Union College
Schenectady, New York
Union College was founded in 1795, the first college chartered by the Board of Regents of New York. It was called Union for a reason, not just because the term was newly popular post independence from Britain, but because it was founded as and continues to be today, a non-denominational school, welcoming a diverse student body. Today it’s home to just under 2500 undergraduate students who study everything from the original offerings of science, math, history, and modern languages to engineering, constitutional government, and politics which came on board in 1845. In 1970, the school became co-ed with the acceptance of 125 women to their first class, and today it hovers just around the 54%/46% male to female ratio.
With a 10:1 student faculty ratio and a Common Curriculum, Union attracts students who are eager to learn and curious about their world. In your first year you will take a First Year Preceptorial, basically a course designed to introduce you to the writing, critical thinking, analytical, and synthetic skills you will need in college. This is an opportunity to read widely, discuss deeply, and evaluate disparate ideas as you encounter texts, people, and concepts that are more diverse than you have probably experienced before. This class will prepare you for the work of college.
There’s more to the preceptorial though than meets the eye. Your FYP (First Year Preceptorial) is an interdisciplinary class that is thematic in nature. You will have choices when it comes to what theme you want to explore. Themes are generally flexible and also broad in nature, and they range in focus (all hail the liberal arts!). So you can choose from courses like ****ing Up: Failure Is an Option, Technology: Bane of Boon, Narrative Medicine: Honoring Stories of Suffering, Food, Culture, and Society, Monsters and Monstrosities, Goodness, Happiness, and Truthi-ness, Crossing Boundaries: Science and Literature, or Coming of Age in the Non-Western World. These classes are not a gen-ed English class like what you might expect from many a state school. The purpose of this class is to engage with the concepts that underpin the topic rather than to simply learn to write well. They know you took AP English. But now it’s time to get serious about your ability to engage in more sophisticated conversations about more advanced topics.
Your second year you will take a Sophomore Research Seminar. Make no mistake, this is not training for your major. This is an undergraduate research experience meant to teach you the skills of true research in libraries, archives, labs, etc. (Google is not an option here). You will be learning not just about how to gather information but also how to best present it, organize it, and make it coherent and comprehendible. This is meant as an early experience in undergraduate research so that you become familiar enough and capable enough with these skills so that you are able to take on more rigorous work as you continue in your studies.
In addition to these two classes, the Common Curriculum includes courses in a wide variety of subjects. Literature, natural sciences (lab included), quantitative and mathematical reasoning, arts and humanities, science, engineering, and technology, languages and cultures, and writing across the curriculum are all part of the curriculum at Union and while many people think that they don’t ever want to take another English class or another Math class, I’m here to tell you why you should. You know how I kind of know something about everything? How it’s kind of weirdly creepy? The secret is oddly banal: I went to a school with a Common Curriculum. And we took classes in everything (yes, PE was part of that, and we had to know how to swim). But this is why I know things like the Krebs Cycle even though I was an English and world History teacher. I can tell you about how the universe is expanding like the raisins in a loaf of bread do when it rises (it’s all equidistant) or I can explain how mitochondrial DNA is passed down or how stratigraphy can be used help to date fossils or human remains. A common curriculum is empowering in your life. And while it is true that I might not have survived Calculus without my physicist roommate (h/t Matt Carlson wherever you may be!), schools that encourage this kind of curriculum attract people who are curious and who want to be with other curious people.
But there’s more to Union than just their Common Curriculum. Union also has an excellent Engineering program and in fact, it’s ranked #29 in the nation for engineering for undergrads, which is pretty great if you’re looking to be in a smaller environment than Tech. In addition to that it has some engineering options that are kind of niche as well. Two of the options for engineering at Union that you may not find at more traditional engineering programs but that are appealing to WAHS students are Biomedical engineering and Environmental engineering. In addition there are study abroad options specific to engineering in New Zealand, Turkey, and Belgium. Most engineering students choose to study in those programs, but are also free to study in others.
All Union students must engage in an International Experience. This can be an exchange program, study abroad, international project, foreign language study, or a cultural diversity class. Most Union students choose to study abroad. There are over 160 classes that will meet this requirement and Union offers over 40 programs to 29 countries that are taught by Union faculty. These range from learning about traditional Chinese medicine in a mini-break course in Tianjian, China to a fall term spent in Fiji doing anthropological research on the people and cultures of these Pacific Islanders (all while living with a family). But that’s maybe too far? Spend the fall term a the University of Galway exploring traditional Irish music, Irish Poetry, or Shakespearean Comedies or go to São Paulo and learn Portuguese, examine the themes of Brazilian Cinema, or study Women, Environment, and Social Change.
