At a Glance
Syracuse, New York
Undergraduate Students: 14,780
Student to Faculty Ratio: 14:1
Acceptance Rate: 59%
Six Year Graduation Rate: 82%
Freshman Retention Rate: 90%
Notable Majors/Programs: Aerospace Engineering, Architecture, Communication, Journalism, Marketing and Social Sciences
The Feel
Located in central New York, Syracuse University feels like a medium to large school and is distinguished in multiple programs. The school is in the Finger Lakes region, and the sky's the limit when it comes to recreation and activities! The area gets a lot of snow and students make it fun by sledding all over campus.
There are 21 dining options on campus at Syracuse between dining halls, food courts and cafes. If none of that sounds good, there are many restaurants near the campus providing a variety of dining experiences.
The campus itself features multiple sprawling lawns and lengthy brick walkways. The main promenade is actually heated during the winter months!
Students have hailed from 170 countries, making the student population culturally diverse! There are 18 different centers/resources for supporting diversity, including the Disability Cultural Center and Office of Multicultural Advancement.
Around 30% of students are in Greek life.
Some popular student activities include Enactus, Shack-a-Thon and Orange After Dark.
The Barnes Center is the newest facility on campus. It is an integrated health and recreation center complete with pharmacy, fitness center, Esports room, swimming pool, hot tub, mind spa, massage chairs, giant rock wall, counseling, and pet therapy.
Syracuse hosts 2 student-led concerts a year - Juice Jam and Block Party.
Students are required to live on campus for 2 years, and may live in one of 21 residence halls, 10 of which are reserved for freshmen. They offer dozens and dozens of Living Learning Communities. Open doubles and split doubles (wall splits part of the room) are available, and some arrangements offer pod style bathrooms (sink shower and toilet in separate pods).
Getting around the area is easy with Syracuse’s great bus system that takes students to south campus (residence halls) or other areas around Syracuse.
Standout Points
Syracuse is an R1 research university.
They have aviation and aerospace engineering.
The university has one of the oldest and most respected study abroad programs and 50% of students study abroad. They also have summer and spring break programs. Participating in a Discovery Program in either Florence, Italy; Madrid, Spain; or Strasbourg, France allows new students to spend their first semester abroad.
They offer a lot of human sciences majors - exercise science, sports management, sports analytics, foods, etc.
Architecture program is 5 years (a lot of architecture programs are 6 years), 95% of architecture students study abroad.
They have an honors program with smaller classes and their own LLC. Students can apply to be in the honors college up through sophomore year.
Notable journalism department: Newhouse School of Communications - downstairs students can access The Cage, which provides real world tools for journalism. Broadcaster Mike Tirico takes Newhouse students to the Olympics every 4 years to help cover it.
Syracuse has an industry-leading flight simulator, one of the most advanced worldwide, and students in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering program get hands-on experience to put theories into practice in a proven test environment. Syracuse has a tradition of ‘Flight Day’, when students are welcome to go up against the Chancellor on their flight simulator.
Syracuse has a newly renovated dome for football, basketball and lacrosse; the dome can seat up to 49,000 spectators, and is rightfully called the Loud House. While tickets aren’t free, students often buy season passes for a better deal. And it may be worth it when stars like Elton John perform on campus!
Fun Fact
Syracuse University does many things to honor the memories of the 35 Syracuse students killed in a flight back from London in 1988. They have a unique program for 35 current students - Remembrance Scholars - who honor the lost and plan Remembrance Week each October.
Bottom Line Fit: For the student looking for a quality private school education but with a state school atmosphere in many ways. A great option for lovers of sports. They have many majors related to sports as well as outstanding school pride and athletic attendance. One observation: to enjoy the Syracuse winters prospective students must be enthusiastic about snow!
Learn more about Syracuse University!