Ursinus College (A College That Changes Lives) located in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, is a place that takes students and makes them passionate about learning. Maybe you were an awesome high school star. But maybe you weren’t. Maybe you are just over the whole high school hamster wheel of activities, sports, grades, exams, test scores, rinse, and repeat. Remember back in like 2nd grade when you loved school? When you couldn’t wait to go back every day and do something new? When coming home meant talking a mile a minute about everything you learned? Want to feel that way again? Ursinus is for you.
There are many things you may study in school that make you wonder, well, um, let’s end the sentence with wonder rather than those three initials also beginning with W. When will I ever need sin and cosin again? Why do I care what the date of the Battle of Bunker Hill is (17 June, 1775)? Is it actually death to my writing to use the passive voice (yes in English, but not in technical writing, never in Spanish where the passive voice is just voice)? Is it really crucial to know the Krebs Cycle or how many valence electrons nitrogen has (5)? Forget this kind of thinking. That is not this place.
Forget the fact that Ursinus has an exchange with Columbia University (it’s only 25 miles from Philly, so hopping over to NYC is easy). Forget that it consistently ranks top 10 for Liberal Arts Colleges in US News (or as I often think of it, Useless News and World Retort). It’s got a ton of accolades:
When you enter Ursinus, you begin the year like every other first year student. You enter into the Common Intellectual Experience. In CIE, you will ask questions. But they won’t be like the ones above. Here is what you will be asking:
And you won’t be alone here. First Year Advising is also a big part of your experience at Ursinus. Your advisor will be assigned to you in June of the year before you start. Your advisor will meet with you to help you select classes and to get to know you. In August you’ll meet again. And then throughout the year you will meet regularly to make sure your transition is going well. Going to college is hard. It’s harder than you think it will be especially in the beginning. You’ve left most of your friends, you don’t have a regular schedule, you’re eating in cafeterias, sleeping in a dorm, and your parents aren’t there. None of these things individually is difficult but in the aggregate they can be stressful. Having an advisor you can talk to is a great thing. She specializes in this and she knows what this is like. She can help you to find a class, a club, an intramural team, a group, a service project, a gym class, a coffee shop, a better place to study, or (heaven forbid!) a new roommate.
First years also live together. My son’s school does this and (hideous dorm he’s in aside) it’s awesome! The first people you know are the ones in your classes and your year. Living together helps you find each other and bond with each other. You lot are going through the same things. You’re struggling with the same issues in CIE, and you’re reading the same things, discussing texts, working with similar ideas. Being together helps a lot with the sense of a homeplace and common experience.
At Ursinus, students are free to major or minor in almost any subject you can think of. Biology is one of the most common, Economics is probably second. Ursinus is one of a very few schools where you can do Peace Corps preparation work as a major, and their International Relations program is also popular. You can complete a traditional major or minor, follow a pre-professional track like pre-med or pre-law, or you can take advantage of a couple different opportunities unique to Ursinus that once again, make your learning individualized to you and based on your needs and interests.
The first of these is the Research & Creative Projects program. Because this is a college, there are no graduate students here to act as research assistants to the faculty. That means you can be doing research from day one of your time at Ursinus. And there’s no competition like there is at an R1 university to try to get into a lab over PhD students and Masters students. As a student at Ursinus you can take advantage of multiple ways to engage in creative projects and research throughout your time there. The Summer Fellows program gives seniors six weeks of one on one time with a faculty member to work on a project of their choosing. It’s not only paid, but rooming is included and there is a symposium at the end. Students engaged in creative work are invited to present their work at the Celebration of Student Achievement, a day long, campus-wide event where students present to one another and to faculty the work they have done throughout the year. Students can pursue honors projects, funding for research, take advantage of the multiple resources of the U-Imagine Center for the Integrative and Entrepreneurial Studies, or become a Fellow at the Howard Hughes funded Center for Science and the Common Good. In a school that is student centered, student work is always at the center of the community.