Arts are a big thing at Union. Union has over 600 courses in the arts and they are not isolated from other disciplines. The Illustrated Organism is an art class where studio arts students focus on scientific art and illustration. The recording studios at Union are state of the art and can be used for sound mixing or for any other project. Documentary filmmaking is just as likely to be a class taken by an arts student as it is by a student majoring in Science, Medicine, and Technology, or Environmental Policy, or Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The data visualization class required for Digital Media is equally a part of the Anthropologist’s toolkit as it is a part of the Political Scientist’s. And once the cross curricular work is complete, there are also five performance centers at Union for dance, theater, and music, not to mention the spaces for artists to display their work. There is always a performance, a gallery, a happening at Union. It’s hard to make time for it all.
Remember that 2nd year research seminar? “It’s not for nothing,” as my grandmother would say. Every year at Union undergraduate research is celebrated and awarded during the Steinmetz Symposium. Work done in labs, studios, and the field is presented during the symposium and celebrated in this tradition harkening back to the early days of Union. Classes are canceled on this day and a series of oral presentations, posters, performances, and art exhibits run concurrently, showing off the work in which students have engaged. Topics for this year range from The Global Child in Cambodia to Grasshopper Inspire Locomotion in Tensegrity Robotics, from Environmentalist Foundation of India to Co-working: The Global Movement. Over 500 students participate in the Steinmetz Symposium and since it celebrates what students are passionate about, it’s the perfect opportunity to foster student engagement.
One of the most unique aspects to Union College is their Minerva House system. Many of the students who present at Steinmetz have done their research together through their Minerva House. All students are assigned a Minerva House when they first arrive at Union. It’s based on your First Year Preceptorial class and your class may be taught in your Minerva (professors are encouraged to teach there). Minervas are a sort of 3rd space at Union. You can live there (2nd year and up), study there, have class there (faculty are all assigned to a Minerva as well). But it’s not a dorm exactly, and it’s definitely not a classroom where it’s all business. Your Minerva has its own character, and it’s determined by you. Minervas are run by students and there is a student council who will decide what to do with the $26,000 budget you get yearly. Use the kitchen in the Minerva when you just super need to make some cookies. Nap between classes. Watch the Superbowl with your friends. Meet up with your research partners to work on your presentation. Listen to a speaker, have dinner with a professor, drop in for a midnight snack, hang out on the patio when the weather is nice, or use the grill. There are seven Minerva Houses and one is yours.
Ninety percent of Union students live on campus all four years. Some students live in the Minerva Houses (the rooms tend to be bigger than regular dorm rooms), and others choose to live in Greek Housing. But there are multiple kinds of housing available at Union. Apartment style, traditional, theme, even a renovated hotel (College Park Hall), are all options. First years are assigned a roommate and a residence hall. For that year your options are based mostly on the FYP you’ve chosen. But they do work with the style of living you like as well (suite, corridor, quiet study). After that it’s a lottery system and the higher your year the better your chances. There isn’t a lot of difference between these residences. Davidson has both co-ed and single sex floors (and communal microwaves, which we know from WAHS is not always lovely). It’s also home to two fraternities. Richmond is single sex by floor (no microwaves). Webster is all co-ed floors and has kitchenettes. It’s also the quiet study hall and the substance free living space. West is all co-ed and has no cooking of any kind it would seem. But it has the major dining hall, so there you have it.
There is also theme housing for your later time at Union. GPA and applications are necessary for these, but they are pretty nice. There is ARTS House: arts and creativity, Bronner House: multicultural and diversity oriented, Dickens House: literature and humanities, Iris House: LGBTQ+ community, Maker House: creativity and collaboration, Ozone House: sustainability, Religious Diversity House: spirituality and religion, Rights House: civil liberties, Serenity House: stress relief, Symposium House: political and social discourse, Tech House: technology, Thurston House: Asian culture, Wells House: community service. These are for upper class students. All are co-ed and all are required to host three events per year.
So what is there to do at Union. Shall we start with sports? Union is DIII so there’s a good chance you can play there. They have football, but the big sport at Union is ice hockey. That, my friends, is DI. You all are from the Cville/Albemarle area and but for a few of you, you don’t necessarily appreciate the sport of hockey, but in places like upstate New York, New England, and Canada, hockey is king. Let’s just put it this way: blood bounces on ice. And don’t think hockey is just for the guys. There is club, intramural, and DI women’s hockey at Union as well. When I tell you hockey is king, it’s really king and queen.
