SUNY at Purchase College Top Questions

Describe the students at your school.

Amy

Lots of LGBT and hipsters. Sports players are only friends with each other and keep to themselves.

Jonathan

Classmates here are creative, friendly and interesting.

Jessie

My classmates are the most interesting and unique people i have ever met, as well as extrememly expressive, open, and dedicated.

Sophie

The students at Purchase College are extremely diverse, and completely accepting of everyone. There are students of all different races, genders, sexual orientations, political agendas, and simply different interests. That being said, it would be difficult to find a school whose students are such a tight knit community.

Jamie

Believe it or not, Purchase academics are intense especially, in the conservatories. Students are competitive with their arts and passions in a healthy manner. I think it helps them want to be their best. The professors as I mentioned in the previous question are awesome. Like any other school there are some unfortunates, but they are outweighed by the rest of the incredible ones. You will always know your professors names and they will usually learn yours because classes are small and you have many chances to speak to them one-on-one. The worst class that I ever took was an Arab class and boy did I learn my lesson. It was insanely difficult and I dreaded going in the early hours to be confused and or bored. The best class I took was also the most challenging and that would have to be Queer Cinema. It was so interesting, fun, and the two professors challenged us constantly. The students study when they have to in order to do well especially, during midterms and finals because the library is open 24/5, which means don't be surprised when you see people camped out there as if it was Occupy Wall St. Students will have intellectual conversations depending on the person. A lot of times it will be outside of a class during office hours with a professor, or in one of the clubs. As a journalism major I am incredibly lucky to have a program run by people who really know the field. It's very hands on and my writing has improved tremendously. Requirements differ depending on the major. The gen eds are pretty standard for any college and even though you may hate them they are there to give you a well rounded education. Sure, Purchase wants you to get a job when you graduate and I'm sure there is more emphasis in the conservatories when it comes to finding work, but there is a focus on learning for the sake of wanting to gain knowlege.

Tara

The best thing about Purchase College is most definitely the uniqueness and diversity of the students! They are all so talented, artsy, and different in their very own ways. There are a number of different groups at Purchase which students can get involved with. One of the biggest is definitely the LGBT group on campus. However, there are also religious groups on campus as well. Everyone is accepted for who they are. I do not believe that anyone would truly feel out of place at Purchase which is why it is amazing. However, some people who are strongly religious or conservative may feel a bit uncomfortable. Different types of students definitely interact at Purchase. Everyone gets to know people for people which is what is so amazing about the students at Purchase. I have gotten to know so many different kinds of people at Purchase whom I would never have associated with prior to coming to this school. The majority of the students are from New York (primarily the city and Long Island), however we also have a number of out of state and international students. The diversity of Purchase is truly something special! Finances and money are definitely not discussed much at Purchase, it is just not all that important to us as it would be with students from other colleges. We do not really talk about each others financial backgrounds or how much we'll earn one day.

Yael

My classmates are a diverse, competitive and click-y group of dancers being that I am a dance major. I have always been the quirky weird one since childhood, but the energy between my classmates is at times tense yet always energized. Whether it is negatively or positively energized depends.

Faith

I have met students from all walks of life in my first semester; they come from the tri-state area, Hawaii, California, even as far as Poland and the age range from undergrad to graduate students means that they offer diverse perspectives on life.

Nicole

My classmates are all very different and intriging characters; we have grown to feel like a family over the year.

Paige

They are mostly hippes and artisit while the jocks are in the minority.

Paula

Students at Purchase are queer, art freaks who are protective of incursions on their community. They also tend to be friendly and interesting, and allow for a diversity of forms of expression (as long as they're liberal). Many students are musicians and art freaks.

Ilana

My classmates are artistic, kind, eccentric, liberal and environmentally friendly.

Diane

Everyone is very liberal and open minded.

Brendan

As I've said, the student body is very diverse. Honestly, it's what makes Purchase, our students and teachers. I guess that sounds pretty underwhelming. Yes, I suppose students and teachers make up any school anywhere. But why it's better at Purchase is because literally every student is dynamic. I don't mean that everyone here is necessarily super outgoing or creative or spontaneous, etc, etc... certainly, these are good qualities, but when I say "dynamic" I mean that everyone is an intergral part of our school. It's like a stupid metaphor about a wonderful machine, and each and every lovely person is a needed wheel or mechanism... only, it's totally true.

Tara

The student body is fulled with students who are passionate about what their doing here. Whether it be social science, music, theater, dance, research - they're all really into what their doing. I've been able to meet and speak with so many people who I've learned so much from because they love to talk about what they're doing.

Jillian

I would describe the atmosphere at Purchase to be creative, open-minded, liberal artists melding together to create a unique and vibrant student body.

Adam

Liberal.

Bailey

They're loud, opinionated and strong-willed, but also a lot of fun and open-minded. They are, for the most part, very smart, which makes for very interesting classes.

Louis

They are smugg, savvy, trendy, and not overtly outgoing.

Devin

There are all sorts of people here, and you should really be open minded when coming to Purchase. This school is definitely for people who are willing to mingle with others from all different walks of life. The size (about 4,000), as I said earlier, is perfect because it's small enough to allow you to meet a lot of people, but it's not so small that everyone knows your business.

Tate

Like I said before there's such a mix of people at Purchase. There’s visual arts majors that range from photography to mixed media, Film production majors, environmental science and even computer math science majors. I know people all the way from Montana and all the way from France.

Vick

1. Students wear whatever they want to class. Men can wear dresses. People wear boxes over their head. Everything! 2. Our campus is very diverse. We have many cultural organizations on campus including: GLBTU, Latinos Unidos, Organization of African Peoples in America, Hillel, Women's Coalition, Society of Caribbean Ancestry, CASTL (alternative lifestyles), Christian Fushion, and the cheese club!

Elizabeth

Purchase students are very nice accepting people.

Zachary

Hip intellectuals with a good sense of humor.

dante

Most are interesting, friendly, and open.

April

My classmates tend to be amazingly fun, enertaining, friendly and quite unique people who are sometimes in their own little worlds but will always offer a helping hand.