The other amazing opportunity available to you at Ursinus is the Independent Learning Experience. This is your chance to test your learning outside of the regular classroom. You can do this in a way that is personalized to you so what you do is really your choice. Do it through one of the various options above. Or go study abroad. Maybe you’ll choose an internship, or work. Maybe you’ll direct a play, make a piece of art, or write a novel. Whatever you choose to do, what you learn in the classroom and outside of it are meant to help you in your future endeavors become a better person and more able to engage with others in the ways you want to when you leave Ursinus.
Ursinus has a number of special relationships with other universities that are worth noting. As a liberal arts college, it is not itself able to be an engineering school, or a business school. But that shouldn’t stop you from considering it. It has an agreement with both Columbia University and Case Western Reserve regarding engineering and dual degrees. It also has agreements with the University of Rochester and Saint Joseph’s Business school. Students can also spend a semester in Washington DC at Howard University as well.
The thing about a school like Ursinus is that the kind of thinking they teach you how to do is artisanal. You can’t do it in a lecture class and you can’t do it with a TA. It has to be done in a small, seminar-style class with a professor who has experienced the same kind of self-reflection in his own life at some point in graduate school. Critical thinking skills like these – analysis, reflection, inference, observation, evaluation, synthesis, determining the next steps – these are what most people use in their jobs every day. And the skills you learn from reading great books – compassion, tolerance, open mindedness, respect, curiosity – these are what you need to have to work with people. This is what makes a really great liberal arts education.
So what’s it like to live there as a student? If you’re looking for a school where everyone looks like you, forget this place, because it won’t. Inclusion and equity are important here and they are devoted to making campus a place where you won’t only see people like you. About 25% are people of color and that number is growing. In addition, there are several scholarships specifically for students of color.
Housing is guaranteed all four years and 97% of students live in student housing. There are a lot of styles to pick from including actual houses, dorms, suite styles, apartment styles, singles and doubles, and theme housing. The Special Interest Houses or SPINT as they are called vary but students are encouraged to group around a theme. Right now they are Africana and American Studies, Writing and Art, Game Tech, International House, and Queer. Each has a faculty sponsor and programming.
Like many liberal arts colleges, Ursinus has a lot of superstar athletes who shine on the field and off. And if you’re someone who wants to play in college, and DIII school like this is a good way to do it. Field Hockey won their 11th Centennial Conference in the last 12 years. Their women’s swim team is undefeated. Several of their football players were All American. Ursinus fields a lot of teams in a lot of sports including gymnastics and wrestling along with the usual suspects. And it also has a ton of club and intramurals as well (rugby? fencing?).
There are plenty of ways to express yourself creatively as well. Ursinus has a show choir, a jazz band, two different Gospel choirs, dance teams, theater. It has step teams and a film society. There is a One Act festival every spring and a play in the fall. The guys have an acapella club and the gals have one too. There’s a campus wide radio station and also a TV channel as well.
Plus there’s Greek life. It’s not overwhelming there (under 20%) but if you want it, you’ve got it. Cultural groups range from Hillel to China Club, from French Club to Sankofa Umoja Nia (SUN). Join the Outdoors Club, the Nerf Club, write for The Grizzly (their student paper), join Mock Trial, or be a Big Brother or Big Sister. Get involved with Environmental Action, volunteer for the UC EMS, work on the yearbook, The Ruby, or mentor a middle school girl with Fighting for Ophelia. Write poetry for The Lantern, fight mental health problems with Active Minds, connect with someone in the community with Best Buddies, or join the UC Republicans. There is plenty to do at Ursinus in class and out of it.
Is Ursinus for you? I can’t tell you that. Are you brave? It takes some courage to be willing to do the kind of work Ursinus wants you to do. Once you start asking questions like these and reading books like these your world will not be the same. A good education is a little bit like going to war. You don’t come back the same person you left. Sometimes that’s why people don’t want to take that leap.