In addition to hockey, there is football. But there are also cross country, rowing, soccer, swimming, volleyball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, field hockey, basketball, baseball. Basically all the usual suspects are there. There is some club and intercollegiate riding. Club rugby is also an option. Ultimate frisbee and water polo are also available. It’s a sportsy and healthy place.
What else can take up your time? There’s Greek Life and it’s healthy. Live with them, hang with them, get involved with them. There are multiple service organizations as well. Try Empty Bowls which sells the hand made bowls ceramics students craft to raise money to fight hunger. Or maybe you want to become a Best Buddy by working with a person who has an intellectual or developmental disability. Get involved with an academic club like the Association for Women in Mathematics, Spanish Club, Philosophy Club, Ethics Bowl, Biomedical Engineering Society, or Robotics. Join in with the Culture and Identity clubs like Hillel, Women’s Union, Black Student Union, Campus Protestant Ministry, or Union Pride. Take care of your world with Engineers for a Sustainable World, or Beekeeping Club, Octopus’s Garden, or U-Sustain. Join the Student Forum, Minerva House Councils, or Interfraternity Council and make your voice heard. Be a part of the arts scene by getting involved with the African Dance Club, Hip Hop Club, No Offense Improv Troupe, Concert Club, or Pep Band. Get political with International Relations and Economic Policy, Democracy Matters, or Young Republicans. Get published in The Minerva Review, The Idol, or the Union Banner. Go fly fishing. Learn to fence. Get out into the outdoors by snowshoeing, canoeing, skiing, rock climbing, spelunking. Be faithful by joining Interfaith Youth Corps, Catholic Student Association, Muslim Students Association. Play chess, launch a rocket, watch films, cook, plan events, or just work out.
Is Union for you? Union is for a lot of people. Union is for the curious and the smart. It’s for the student who wants to learn and know and explore. But it’s not for someone who wants to just get through school. In many ways Union is in the sweet spot for a lot of things. It’s got a traditional college feel with Greek Life, sports, arts, and engineering, really something for everyone. But it will give you what you put into it. So make sure you want to get plenty out of it. It will reward you for it.
Pros:
Cons:
Schenectady, New York
Union College was founded in 1795, the first college chartered by the Board of Regents of New York. It was called Union for a reason, not just because the term was newly popular post independence from Britain, but because it was founded as and continues to be today, a non-denominational school, welcoming a diverse student body. Today it’s home to just under 2500 undergraduate students who study everything from the original offerings of science, math, history, and modern languages to engineering, constitutional government, and politics which came on board in 1845. In 1970, the school became co-ed with the acceptance of 125 women to their first class, and today it hovers just around the 54%/46% male to female ratio.
With a 10:1 student faculty ratio and a Common Curriculum, Union attracts students who are eager to learn and curious about their world. In your first year you will take a First Year Preceptorial, basically a course designed to introduce you to the writing, critical thinking, analytical, and synthetic skills you will need in college. This is an opportunity to read widely, discuss deeply, and evaluate disparate ideas as you encounter texts, people, and concepts that are more diverse than you have probably experienced before. This class will prepare you for the work of college.
There’s more to the preceptorial though than meets the eye. Your FYP (First Year Preceptorial) is an interdisciplinary class that is thematic in nature. You will have choices when it comes to what theme you want to explore. Themes are generally flexible and also broad in nature, and they range in focus (all hail the liberal arts!). So you can choose from courses like ****ing Up: Failure Is an Option, Technology: Bane of Boon, Narrative Medicine: Honoring Stories of Suffering, Food, Culture, and Society, Monsters and Monstrosities, Goodness, Happiness, and Truthi-ness, Crossing Boundaries: Science and Literature, or Coming of Age in the Non-Western World. These classes are not a gen-ed English class like what you might expect from many a state school. The purpose of this class is to engage with the concepts that underpin the topic rather than to simply learn to write well. They know you took AP English. But now it’s time to get serious about your ability to engage in more sophisticated conversations about more advanced topics.
Your second year you will take a Sophomore Research Seminar. Make no mistake, this is not training for your major. This is an undergraduate research experience meant to teach you the skills of true research in libraries, archives, labs, etc. (Google is not an option here). You will be learning not just about how to gather information but also how to best present it, organize it, and make it coherent and comprehendible. This is meant as an early experience in undergraduate research so that you become familiar enough and capable enough with these skills so that you are able to take on more rigorous work as you continue in your studies.
