I'd highly recommend SJU to anyone. SJU is a great place for someone who's looking for an intimate learning environment with small classes, accessible professors, and friendly people. Apart from the drawback of the freezing weather in winter (it's getting chilly here already... It's around 14 degrees Celsius), and a slight lack in diversity (almost everybody here is from either Minnesota OR China, and that's a rather telling factor for me because I'd prefer to see a much more diverse environment with more people from other states and countries), it's an excellent place to study.
 The people are very friendly and the food is just top notch. I've met some people who have come here based on the food alone!
I'm having a pretty good time here and it's just my kind of place. It's very much in touch with nature and the campus is really beautiful. It has much to offer for nature enthusiasts from canoeing to rock climbing to a 3000 acre arboretum. SJU is an outdoors man's ideal escape. But if you're a big city life sort of person, I'd warn you because the campus is very remote. St. Cloud, the closest metropolitan area is about 20 minutes away, and travelling to the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is a hassle (plus it's very expensive) if you don't have a car or know someone with a car. I should also say that SJU has everything you'll want.
There are parties that happen on weekends and the kids here do party hard. The facilities too are as high end as it gets while the classes are very rigorous and challenging. You will be expected to study a lot and class attendance is very important since they are very small and the professors will know you by name, unlike in a much larger public university. Nevertheless, they are very interesting, and the professors are very good.
My First Year Seminar (a course all freshmen need to take) Professor Kelly Kraemer is a Harvard graduate, and the others too are well qualified. Plus the advising office is very helpful and more accessible than a big university. I should also mention that some of my friends have told me about sub-standard professors in other classes. I don't think that's a big proportion though.
There are many things to do on campus and I'd say my experience here so far has been very rewarding. I'm in the process of creating a new club on campus and hopefully that will go well. Although it might not be very well recognized back at home, SJU is a reputed institution here in the States and especially in Minnesota. Many successful graduates from SJU go onto follow graduate studies at top grad schools like Harvard, UPenn, Notre Dame, Duke, Penn State, UCLA, and lots more. It will equip you well for what's ahead and give you a solid education.
The 90% retention rate of undergrads returning for the second year is also an important factor that affected my decision to come here. And now that I'm here, it's clear as to why many people decide to stay all four years here. There's a sense of community and it's a very welcoming place. A few days back, Brother Walter, my faculty resident, a Benedictine monk, made a delicious apple crumble pie with freshly squeezed apple juice for everyone in my floor. It was extremely delectable, but what really got to me was that you wouldn't get this sort of educational experience back at home.
I like this place a lot because of all the things I mentioned. Another reason to like this place is the lack of Sri Lankans (including myself, there are only 4 guys here). It pushes you to engage with people from different backgrounds and that's a big thing for me. I've already made many friends from a lot of countries like Sweden, Germany, Trinidad, Jamaica, Bangladesh, Korea, and China, not to mention the Americans.
I've noticed that a lot of Sri Lankans tend to hang out together, thereby missing out on the wonderful opportunity of fraternizing with people from different cultures. |
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