Providence College Top Questions

Though the brochures may drum up Providence as a "college town" filled with other students from RISD, Brown, Johnson & Wales, etc., there has not been a single time when I have gone into the city and run into students from any other school. The only places that are safe enough to go are the Providence Place Mall, where you will run into every other person in your class, and Thayer Street, where you may spot the occasional boho artsy RISD student. However, for the most part, PC students stick to the PPM for shopping, movies, or to eat out at one of the restaurants, which gets old very, very fast for students looking for activities other than drinking. On the weekend, most PC students migrate to the sketchy bars in the ghetto, only to emerge with at least one member of their "clique" missing their wallet and cell phone as a result of being jumped by a local. No joke.

The best thing about PC is the people - the school has so much school pride and spirit, and the friends you make here are ones you will have for life, you meet so many amazing people that are just like you. People are proud when I tell them that I go to PC- it has a great reputation for a school, though it is expensive. The most frequent student complaints are that the Catholic presence is too strong- but thats what they get for choosing a Catholic school.

In my opinion, the best thing about PC is its size and its location. There are about 4,000 undergraduate students (about 900-1,000 students per class). This seems to be a perfect medium. By the end of Freshman year you will recognize most of your peers but the class number is still large enough that you will meet new friends throughout your undergrad years. The city of Providence is great too. Although the school isn't located in the best neighborhood, the school is located about two miles from downtown. This makes it very easy to find fun things to do on the weekends with clubs, bars, a great mall, and restaurants just a few miles down the road. The student life on campus is fabulousss! We have a D-1 basketball team taht plays in Downtown Providence at the Dunkin Donut Center. Most students attend the games during the week which makes a Tuesday night pretty fun. PC is known for being a party school, if you didn't know that now you do! But don't fret there are plenty of things to do if you dont like bars or parties.I was suprised to find that a lot of students go out a lot of weekdays. On any given night you decide you want to have some fun...you can always find it. The most unsual thing about PC is the good chance that you will bump into a Friars dressed in long white dresses a couple times everyday. They might even teach your class. Yes, it's a strange thing to get used to but it's great to have a professor that cares about teaching you about more than just math or biology. Our mascot is a Friar. Which is terrifying. I still haven't gotten used to that yet. The best on campus events are Midnight Madness, Clam Jam, and Relay for Life.

Pc is is both big and small, but more small. You will know or recognize most of your class by graduation. Students are either into drinking or going to church. Sports can be exciting given the big east affiliation , but suck because they always loose. Your surrounded by a kinda shitty neighborhood. Amenities within walking distance include a few dive bars (easy to drink with fake ID) and a few take out restaurants. The city itself is great, but is a bus ride or drive away. Academics are competitive but not too rigorous.

PC is great if you are looking for a small school. It is easy to feel at home there and the students and faculty develop relationships and rapports becuase of the class size. If bigger is better for you then this is not the school, everyone ends up knowing everyone and what they did with their weekends. Providence is an amazing city when you venture out of the PC area which is not in a college friendly area aside from local bars that love the underage crowd. They student body is what makes the school a great place and the administration is what takes away from every good thing about PC, they are similar to overbearing parents including enforcing on campus rules to off campus houses. The Catholic rules seem a little archaic when enforced but it is something that everyone is dealing with, easy to get around and you get used to it. While students complain about the lack of diversity, it is not something that truly affects those who complain, who tend to hang out with their clones anyways, the campus is still segregated in terms of racial diversity. While there is little diversity, the few minorites that do come to our campus tend to socialize seperately from the majority of the campus- probably through no fault of their own.

This school is probably has the biggest bar scene out of every other college. There are 6 or 7 bars within 1 mile of the school that accept any i.d. It is small enough that you see people you know all the time and you feel a strong sense of belonging in the school community.Administration rips students off for any expenses-- damages to rooms, throwing up in bathrooms, violations, etc

There are roughly 4000 students, which I think is a perfect size. The only large class is DWC, and even then we are broken into 4 seminars at least once a week. I spend most of my time in the Performing Arts Building, practicing and doing my extracurriculars. I love that the city is easily accessible, but we still have a campus, and a beautiful campus at that. I haven't regretted my decision to attend PC for a second since I've been here.

the best thing about PC- i like the small campus and people are generally nice. One thing I would change is I would want the overall student population to be less apathetic. Or I'd change the fact that the administration doesn't seem to hold too much weight on student opinions, in my experience. There are very, very few people who care about any issues going on outside the campus and outside of drinking. I spend most of my time in my room, my friends' suite, or my boyfriend's dorm. There isn't really anywhere else to spend time outside of class. I think the only frequent complaints I've heard are that there isn't anything to do on weekends besides drink unless you are going downtown and spending money--which students don't tend to have much of.

Obviously, the ethnic range deficiencies is a major problem at PC, and most of the other problems I have with the college stem from this. The students at PC are incredibly sheltered, and that leads to rather predictable and repetitive behavior. Students at PC never seemed concerned about anything besides having more than a few drinks at a friend's dorm room. Yes, all college institutions have their share of parties, but PC doesn't seem to have "parties" but rather a drunken get-together. I rarely spend time on campus because of the downright boring repetitive happenings.

The best thing about PC is the social aspect, for me. I've met the greatest people there who enjoy going out and having a great time. The school is a perfect size, around 4000, where you don't know everyone but you know enough people where you walk around campus and can recognize people especially when you are there longer. When I tell people that I go to PC, people look at me like I go to a very prestigious school, which I feel it is. I spend most of my time on campus in my apartment or out on the quad when it is nice out or at the cafeterias. Providence, the city itself, is AMAZING. There are so many different things that you can do. The restaurants are also awesome and I find myself constantly trying new restaurants. The club/bar scene is never ending. The biggest recent controversy. Everyone is proud to be a FRIAR and we all have a ton of school pride. The most unusual thing about PC is probably the parietals rules that you face when you are a Freshman/Sophmore in the traditional dorms. But you get over those and by the time they really matter, you're in the apartments so parietals don't matter. I'll always remember JRW because it was the best weekend of my life. And getting the opportunity to go to the Commencement Week at PC with a friend who was graduating was absolutely amazing! The only complaint that I have is that the administration kind of stinks. They try to rip you out of a lot of money and they can be very unfair when you get in any trouble. They are always trying to get money out of you.