In addition to these two classes, the Common Curriculum includes courses in a wide variety of subjects. Literature, natural sciences (lab included), quantitative and mathematical reasoning, arts and humanities, science, engineering, and technology, languages and cultures, and writing across the curriculum are all part of the curriculum at Union and while many people think that they don’t ever want to take another English class or another Math class, I’m here to tell you why you should. You know how I kind of know something about everything? How it’s kind of weirdly creepy? The secret is oddly banal: I went to a school with a Common Curriculum. And we took classes in everything (yes, PE was part of that, and we had to know how to swim). But this is why I know things like the Krebs Cycle even though I was an English and world History teacher. I can tell you about how the universe is expanding like the raisins in a loaf of bread do when it rises (it’s all equidistant) or I can explain how mitochondrial DNA is passed down or how stratigraphy can be used help to date fossils or human remains. A common curriculum is empowering in your life. And while it is true that I might not have survived Calculus without my physicist roommate (h/t Matt Carlson wherever you may be!), schools that encourage this kind of curriculum attract people who are curious and who want to be with other curious people.
But there’s more to Union than just their Common Curriculum. Union also has an excellent Engineering program and in fact, it’s ranked #29 in the nation for engineering for undergrads, which is pretty great if you’re looking to be in a smaller environment than Tech. In addition to that it has some engineering options that are kind of niche as well. Two of the options for engineering at Union that you may not find at more traditional engineering programs but that are appealing to WAHS students are Biomedical engineering and Environmental engineering. In addition there are study abroad options specific to engineering in New Zealand, Turkey, and Belgium. Most engineering students choose to study in those programs, but are also free to study in others.
All Union students must engage in an International Experience. This can be an exchange program, study abroad, international project, foreign language study, or a cultural diversity class. Most Union students choose to study abroad. There are over 160 classes that will meet this requirement and Union offers over 40 programs to 29 countries that are taught by Union faculty. These range from learning about traditional Chinese medicine in a mini-break course in Tianjian, China to a fall term spent in Fiji doing anthropological research on the people and cultures of these Pacific Islanders (all while living with a family). But that’s maybe too far? Spend the fall term a the University of Galway exploring traditional Irish music, Irish Poetry, or Shakespearean Comedies or go to São Paulo and learn Portuguese, examine the themes of Brazilian Cinema, or study Women, Environment, and Social Change.
Arts are a big thing at Union. Union has over 600 courses in the arts and they are not isolated from other disciplines. The Illustrated Organism is an art class where studio arts students focus on scientific art and illustration. The recording studios at Union are state of the art and can be used for sound mixing or for any other project. Documentary filmmaking is just as likely to be a class taken by an arts student as it is by a student majoring in Science, Medicine, and Technology, or Environmental Policy, or Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The data visualization class required for Digital Media is equally a part of the Anthropologist’s toolkit as it is a part of the Political Scientist’s. And once the cross curricular work is complete, there are also five performance centers at Union for dance, theater, and music, not to mention the spaces for artists to display their work. There is always a performance, a gallery, a happening at Union. It’s hard to make time for it all.
Remember that 2nd year research seminar? “It’s not for nothing,” as my grandmother would say. Every year at Union undergraduate research is celebrated and awarded during the Steinmetz Symposium. Work done in labs, studios, and the field is presented during the symposium and celebrated in this tradition harkening back to the early days of Union. Classes are canceled on this day and a series of oral presentations, posters, performances, and art exhibits run concurrently, showing off the work in which students have engaged. Topics for this year range from The Global Child in Cambodia to Grasshopper Inspire Locomotion in Tensegrity Robotics, from Environmentalist Foundation of India to Co-working: The Global Movement. Over 500 students participate in the Steinmetz Symposium and since it celebrates what students are passionate about, it’s the perfect opportunity to foster student engagement.
One of the most unique aspects to Union College is their Minerva House system. Many of the students who present at Steinmetz have done their research together through their Minerva House. All students are assigned a Minerva House when they first arrive at Union. It’s based on your First Year Preceptorial class and your class may be taught in your Minerva (professors are encouraged to teach there). Minervas are a sort of 3rd space at Union. You can live there (2nd year and up), study there, have class there (faculty are all assigned to a Minerva as well). But it’s not a dorm exactly, and it’s definitely not a classroom where it’s all business. Your Minerva has its own character, and it’s determined by you. Minervas are run by students and there is a student council who will decide what to do with the $26,000 budget you get yearly. Use the kitchen in the Minerva when you just super need to make some cookies. Nap between classes. Watch the Superbowl with your friends. Meet up with your research partners to work on your presentation. Listen to a speaker, have dinner with a professor, drop in for a midnight snack, hang out on the patio when the weather is nice, or use the grill. There are seven Minerva Houses and one is yours.