Pros:
Cons:
There are many things you may study in school that make you wonder, well, um, let’s end the sentence with wonder rather than those three initials also beginning with W. When will I ever need sin and cosin again? Why do I care what the date of the Battle of Bunker Hill is (17 June, 1775)? Is it actually death to my writing to use the passive voice (yes in English, but not in technical writing, never in Spanish where the passive voice is just voice)? Is it really crucial to know the Krebs Cycle or how many valence electrons nitrogen has (5)? Forget this kind of thinking. That is not this place.
Forget the fact that Ursinus has an exchange with Columbia University (it’s only 25 miles from Philly, so hopping over to NYC is easy). Forget that it consistently ranks top 10 for Liberal Arts Colleges in US News (or as I often think of it, Useless News and World Retort). It’s got a ton of accolades:
- One of two campus art museums on all of Pennsylvania accredited by the American Alliance of Art Museums
- One of 10 founding members of Project Pericles which encourage community service
- Hosts a Phi Beta Kappa national chapter
- Classes are all 15-20 students
- Student faculty ratio is 12:1
When you enter Ursinus, you begin the year like every other first year student. You enter into the Common Intellectual Experience. In CIE, you will ask questions. But they won’t be like the ones above. Here is what you will be asking:
- What should matter to me?
- How should we live together?
- How can we understand the world?
- What will I do?
And you won’t be alone here. First Year Advising is also a big part of your experience at Ursinus. Your advisor will be assigned to you in June of the year before you start. Your advisor will meet with you to help you select classes and to get to know you. In August you’ll meet again. And then throughout the year you will meet regularly to make sure your transition is going well. Going to college is hard. It’s harder than you think it will be especially in the beginning. You’ve left most of your friends, you don’t have a regular schedule, you’re eating in cafeterias, sleeping in a dorm, and your parents aren’t there. None of these things individually is difficult but in the aggregate they can be stressful. Having an advisor you can talk to is a great thing. She specializes in this and she knows what this is like. She can help you to find a class, a club, an intramural team, a group, a service project, a gym class, a coffee shop, a better place to study, or (heaven forbid!) a new roommate.
First years also live together. My son’s school does this and (hideous dorm he’s in aside) it’s awesome! The first people you know are the ones in your classes and your year. Living together helps you find each other and bond with each other. You lot are going through the same things. You’re struggling with the same issues in CIE, and you’re reading the same things, discussing texts, working with similar ideas. Being together helps a lot with the sense of a homeplace and common experience.
At Ursinus, students are free to major or minor in almost any subject you can think of. Biology is one of the most common, Economics is probably second. Ursinus is one of a very few schools where you can do Peace Corps preparation work as a major, and their International Relations program is also popular. You can complete a traditional major or minor, follow a pre-professional track like pre-med or pre-law, or you can take advantage of a couple different opportunities unique to Ursinus that once again, make your learning individualized to you and based on your needs and interests.
The first of these is the Research & Creative Projects program. Because this is a college, there are no graduate students here to act as research assistants to the faculty. That means you can be doing research from day one of your time at Ursinus. And there’s no competition like there is at an R1 university to try to get into a lab over PhD students and Masters students. As a student at Ursinus you can take advantage of multiple ways to engage in creative projects and research throughout your time there. The Summer Fellows program gives seniors six weeks of one on one time with a faculty member to work on a project of their choosing. It’s not only paid, but rooming is included and there is a symposium at the end. Students engaged in creative work are invited to present their work at the Celebration of Student Achievement, a day long, campus-wide event where students present to one another and to faculty the work they have done throughout the year. Students can pursue honors projects, funding for research, take advantage of the multiple resources of the U-Imagine Center for the Integrative and Entrepreneurial Studies, or become a Fellow at the Howard Hughes funded Center for Science and the Common Good. In a school that is student centered, student work is always at the center of the community.
