Union College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Neuroscience, I’m on the Cognitive track
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian/Greek Straight Male

Summary

I play club basketball, I am part of the executive council of my fraternity, I am part of TedX at Union, and I’m part of the Garnet Society which stems from alumni relations and we are in charge of Alumni Weekend, Homecoming, and other events that have alumni outreach. I’m also a resident advisor.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian/Greek
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Private school in Greece with a two-year International Baccalaureate program. In the IB program, we had about 80 people but the entire class was about 270 students. Most of the people in the IB program went to school in the U.K. and about 10 of us went to college in the U.S.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Neuroscience, I’m on the Cognitive track
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I play club basketball, I am part of the executive council of my fraternity, I am part of TedX at Union, and I’m part of the Garnet Society which stems from alumni relations and we are in charge of Alumni Weekend, Homecoming, and other events that have alumni outreach. I’m also a resident advisor.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Club Basketball did. Coming into Union, I wasn’t exactly recruited to play basketball here but the coach has some interest in me so I tried out and got cut, but I still needed that competitive basketball experience. Also, being part of the executive council for the fraternity gives you an idea of how an administration works and how the school expects fraternities to function.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It depends on the distribution of the courses. For example, if I have more than one Biology course per semester I’ll probably have a lab as well. But, if it’s more of the Psychology classes, then we’ll have tests and other assignments. It varies a lot per course, but generally, the major graded assignments are exams.
Is there anything that you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
I feel like one thing they don’t do well is because of how interdisciplinary the major is, you have to take courses in a lot of different disciplines. I had to take classes in Philosophy, Computer Science, Biology, Math, Physics, and Chemistry. It’s nice that it gives you a broad knowledge base, but it doesn’t give you the depth into neuroscience that you want it to be. It also takes you a while to get into the neuroscience material that you’re actually interested in. It’s a lot of basic knowledge until you get there.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I haven’t really experienced a lot of competitiveness. Everyone is pretty much doing their own thing and don’t care as much what other people are doing. The most competitive environment I’ve been in among the students is the Math courses, I don’t know why. People are a little more competitive in that they don’t want to work with people and people think they should just do their own thing.
How accessible are your professors?
The professors are very accessible. It’s such a small school so that it’s pretty easy to get to know your professors. The largest class I’ve had at Union was about 45 people and even then, I still met with my professor three times over the semester and he had a pretty good idea of who I was and how I was doing in the class. [The average introductory class size at Union is 14 students.]
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I always had an interest in biology and in high school I took both biology and psychology. Coming into Union, I was undeclared and wasn’t sure if I wanted to major in Psychology or Biology, and I realized that I wanted something between the two so I picked Neuroscience. I’m pretty satisfied with my decision. I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet, but in terms of material, I like what I’m learning and am very interested in it.
How was transitioning academically as an international student? Were there any systems in place that helped you adapt?
It wasn’t a huge transition because I was in an English-based program. It was still a difference in the sense that all the professors at my high school were Greek so I could still ask them a question in Greek. One thing that was a lot different here was the interactions you have with your professors here. I had no idea what office hours were before I came to the U.S. Talking to your professor wasn’t really something I felt comfortable doing in the beginning and I’m still getting in the habit of reaching out to my professors if I have questions or want to talk about the material.
I really like the tutoring centers the Union has because they’re still student-led. Sometimes you try to get help from a professor and they’ll give you a professor explanation, but having something that’s student-based and is with somebody who has taken the class before I think is more helpful than going directly to the professor.