Ninety percent of Union students live on campus all four years. Some students live in the Minerva Houses (the rooms tend to be bigger than regular dorm rooms), and others choose to live in Greek Housing. But there are multiple kinds of housing available at Union. Apartment style, traditional, theme, even a renovated hotel (College Park Hall), are all options. First years are assigned a roommate and a residence hall. For that year your options are based mostly on the FYP you’ve chosen. But they do work with the style of living you like as well (suite, corridor, quiet study). After that it’s a lottery system and the higher your year the better your chances. There isn’t a lot of difference between these residences. Davidson has both co-ed and single sex floors (and communal microwaves, which we know from WAHS is not always lovely). It’s also home to two fraternities. Richmond is single sex by floor (no microwaves). Webster is all co-ed floors and has kitchenettes. It’s also the quiet study hall and the substance free living space. West is all co-ed and has no cooking of any kind it would seem. But it has the major dining hall, so there you have it.
There is also theme housing for your later time at Union. GPA and applications are necessary for these, but they are pretty nice. There is ARTS House: arts and creativity, Bronner House: multicultural and diversity oriented, Dickens House: literature and humanities, Iris House: LGBTQ+ community, Maker House: creativity and collaboration, Ozone House: sustainability, Religious Diversity House: spirituality and religion, Rights House: civil liberties, Serenity House: stress relief, Symposium House: political and social discourse, Tech House: technology, Thurston House: Asian culture, Wells House: community service. These are for upper class students. All are co-ed and all are required to host three events per year.
So what is there to do at Union. Shall we start with sports? Union is DIII so there’s a good chance you can play there. They have football, but the big sport at Union is ice hockey. That, my friends, is DI. You all are from the Cville/Albemarle area and but for a few of you, you don’t necessarily appreciate the sport of hockey, but in places like upstate New York, New England, and Canada, hockey is king. Let’s just put it this way: blood bounces on ice. And don’t think hockey is just for the guys. There is club, intramural, and DI women’s hockey at Union as well. When I tell you hockey is king, it’s really king and queen.
In addition to hockey, there is football. But there are also cross country, rowing, soccer, swimming, volleyball, lacrosse, golf, tennis, field hockey, basketball, baseball. Basically all the usual suspects are there. There is some club and intercollegiate riding. Club rugby is also an option. Ultimate frisbee and water polo are also available. It’s a sportsy and healthy place.
What else can take up your time? There’s Greek Life and it’s healthy. Live with them, hang with them, get involved with them. There are multiple service organizations as well. Try Empty Bowls which sells the hand made bowls ceramics students craft to raise money to fight hunger. Or maybe you want to become a Best Buddy by working with a person who has an intellectual or developmental disability. Get involved with an academic club like the Association for Women in Mathematics, Spanish Club, Philosophy Club, Ethics Bowl, Biomedical Engineering Society, or Robotics. Join in with the Culture and Identity clubs like Hillel, Women’s Union, Black Student Union, Campus Protestant Ministry, or Union Pride. Take care of your world with Engineers for a Sustainable World, or Beekeeping Club, Octopus’s Garden, or U-Sustain. Join the Student Forum, Minerva House Councils, or Interfraternity Council and make your voice heard. Be a part of the arts scene by getting involved with the African Dance Club, Hip Hop Club, No Offense Improv Troupe, Concert Club, or Pep Band. Get political with International Relations and Economic Policy, Democracy Matters, or Young Republicans. Get published in The Minerva Review, The Idol, or the Union Banner. Go fly fishing. Learn to fence. Get out into the outdoors by snowshoeing, canoeing, skiing, rock climbing, spelunking. Be faithful by joining Interfaith Youth Corps, Catholic Student Association, Muslim Students Association. Play chess, launch a rocket, watch films, cook, plan events, or just work out.
Is Union for you? Union is for a lot of people. Union is for the curious and the smart. It’s for the student who wants to learn and know and explore. But it’s not for someone who wants to just get through school. In many ways Union is in the sweet spot for a lot of things. It’s got a traditional college feel with Greek Life, sports, arts, and engineering, really something for everyone. But it will give you what you put into it. So make sure you want to get plenty out of it. It will reward you for it.
Pros:
- Undergrad engineering in a small setting
- Minerva Houses
- Size is perfect
- Greek Life/Sports!
Cons:
- Private means $
- Cold winters
- More hockey than football (you could learn to love this!)
- You have to be motivated