The response to both questions is the same: the small
classes.
After my freshman year, with one exception (Shakespeare),
I never had a class bigger than 12 students. To top it off, in
my senior year, I had Advanced Partial Differential Equations
at 8:00 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with only four
students in it. Try not doing your homework in a class that size;
there isn't a desk big enough to crawl under when the professor
says, "Mr. Amson, give me the third derivative of 3(xy)
cubed + n(4zy) squared" and all you can come up with at
eight o’clock in the morning is "Humma humma humma,
I forgot to do my homework."
Jonathan Amson ’60
Hands down, it’s the people. I had an excellent
tour guide, and everyone I met on my visits to campus took
time out of their day to talk to me, which didn't happen at
any other school I looked at. Now, whenever I think of
St. Lawrence, I think of the friendships I've formed as a result
of being there.
Adam Casler ’06
Why should anyone attend St. Lawrence? One step on campus
demonstrates the friendliness of its people--students, faculty,
staff, maintenance folks - everyone! You feel like you belong.
And after graduation, no matter whom you meet or how old they
are, there is a special bond that I have never witnessed in
anyone but someone who has gone to St. Lawrence. All three
jobs I had after graduation came as a result of an SLU grad
hiring me because I also had St. Lawrence on my resume.
Pat Fenstermacher May '63
My father still talks about one of the tour guides; he didn't
need to pretend to like SLU--you could tell how much he loved
being there.
Ryan Luley '01
What attracted me? A university with a superior, interactive
and personable math department and, throughout, an excellent
professor-to-student ratio. What’s the best thing? A
dynamic liberal arts education with unlimited opportunities
to explore and develop one’s skills in being a global
citizen, on a beautiful campus.
Martha Root Peterson ’62
As I got to know the people who worked at SLU, they made me feel
like I was special and someone they really wanted to have there,
not a number or a name without a face. The academic programs
were also attractive, especially the freedom to try new
things such as creating your own major, customizing your senior
project, or studying abroad anywhere even if SLU doesn't
have a specific program where you want to go.
Karoline Chrzanowski ‘06
I took classes in so many different departments that my education
was ultimately much more well-rounded than it would have been
had I chosen to pigeonhole myself in a program at a larger
university. During my junior and senior years, only one
of my classes had more than eight students in it, a ratio that
fostered excellent debate, discussion and a sense of ownership
of the classes SLU offers pretty much everything you
could want - if it doesn't exist, there's a really good chance
you'll find the support to create it!
Rachel Peterson ’04
What I tell people who ask why a young person should go to
St. Lawrence is, "Everyone there will be interested in
you and your St. Lawrence experience."
Frank Shields ’54
The sense that the school truly cared about its students went
a long way. The beautiful campus didn't hurt any! The
classes are small, which allows for great faculty-student interactions. High-quality
research as an undergrad may be easier at a small liberal arts
school because you get to work with your faculty advisors
and not for them. The student-alumni connection
is strong across the board. How it is expressed in each
discipline differs--and that too makes SLU a special place
with special people.
Sarah Zimmerman McElfresh '98
I was introduced to St. Lawrence by area alumni who spoke of
the strong bonds, academic profile and culture of the school. I
was attracted to the bucolic setting and close-knit community. St.
Lawrence grants you the benefit of close relationships with
your professors, a strong academic experience and robust alumni
connection to encourage life-long ties with the St. Lawrence
community.
Ursula Arello ’89
