Saint Louis University Top Questions

When I'm at home in Texas, most people don't know what SLU is, but I think that's because we're not terribly strong in sports. SLU is admittedly not the place for everyone, but it's certainly the perfect place for me. It's decently large, but not huge. I've never had a class with more than 30 students, and that provides more attention from the professor. It's a Catholic school, but is rather liberal in the sense that all ideas are welcome, whether they be Catholic, Islamic, Jewish, Atheistic, Agnostic, or non-religious. The SLU faculty certainly believes that things can be learned from people who think differently, so they're very open-minded. Whether someone comes from a different religious background, a different economic background, a different cultural background (American or from the other side of the world), we believe that we can learn from them.

One problem that I have with SLU is that I am 26 years old and do not fit in at all. The majority of the students in my program are between the ages of 18 and 24, and those in my class are just turning 21. They are at the party age, which I have far surpassed. Many of the professors here treat everyone like an 18 year old instead of an individual and don't understand that not all of us have mommies and daddies buying us everything, not all of us live on campus, not all of us skip classes, and some of us HAVE to work to pay our mortgage and utilities.

The best thing about SLU is that even if your true home is thousands of miles away or halfway across the world, SLU really makes you feel at home and comfortable. When you tell people that you go to SLU, they're really impressed. Its a competitive school and you can't be someone who scraped along high school with Ds. They're some of the cream-of-the-crop kids and some of the best future leaders. There are tons of school pride (especially if you like soccer or basketball). The friends you meet here become your family and will be your best friends for life and your bridesmaides and groomsmen at your wedding.

Its a fun campus.

SLU has the perfect amount of students. When you walk to classes, chances are that you will know at least 1/3 of the people you pass. The campus is beautiful and has pleanty of places to study, both indoors and outside. When I tell people I go to SLU, most people are impressed because SLU has a very good reputation. SLU doesn't have the feel of a college town. However, the campus has everything you need.

The best thing about SLU is having excellent accessibility to your professors. Classes are almost always taught by professors, not T.A.'s. I would like to see more opportunities to eat healthy food. SLU is just the right size for me. It is relatively small compared to other schools like University of Missouri-Columbia. People seem impressed when I tell them that I go to school, it is in the top 5 Jesuit Universities in the nation. I spend most of my time in the BSC (Busch Student Center) or hanging out with friends in my dorm room. SLU's administration is very helpful and nice. The biggest controversy this past year on SLU campus was the canceling of the play "The Vagina Monologues". Many people felt that by Father Biondi canceling it, he was supporting violence against women. News Channel 4 came to campus because there was a protest on Grand. Sports are not a main focus at SLU so the school pride is probably considered lower than at many other universities. The most frequent student complaints is the food at Griesdieck and Reinert Dining hall.

The school is just the right size. A person can be alone when they want to be, or find a familiar face in the student center is he or she chooses to. School pride is not, however, overwhelming. There are those who are smitten with the school, but, for the most part, SLU is the kind of school that is takes time to love. Each person finds his or her niche and gets out of the school as much as he or she chooses to put into it.

My favorite part about SLU is that it doesn't just focus on the academics, but focuses on the student. SLU is Jesuit and we follow the Jesuit mission which is to create a balanced lifestyle. So they strive to help as grow as individuals in all areas, not just school, but in spiritual, mental, and emotional areas too. I grew as a person at SLU not just as a student. I'll never forget I was filling out an application for an internship. I went to our campus minister to proofread my essay and resume. She went out of her way to help me improve both even though she was incredibly busy. Then my academic advisor also went out of her way to help with the application. Niether one had to help, but they both went the extra step in helping me. Most of SLUs staff and faculty is more than willing to go out of their way to help just as my campus minister and academic advisor helped me to get my internship. I also like the size of SLU, its big enough that I can always meet new people, but small enough that I always see someone I know on campus on my way to class. But I do wish that we had more school pride and got into sports more. I think that will change with the new arena though.

SLU just built a new arena and it it really cool. The campus has been getting safer. There is a main road that cuts through the campus that people have to cross to get to some of their classes, but you get used to it. you just have to be smart about things. I know there have been assults on campus. Also the US Bank in the student center was robbed this past year. And the DPS couldn't find the guy even though he was on campus for 15 min after he robed the bank, supposedly unarmed.

Saint Louis University is a jesuit institution that takes academics very seriously. There is a very diverse student body which provides students with an opportunity to interact with many different cultures. It is located in an urban environment in the heart of Saint Louis. I have never had a bad experience at SLU personally.