Providence College Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

Jesse

Yes and no. It is true that the majority of students are white, upper-middle class kids, but that doesn't create a problem in my opinion. Diversity comes from a lot more besides race and class. While a lot of kids are very similar to eachother, obviously everybody is different in some way. When it comes to racial or social diversity, there is definitely a good representation across the board, and the school is working on improving this.

Bridget

Yes- both girls and guys are concerned with their appearance and almost everyone likes to go out and drink. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are must-go-out nights and there are plenty of other things do to the rest of the week.

Rob

For the most part.

Alyssa

A lot of PC's students are upper-middle class white students. Vera Bradley, Vineyard Vines, North Face, Ugg, and J.Crew gear are seen everywhere on campus. PC students know how to have a good time, but academics are rigorous and professors expect a lot out of their students, both in and out of class.

Alex

Concerning a large majority of the student body they are, but there is a group of people for almost everyone at PC.

Tara

I definitely think that PC students drink a lot and like to party. I think that PC is now becoming more diverse.

Robin

Unfortunately for the intellectual, creative individual searching for an interesting circle of friends at PC, this stereotype is generally accurate. Though there are exceptions, smart, funny and original people are hard to come by here.

Kelly

yes

Allie

Unfortunately, there is a big problem with a lack of diversity but the school is making an effort to attract more students from various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Many undeclared students are tentative to attend a school like PC, which has such a demanding core curriculum. However, having experienced this undeclared anxiety myself, I can say that the Career Center and your personal advisors offer plenty of guidance to help you design a schedule that allows you to both meet core requirements that interest you and help you discern what area of study you enjoy most.

Alex

yes, but thats not entirely a bad thing

Meg

yes

Dylan

Mostly

Regina

-It's true that PC is too homogenous. -I've seen too many uggs and North Face jackets for my liking, but there is definitely variety in the personalities of the students. I like to be more origninal and creative, and i have found friends with the same preference. -Masses are beautiful but ALWAYS optional. We are taught western religion in DWC, but from an unbiased and completely factual standpoint. The Catholic community is certainly present at PC, but only for those who choose to be a part of it.

Dylan

some of them are

Allie

yeah, for the most part.

Chris

Yes, in fact, it seems even worse than that. Providence College is so racially one-sided that in a recent letter home to all parents of undergraduates, the president, Father Shanley, blamed the lack of ethnic diversity as one of the major reasons for the problem of underage drinking on campus. It is sometimes cruelly, but accurately, joked that PC only accepts minority students for their athletic teams.

Katie

I would say that most of the students at PC do generally look alike. But there are people from all different family income levels and money doesn't matter, especially if you are in the right group of people. We're far from stuck up and just enjoy going out and having a good time with our friends. It is a party school if you are into that. If your not, you can find other things to do.

Marissa

Although you can see the religious influence on campus, be it from decor or the theology requirements, it is not overbearing. The Friars teach theology and philosophy in a way that is very objective- their mission is finding truth through the combination of faith AND reason. You are never expected to blindly believe anything. We are fairly conservative but also acknowledge the liberal. For example, you cannot get birth control at the health center, but they will give you the number for a clinic down the street. We have a bar on campus for of-age students. Students are free to create clubs or demonstrations for whatever they want. We may have curfew for having the opposite sex in the dorms, but there are definitely ways around it. In the apartments and suites you can easily have the opposite sex stay over if you wish. The guys' dorms are less strict that the girls'. A large portion of the student body may be from New England and be preppy, but they are certainly not snobby. We have many international students from sports teams and elsewhere. Anyone can find their niche with all the extracurricular opportunities! This year, my RA was from Zimbabwe and my roommate was from Seattle! Students do drink a lot on the weekend but there is very little drug use. You can find kids partying on "Messed up Mondays," Brown night at Fishco (a bar) on Tuesday, PC night at Fishco on Wednesday, and Thirsty Thursdays...but everyone has slaved away in the library all day long to finish their work first!

Nicole

I think that these stereotypes are accurate. Although many people are different and bring different things to the table, most of the students from PC look the same and it is definitely lacking ethnic divresity.

Dylan

In MOST cases yes, but there are a few good people there that you'll have to look for.

CJ

NO, while there not a whole lot of racial diversity on campus, everybody is actually quite different and interested in many different things on campus, so the environment is not monotone, but rather, complementary of the different types of people on campus.

Jessie

The school is thus far still predominantly white, but more and more students of different ethnicities are coming to the college. They have better scholarship programs and removed the SAT's so that students of different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds could enter. I respect the college's attempt at diversifying. The school is not mostly rich, the scholarship programs allow many people of the middle and poor class to enter. Although there are some rich students.

Brian

It's a little preppy, but the lack of diversity is extremely accurate.

Phoebe

Yes, but if you look hard enough you can break free from the mold.

Shannon

The student population is very homgeneous, but it is improving each year. There is a lot of drinking, but isn't there at most colleges? Many students do come from well-to-do families, but many don't. However, there is a certain pressure to have the newest phones and the designer jeans.

Brett

For the most part, yes. There is also a very large conservative religious sect of the school, and another group of very studious students.

Kelly

yes

Brennan

The stereotype is very accurate in this instance but the school is doing a lot to integrate a wider range of students with different back rounds into the school. Also, although most of us typically dress the same and come from a similar economic class, there are 4000 undergraduate students here and there are tons of different kinds of personalities. We all may look the same but there is no shortage of new experiences and people to meet here. The student body is made up of a variety of different kinds of people and it is the strongest aspect of the school in my opinion, in that all the students are extremely friendly and open minded, it makes it extremely enjoyable and easy to meet new people.

Taylor

absolutely

Ash

80{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} accurate.

Katie

Pretty much.

Jordan

I would say somewhat. I agree most are white, preppy and Catholic and there are a lot of rich kids.

Ryan

absolutely.

Lauren Migliacci

Yup. PC is a predominately white, middle class, Catholic liberal arts college. Under this facade students do take partying verry seriously. Really can't say too much more. But, there are also many positives to the college which shoudl not be overshadowed, and yes, we are in a lower income part of the city.

Dave

yes

Meg

They're accurate to an extent. Most of the PC population is comprised of students from upper middle class to upper class socioeconomic status, but there are still some (such as myself) from middle class, and even some from lower middle class. A lot of the students here drink on a regular basis, but there is also a fair amount of students who do not.

Stephen

The school is attempting to diversify through scholarship programs, and it seems to be working. However, this remains difficult because the application pool is so similar (New England residents, Catholic, parochial education, white.)

Matthew

For the most part, diversity is lacking in many respects

charlotte

for the most partyes

Cody

You decided when you come here, stereotypes are easy to break. BE YOURSELF

Stephanie

basically yes

Michael

YES

Harper

Somewhat

Hunter

Yes, but the college is making great strides to improve them

Reese

Yes. 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}