Purchase College State University of New York

Expansive campus with post-​apocalyptic architecture. Large art scene, apparently. Permissive staff. ⁶⁄₁₀ would visit again.

This place was pretty chill. Wait, I mean chilly. Because it was raining. Yeah.
Other than that, it was easy to get around and the staff was very helpful. I’m fact, they were much more helpful than I expected. This one guy, I think his name was Jeff? Geoff? Anyway, he gave us directions and tips around campus. If you see him, give him a high-​five.

OK, now that I’ve spent more time here, I am convinced this school is hell on earth.
Let me start by explaining my initial experience with SUNY Purchase. I applied to this school and SUNY New Paltz in the same day. New Paltz got back to me within two weeks (with a rejection letter, but a prompt response nonetheless), Purchase was totally radio-​silent for two months. It took e-​mailing the office of admissions to tell me they needed an updated transcript in. I had to e-​mail them, even New Paltz would send me e-​mails informing me of missing material after a certain number of days, Purchase sent me nothing. I send them the transcript the next day, then another month and a half of silence. It takes that long to make a decision based on one missing transcript?
So I get accepted and the problems of Purchase become more and more apparent. I applied to be a New Media major, as it seemed somewhat similar to Purchase’s non-​existent Communications program. It was not until I started classes that I realized it was an art major more than it was communications. By the end of the first week of classes, I was ready to switch majors. I went to the registar’s office to tell them of my plight. They directed me to an adviser who’s office hours were not noted anywhere. It took a game of e-​mail tag to find out that he went away on vacation the first week of classes… WHAT? So I found a different adviser however by this time it was too late to switch classes because her office hours are so limited so I was stuck in my art classes for a semester (currently going on now). I wouldn’t mind this so much if these classes weren’t totally useless towards my degree and taught by very bizarre, abrasive, opinionated professors. Another major problem is scheduling. With the exception of two classes I have, classes are four hours a day… most of which go into the evening. There is no opportunity for me to have a life because of this. I’m always in class or doing work for class. It’s very overwhelming. I come out of most of my classes everyday and sit in my car and cry because they are that stressful.
I am attempting to transfer out at the end of the semester and even if I don’t get into any new schools, I’m not coming back to SUNY Purchase. I would not recommend this school to my worst enemy. This school has nothing to offer anyone. Look elsewhere for your education, they don’t deserve your money.

The roads require better upkeep, and there is constantly too much construction going on all over the place. Trying to find an ‘appropriate’ parking spot is also difficult.

World class violinist on stage for an open rehearsal — Nadja Salerno-​Sonnenberg truly is amazing! The location is showing some serious wear and the school looks under funded in many regards — weeds everywhere, parking lots not well maintained, and it looks like a construction site as well. This doesn’t take away from the options for live entertainment and I only bring it up as a concern that it might trickle into the options for creative arts in the future…

Decent school I suppose. Campus life is pretty good. Just looking forward to graduation.

Seems like a nice place though somewhat austere.