Reasons to Attend

1) I really like the small size. If you’re somebody that wants to be part of a small campus and make a lot of connections, Union is something you should check out.
2) Greek life is a positive thing here. It gives you an outlet for the weekends because the week tends to be so packed with work.
3) The trimester system is really helpful because you only take three classes a trimester. You’re in the classroom for no longer than three hours a day unless you have lab, which is really nice.
4) Everyone is approachable from the students to professors to administration. We just had a new president get inaugurated and he seems to be pretty approachable. He has different times when you can meet with him and talk with him.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) I don’t like the cold, but it’s okay and I’ll survive.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: West College with one roommate
Sophomore: Davidson Hall in a single. The normal rooms in Davidson are suites with two double rooms and a common room, but I have a single.
How was transitioning from Greece to Schenectady, NY in terms of location?
It’s different because everything in Greece is so much closer in distance and so much more accessible. Even though my hometown was like half an hour from the nearest city center, I could walk ten minutes, get on a bus, and be there in like 40-minutes and it would be nothing. In the U.S., everything is more spread out. It’s much less common to go somewhere without having to drive. I was so used to walking to places at home but nobody walks to places here.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
Schenectady’s not the safest of places. I personally have felt safe, but that’s because there’s no interaction with the locals. You hear stories about students having bad interactions with locals and there’s a sense of disconnect between the students and locals. Like every place, there are areas where you don’t need to be and places where you’ll be fine.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Everything that happens is within Union. I don’t think anybody goes off-campus on the weekend nights to have fun. Everybody goes to the fraternity parties or party on their own. Usually I just stay at my fraternity because that’s where I know the most people, but I’ve been to other fraternity’s parties and, in general, people will bounce around.
How did your nightlife experience differ before and after you joined the fraternity?
It’s difficult your first-year because you don’t know a lot of people. I was lucky because, through club basketball and other international students, I already knew some upperclassmen who could help me get into parties and stuff. I didn’t experience the exclusivity of trying to get into parties.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out or weekend option?
I don’t think a lot of people go, but there is a club called the U-Program that is designed to provide alternatives to Greek life parties and will have bingo nights or movie screenings.
How happy are you with the weekend options at Union? Is there anything you would change if you could?
In general, I’m pretty satisfied, but I feel like that’s because I’m part of a fraternity. I feel like if I wasn’t, I would feel pretty limited because even if my fraternity doesn’t have a party I can still hang out with the guys and it’s a large group so it still kind of feels like a party. I wasn’t in a fraternity, I think it would get old to try to see what party is happening every night and if I can get into the party.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
My closest friends are either from club basketball or guys from the fraternity who I met through pledging.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Union?
The social scene is pretty active. Most of the people are doing something fun on the weekends. It’s also kind of divided because different fraternities are located in different areas of the campus, so there’s division based on where the different fraternities are. The fraternities in the same area tend to be closer with each other than the ones that are in different areas. The other division is because of how little diversity there is at Union, there is a division between people of color and people from other cultures and White students. In general, I think it’s pretty active and fun at Union. [About 70% of students at Union are White.]
To what extent do international students and domestic students mix socially?
It depends on the international student. Some international students tend to stick around with other international students because they feel more comfortable with them. I personally never felt like I was excluded from what domestic students were doing. I’ve always had friends who were domestic students and that also got better with being in a fraternity and doing the activities that I’m doing. International students only make up [about 8%] of the population, so it’s a given that any club or organization is going to have more domestic students.
Was there anything that surprised you about Union or American college overall when you arrived on campus?
The party scene was not surprising, but it was different. The way American students approach partying and drinking specifically is different because it’s a lot more socially acceptable because it’s legal for us to drink. In Europe, people start drinking at an earlier age and there isn’t a binge drinking culture like there is in the U.S. When I was first going to parties at Union, I would go sober because I was so used to going to the club at home and then getting a drink there. Here, everybody drinks beforehand so the party is enjoyable, because usually the party is packed and if you’re sober that’s not very fun, and also parties don’t offer alcohol unless you have your own. That was one of the things I found surprising.
How do you like the size of Union in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How has that impacted your experience? [There are about 2,200 students.]
I knew I wanted to go to a small school because I wanted to make those meaningful friendships and interact with the administration and professors. For me, the fact Union is such a small school is a good thing. It can turn into a gossipy environment because everybody knows everybody and if something happens everyone is talking about the same thing. But, I’m satisfied with how small Union is.

Careers

Has the alumni network helps you find internships or jobs?
I’ve talked to alumni mostly because of the Garnet Society that I’m part of.
Have you learned any computer programs that will be especially helpful professionally?
My first semester I took a Computer Science class where I learned Python and the next class I took a statistics class for Psychology and I learned SPSS. Both of those I’ll be using this summer in my internship.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
Yes, a big part of me coming to Union was me needing a lot of financial aid because of how tough the economic situation is in Greece. I’ve had a really good experience with the financial aid office thus far. Even though tuition keeps rising at Union every year, the percentage of financial aid stays the same for me. Even though I got a resident advisor position that comes with a stipend, financial aid didn’t try to play around and cut some of my financial aid since I’m making money. I’ve had a really good experience with the office.