University of St Thomas-Saint Paul Top Questions

My overall opinion of St. Thomas is that it is a wonderful school. I feel that St. Thomas is one of the best schools around because it is student oriented instead of research oriented. What I mean by this is that the professors are expected to be more available to students in order to help them learn and answer questions outside of the classroom. I have always found the professors to be willing to accommodate the needs of the students and make time to help them outside of the classroom. What I also like is that as an undergraduate student, you still are being taught by professors with PhD's and not TA's like you probably would be at a larger school. Outside of the scholastic aspect of the school, I find the general atmosphere to be welcoming and warm. Students and faculty tend to have great pride in the school and this is probably helped greatly by the fact that during the last few years, the St. Thomas sports teams have been performing phenomenally. The lacrosse team won back-to-back national titles in 2009 and 2010, the men's basketball team won the national championship last year, the baseball team won the national title in 2009. The football team has gone to the semi finals for the NCAA championship the last 3 years in a row and the coach Glenn Caruso just won the DIII coach of the year for the second year in a row, becoming the first coach to do so. The St. Thomas club rugby team that I play for has gone to the national tournament the last three years in a row, finishing in the top 8 in 2009 and finishing ranked 14th in the nation this year. It is also evident that the school is growing and conscious of the changing times because they just built a brand new athletic facility last year with state of the art equipment and just this month finished the new student center which will generate a lot of interest in the school for perspective students. I feel that the size of the school is something that it has to it's advantage. It has about 11,000 students total, around 6,000 of those being undergraduates. This size means that you are always meeting new people but you are also able to see friends and acquaintances around campus regularly. The one thing that sold me as a prospective student is that it is an unbelievably beautiful campus in a metropolis. I was not expecting a University in an urban center to be so aesthetically pleasing, but it is evident that St. Thomas takes great pride in it's appearance. Also, something that is generally helpful, especially in Minnesota winters is that the campus is not too big. Unlike many other campuses, it is not sprawled over a large area, but more compact. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to walk from one end of campus to the other. I believe that St. Thomas is just the right size, being between the size of a really small campus and a large campus.

St. Thomas is the largest private institution in the state of Minnesota, but it is still much smaller and intimate than state and public schools in the twin cities area. The large size results in a variety of opportunities to become involved through clubs, athletics and other campus organizations, but the school is small enough to allow everyone to stand out and be a leader. The school is located on Summit Avenue and in the middle of a neighborhood of some of the most beautiful Victorian houses in the country. Students feel comfortable beyond the boundaries of the campus and enjoy access to the scenic Mississippi river bike and walking trails just a few blocks away. Downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul are only a five minute drive away. It's great to be a Tommie especially with the recent successes of our varsity sports in the past few years. Our football team is one of the top ranked D3 teams in the country and our stands are always filled with excitement and purple. One of the best traditions of St. Thomas is the annual Tommie/Johnnie football game against our rival St. Johns. 2010's game resulted in the highest attended D3 football game ever. As a varsity athlete the values of sportsmanship, spirit and camaraderie are considerably stronger here than in any other team I have participated in. St. Thomas puts the personal touch on academics. The average class size is 21 students, but I have been in classes as small as 12. Every professor that you have will know you on a first name basis and are generally very useful in helping you find opportunities to excel in your field beyond the classroom.

One of the most positive aspects of St. Thomas is the one on one help that professors give their students. I have never taken a class and found myself thinking "does my professor even care about my grade?" Walking onto the UST campus I was blown away. It is absolutely gorgeous and definitely a selling point. Being in a place of beauty is inspirational. One thing that I would like to change on my campus is the sole focus on athletics. I think that our university has so many other interesting and wonderful clubs, but many of them don't get the credit or attention that they deserve. Aside from that though, I think that my campus is awesome. We have tons of school pride. This is often demonstrated through "Tommy Tuesdays" when students wear purple to support UST!

I absolutely love the University of St. Thomas. There are only about 15 to 20 students in each class which makes it easy to form relationships with teachers and classmates. The campus is very compact; it takes only fifteen minutes to walk from one end of campus to the other. I am definitely grateful for this short walking distance during the cold, Minnesota winter months. In addition to being compact, the campus is also beautiful. The grass of the upper and lower quads is luscious and green during the fall and spring. Students are often seen playing Frisbee, studying or lounging on the quads during these warmer months. The location is ideal as well. The University of St. Thomas is located in the heart of St. Paul which is a cozy, residential, Minnesota city. There is also a shuttle bus, which is free for students, that the university owns and uses to transport students to downtown Minneapolis. Downtown Minneapolis offers students a range of activities with its restaurants, movie theatres, clubs, museums, shopping malls and much more.

