Quinnipiac University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Marketing
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male

Summary

I’m in a fraternity and I’m in the American Marketing Association.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public school in Skillman, NJ with a graduating class of about 420 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First Generation College Student: No
Major: Marketing
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a fraternity and I’m in the American Marketing Association.
Did in any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
My fraternity has had a pretty big impact because I joined my first semester freshman year and I gained 95 new friends, which is great. It’s also good for networking in the future.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Right now, I’m taking a lot of the general classes, like Principles of Marketing and some of the general business courses, like Management and Accounting courses. I’ll start digging into the major next semester.
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken so far?
Probably a general business class called The Business Environment. We did a mock simulation where we had to sell bikes, which I thought was really interesting.
What has been your least favorite class you’ve taken so far?
I took an English class my freshman year and I had a really bad professor. I don’t like how you have to take two English requirements.
Is there anything you feel Quinnipiac has does especially well or poorly academically?
I think they have done a bad job of hiring professors. Some of the professors I’ve had don’t know how to teach very well. I had a couple professors that were foreign and difficult to understand and hard to work with. [In 2017-2018, there were 3 international professors.]
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think it’s competitive and collaborative, it’s a great learning environment. There are a lot of places to study and extra resources. It’s competitive in that people are working hard to do the best for themselves and get a high GPA, they aren’t working against other students.
How accessible are your professors?
They’re very accessible. They have office hours every week and when I email them they respond pretty fast.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’m happy with it. I chose it because both of my parents were marketing majors and it seemed the most interesting to me out of all the majors offered.

Reasons to Attend

1) The overall campus environment. All the buildings are pretty new and very nice.
2) The academics are very good and you will leave with internships and a job. [Quinnipiac has a 97.5% career placement rate among recent graduates.]
3) There is a lot of career and networking events for students to get in touch with alumni.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re looking for a bigger school, there are only about [7,300] students here.
2) If you want a bigger sports school with a big football team. Hockey is our biggest sport.
3) If you want a more diverse school, most of the school is Caucasian. [About 75% of the undergraduate population is white. 20% of the Class of 2022 self-identified as people of color.]
4) There are limited food options.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Mountainview Hall in an eight-person suite. I liked that a lot because it helped me meet people right off the bat
Sophomore: Sahlin Hall in a six-person suite.
How do you like living in the big suites?
I like it. It gives you something to do after class because you can go hang out with your roommates and you get to meet more people who live in your dorms.
How was transitioning from your hometown in New Jersey to Hamden, CT in terms of location?
It’s like a three-hour drive away, so it’s not too far of a drive. The overall environment is not too much different. It’s similar to my community at home because it’s a family community.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
It’s very easy for random people to walk on campus, but we do have public safety around 24 hours a day. In general, I think we have a good security system.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
Eli’s on Whitney, it’s probably the only good Italian place around campus.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
New Haven. It’s about 20-minutes away and is my favorite place we go to clubs there on the weekend and during the day we go to get food. It’s nice down there.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you like to participate in?
I go to fraternity events, which are usually on Wednesdays, where we pair up with sororities and have a social. We don’t have on-campus fraternity houses, so all of our houses are off-campus and unaffiliated with the school. Thursdays we go to a bar on Whitney Avenue and on Saturdays we go to clubs in New Haven, like Toad’s Place. People also go to bars on Fridays.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
It’s a pretty big impact because some nights you can do something with your fraternity brothers, as opposed to going to the clubs or bars. It gives you something different, which is beneficial. The Greek parties will open up to girls mostly, but I’ve definitely had some of my guy friends who aren’t in my fraternity come to our events.
Can you tell me about a typical night going out freshman year when you were less socially established?
Rush was pretty early on. Before that, we’d party in our dorms for a bit and then take the shuttle down to Toad’s Place. There is usually a long line, so we’d wait in that and then go in. Unless you’re in a fraternity or know someone, you usually can’t get into a fraternity party as a freshman boy.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Quinnipiac? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy about the nightlife. If I could change anything, I’d like a little more variety because we go to the same clubs all the time.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
All the guys I live with now were in my fraternity, so that definitely helped me meet some of my closest friends. Last year in my suite, I was very close to all of the people I lived with. Classes have also helped me make some friends too.
How would you describe the social scene?
I think it’s a good social scene. People walk around campus, interact at the café, hanging out in the library, and there’s also a lot of socializing in the dorms. People are conversing everywhere.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I think it’s a pretty good mix. There are a lot of people who aren’t in Greek life who are friends with people in Greek life and hang out every day. There are a lot of suites where half of the people are in Greek life and half of them are not, so I don’t think it’s too split.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix on campus?
The African-American students definitely have their cliques and we have a [Divine Nine fraternity] too. My school is about 75% White, so [I think it can be difficult for other students]. I mean, everyone gets along and hangs out with each other when we’re playing basketball at the rec center and stuff like that.
How has the size of your school influenced your social experience? [There are about 7,300 undergraduate students.]
I like the size because we’re getting bigger. I do wish it was a little bigger and the campus was a little bigger just so we had more places to live and go. If there were more students at the school, I think there would be more involvement in sports. [The undergraduate enrollment has grown from 6,700 in 2016 to 7,300 in 2018.]

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
I took a class called Career Planning Development that helps you make your resume, make your LinkedIn, and teach you to reach out to people and network. It’s a one-credit class. I haven’t used the career office that much.
Have you learned any computer programs through your coursework that will be helpful to you professionally?
I learned Excel through an Operations Management course and a Computer Information Systems course.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy are they to work with?
I use financial aid but usually my parents deal with that stuff and they haven’t seemed to have too many issues.