The other amazing opportunity available to you at Ursinus is the Independent Learning Experience. This is your chance to test your learning outside of the regular classroom. You can do this in a way that is personalized to you so what you do is really your choice. Do it through one of the various options above. Or go study abroad. Maybe you’ll choose an internship, or work. Maybe you’ll direct a play, make a piece of art, or write a novel. Whatever you choose to do, what you learn in the classroom and outside of it are meant to help you in your future endeavors become a better person and more able to engage with others in the ways you want to when you leave Ursinus.
Ursinus has a number of special relationships with other universities that are worth noting. As a liberal arts college, it is not itself able to be an engineering school, or a business school. But that shouldn’t stop you from considering it. It has an agreement with both Columbia University and Case Western Reserve regarding engineering and dual degrees. It also has agreements with the University of Rochester and Saint Joseph’s Business school. Students can also spend a semester in Washington DC at Howard University as well.
The thing about a school like Ursinus is that the kind of thinking they teach you how to do is artisanal. You can’t do it in a lecture class and you can’t do it with a TA. It has to be done in a small, seminar-style class with a professor who has experienced the same kind of self-reflection in his own life at some point in graduate school. Critical thinking skills like these – analysis, reflection, inference, observation, evaluation, synthesis, determining the next steps – these are what most people use in their jobs every day. And the skills you learn from reading great books – compassion, tolerance, open mindedness, respect, curiosity – these are what you need to have to work with people. This is what makes a really great liberal arts education.
So what’s it like to live there as a student? If you’re looking for a school where everyone looks like you, forget this place, because it won’t. Inclusion and equity are important here and they are devoted to making campus a place where you won’t only see people like you. About 25% are people of color and that number is growing. In addition, there are several scholarships specifically for students of color.
Housing is guaranteed all four years and 97% of students live in student housing. There are a lot of styles to pick from including actual houses, dorms, suite styles, apartment styles, singles and doubles, and theme housing. The Special Interest Houses or SPINT as they are called vary but students are encouraged to group around a theme. Right now they are Africana and American Studies, Writing and Art, Game Tech, International House, and Queer. Each has a faculty sponsor and programming.
Like many liberal arts colleges, Ursinus has a lot of superstar athletes who shine on the field and off. And if you’re someone who wants to play in college, and DIII school like this is a good way to do it. Field Hockey won their 11th Centennial Conference in the last 12 years. Their women’s swim team is undefeated. Several of their football players were All American. Ursinus fields a lot of teams in a lot of sports including gymnastics and wrestling along with the usual suspects. And it also has a ton of club and intramurals as well (rugby? fencing?).
There are plenty of ways to express yourself creatively as well. Ursinus has a show choir, a jazz band, two different Gospel choirs, dance teams, theater. It has step teams and a film society. There is a One Act festival every spring and a play in the fall. The guys have an acapella club and the gals have one too. There’s a campus wide radio station and also a TV channel as well.
Plus there’s Greek life. It’s not overwhelming there (under 20%) but if you want it, you’ve got it. Cultural groups range from Hillel to China Club, from French Club to Sankofa Umoja Nia (SUN). Join the Outdoors Club, the Nerf Club, write for The Grizzly (their student paper), join Mock Trial, or be a Big Brother or Big Sister. Get involved with Environmental Action, volunteer for the UC EMS, work on the yearbook, The Ruby, or mentor a middle school girl with Fighting for Ophelia. Write poetry for The Lantern, fight mental health problems with Active Minds, connect with someone in the community with Best Buddies, or join the UC Republicans. There is plenty to do at Ursinus in class and out of it.
Is Ursinus for you? I can’t tell you that. Are you brave? It takes some courage to be willing to do the kind of work Ursinus wants you to do. Once you start asking questions like these and reading books like these your world will not be the same. A good education is a little bit like going to war. You don’t come back the same person you left. Sometimes that’s why people don’t want to take that leap.
Pros:
- You will change what you know about yourself
- You will learn more than just facts
- You will leave with a whole new toolkit for dealing with the world
- You will never be the same
Cons:
- You will change what you know about yourself
- You will learn more than just facts
- You will leave with a whole new toolkit for dealing with the world
- You will never be the same