I absolutely love the University of St. Thomas. There are only about 15 to 20 students in each class which makes it easy to form relationships with teachers and classmates. The campus is very compact; it takes only fifteen minutes to walk from one end of campus to the other. I am definitely grateful for this short walking distance during the cold, Minnesota winter months. In addition to being compact, the campus is also beautiful. The grass of the upper and lower quads is luscious and green during the fall and spring. Students are often seen playing Frisbee, studying or lounging on the quads during these warmer months. The location is ideal as well. The University of St. Thomas is located in the heart of St. Paul which is a cozy, residential, Minnesota city. There is also a shuttle bus, which is free for students, that the university owns and uses to transport students to downtown Minneapolis. Downtown Minneapolis offers students a range of activities with its restaurants, movie theatres, clubs, museums, shopping malls and much more.

St. thomas is a great school, but I admit that the price is a considerable amount to pay. One thing that makes this a bit comforting is knowing that St. Thomas is the biggest private college in Minnesota, yet you will rarely find yourself in a class with more than 25 students. You will also find yourself being taught by a professor themself, rather than a Teaching Assistant; I have heard many horror stories, from friends at other colleges and universities, about their classes going awry due to a Teaching Assistant being in charge of nearly the entire class. University of St. Thomas professors are there to help their students learn, and they engage in each student's personal learning process. I feel incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to learn at St. Thomas.

St. thomas is a great school, but I admit that the price is a considerable amount to pay. One thing that makes this a bit comforting is knowing that St. Thomas is the biggest private college in Minnesota, yet you will rarely find yourself in a class with more than 25 students. You will also find yourself being taught by a professor themself, rather than a Teaching Assistant; I have heard many horror stories, from friends at other colleges and universities, about their classes going awry due to a Teaching Assistant being in charge of nearly the entire class. University of St. Thomas professors are there to help their students learn, and they engage in each student's personal learning process. I feel incredibly fortunate for the opportunity to learn at St. Thomas.

The University of St. Thomas has an attractive campus and is well maintained with a student:staff ratio of 15:1. The upper classes are small and often engaging. When my mother tells family that I am attending UST, often they are impressed. However, UST has a few drawbacks. It requires an excessive amount of theology and philosophy courses (12 credits and 8 credits, respectively). The curriculum claims to want students to acquire an understanding of Faith and the Catholic Tradition when ultimately one course, or two most, is sufficient. One who is not taken by organized religion cannot help but feel like one is having propaganda crammed down one's throat. These feelings spread evenly to philosophy (Moral and Philosophical Reasoning) in that courses do not deviate from theology. One is to impose the what and why of Catholicism, while the other imposes the how using arguments that are impossible to contradict. The UST also lacks a college town. There are a couple restaurants, the obligatory bookstore and social commons, and [in]convenience store which is full of chips, pizzas, ice cream, and candy, with a small corner dedicated to Naked juices and a back wall for over the counter drugs. However, if one wants shampoo, healthy foods such as salads and lunch meat not packed with salts, one must get on a bus and go to the nearby Rainbow store. Additionally, there is no bank, just a U.S. Bank ATM . Luckily, there is are additional ATMs nearby, such as the Wells Fargo ATM inside the Grand Ave. gas station. However, the school has excellent facilities. One who is sports and fitness oriented may enter the recreation center to enjoy use of the pool, weight room, gym, and dance rooms. Overall, the school is just decent enough to get away with asking for its tuition fee. I am no stranger to the bus, but I suggest having a line of transportation ready for serious errands and supplies.

My overall opinion of the University of St. Thomas is highly positive. I have had such a great experience so far and I am not even halfway through my time here! One of the best things about this school is the feel of community we have. Though it is great in terms of walking distances, this close-group community feel is not because of the closeness of the campuses; it's all about the endless student involvement in even the smallest of clubs, the student attendance at sporting events to cheer for peers you may not even know, the willingness of all professors to help individuals in any way possible, and those relationships you form as you get to know students in your same major as you continue to have classes with them over the years. The student body size is fairly small, but I personally embrace that and have loved getting to know so many more people at a closer level instead of meeting tons of acquaintances in huge lecture halls. If I were to change anything about St. Thomas, I would remove one or two of the required core classes for Theology and Philosophy. After taking those types of courses throughout high school, I personally have discovered that I am not passionate about either topic so would prefer to have a choice whether or not to take them. However, I understand that this is a Catholic university and that religion and philosophy can enhance the overall curriculum of the school. When I tell people that I attend St. Thomas, they are usually impressed and immediately tell me how many of their co-workers are graduates from here; the university helps in the job search so much after graduating and the good 'St. Thomas graduate' title doesn't hurt either! Being located in St. Paul and Minneapolis does not really allow the surrounding campus areas to be a 'college town'; the nearby neighborhoods are filled with families and these cities are filled with activities that are not simply aimed at college students, allowing us to broaden our horizons with such a variety of things to do around the cities. An experience that I will never forget is the Tommie-Johnnie game of my freshman year. Our Tommies beat the Johnnies for the first time in a long time in a close-scoring game; I had never seen such school spirit and bonding between Tommie fans that had never met! The feeling of community and excitement is one that I will never forget.

The best thing about St. Thomas is its location! I love being so close to both down town Minneapolis and St. Paul, but also being located in a nice, hometown feeling neighborhood. If their is one thing I would change about St. Thomas it would be its overnight visitation rules. St. Thomas is just the right size for me.