Liberal Arts & Sciences | Freshman Programs | Learning Communities | Senior Project

What should you expect, when you come to Purchase?
You'll learn by doing. You'll get lots of hands-on, interdisciplinary experience. You'll be challenged, encouraged, and involved. Most classes are small seminars, not large lectures, and you can work right along with faculty, in labs, on stage, in studios, in the field.

What should you expect from the faculty?
A lot. Of our full-time faculty, approximately 86% hold a doctorate or other terminal degree; others are award-winning authors, journalists, and filmmakers. They know their stuff. They know how to study, create, perform, and accomplish it. They also know how to teach it. As you work with the faculty, declare a major, and move into more advanced coursework, you'll really come to appreciate them.

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Appreciate diversity in your world. How are we all different? And how are we the same? Here at Purchase, you also will explore non-Western culture, race, and gender across all your general education. Our faculty in the humanities and the social sciences are nationally known for their research and scholarship in these areas. They'll encourage you to grapple with the perspectives of historically underrepresented people such as women and minorities, as well as people from non-Western cultures.

What about declaring a major? If you've already decided on a major, you can start right into courses in your major, though you still need to satisfy requirements in other subjects. Or you may take more time to decide, sampling from a rich variety of liberal arts.

Need academic advice? Every student works one-on-one with a faculty advisor. He or she will help you plan a satisfying, challenging academic program. If you have already decided on a major, your academic advisor will be selected from your area of study.

Or academic help? The Learning Center at Purchase offers a full range of services, including: tutorials, writing skills, mathematics, foreign language, study skills, time management, note taking, computer-aided learning, and multimedia learning. Reading machines are available for visually challenged and learning disabled students.

Transferring to Purchase? Many of our best students transfer to Purchase College. In fact, approximately 40% of our new students each year come to us from other institutions.

Go outside the classroom. You won't find Purchase run by fraternities, sororities, or jocks. Nothing against Greek organizations or athletes, but we're more diverse. That means you can join a wide range of groups and clubs that interest you—from your own on-campus newspaper, environment special interest group, experimental theatre, religious and secular organizations, and more. The list of activities is really up to you and the others at Purchase.

Internships let you step out of the classroom into a practical experience in a field of your interest; they let you explore a potential career. These supervised work experiences, arranged by you, your academic advisor, and the sponsoring organization, are coordinated by the Career Development Center.

Or study abroad. Purchase College has developed several study-abroad programs, including summer programs in France, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. You can also apply to any of the more than 260 study-abroad programs available through the State University of New York. Programs are available in virtually every major and country throughout the world.

What about a job when you graduate? Our Career Development Center helps you prepare for a career after college or plan for graduate studies. We offer counseling, workshops, internships (many for academic credit), and a complete graduate school advisory service. We maintain credential files for students and alumni who need reference letters sent to prospective employers and to graduate schools.

We also have an impressive list of alumni that include editors, authors, physicians, performers from all the arts, teachers, clinical psychologists, and so on. These people are dedicated to Purchase and those who are part of Purchase College. They are resources that may be helpful to you, along the way.