many credits of mine will transfer over, while at Loyola I know how many will.
To add to this, I want to be able have a diverse group of friends of mixed ethnicities as well.
I’ll caveat my post with the fact that I know nothing of neither school. However, based upon your descriptions and what you say you want out of your experience, I’d go with Loyola. If DePaul really is a commuter school then it’ll probably be more difficult to make friends since everyone leaves at the end of the day. When there’s no incentive to stick around campus for a bit to study or catch an event there’s less of a chance to make friends.
With Loyola, even though it’s an academically demanding school doesn’t mean you can’t socialize. There will always be study groups. Where there’s study groups there is socializing (whether during or after studying). Besides, YOU determine how much effort to put into your studies. No, I’m not recommending skimping on studies but I’m a firm believer in an appropriate work/life balance.
I don’t think it’s necessarily more difficult to make friends at a commuter school. It really depends on you and your personality, as well as the personalities of the commuter students. Think about 18-25 year olds who don’t go to college - most of them manage to maintain small circles of friends, at least, by meeting them through other things. My brother is currently 26 and he didn’t attend college; he has a large group of friends that he hangs with all the time. My sister is 24, and was a commuter student; she has some friends from college but most she met from other arenas of life. You don’t need to live on campus in constant contact with people in order to make friends. It might be easier, and it may be more fun, but it’s not necessary. Moreover, they don’t need to live there either - some commuter students are die-hard and stay on campus until late each night, participating in events. The atmosphere of the school is what’s more important - even if it’s a commuter school, do people actually leave at 5 pm on the dot or do students stay late? Even if most students commute, are there a core group that live on campus and keep the campus going? Make some more fine-grained evaluations than commuter vs. residential.
The student bodies at Loyola and DePaul are similar in terms of selectivity measures - SAT scores, GPA, class rank - so I would imagine that the challenge of the classes and the intellectual curiosity of your classmates are quite similar at both schools. I also will say that - although I don’t know anything about Loyola or DePaul specifically…I’m skeptical that the classwork is SO rigorous students have no time to socialize. A lot of students say that, but even if you take 5 classes a semester you’ll be in class about 15 hours a week. If you study for 1 hour per each hour you are in class, as the recommendation, that’s another 15 hours a week. Even if you have to study 1.5 hours for each hour you are in class, that’s around 23 hours of studying. Altogether that’s a 30-40 hour week of classwork and studying - which leaves plenty of time aside for socializing and joining clubs and stuff. And I can’t say that I actually ever studied the same number of hours I was in class.