A private college in
Schenectady, New York. With a total undergraduate population breaking 2500, Union is a pretty small college, a few minutes out of
Albany.
It has it's origins back in 1779. Several hundred residents of upstate New York, certain that Burgoyne's defeat at Saratoga during the American Revolutionary war two years before would mean a new nation, began the first popular demand for higher education in America. These residents pursued that dream for sixteen years until, in 1795, Union became the first college chartered by the Regents of the State of New York.
The very name, Union, was supposed to reflect the new national union. More immediately and directly, it recognized the fact that the College was an outgrowth of a new sense of community among the several religious and national groups in the local population. Union's founders were determined to avoid the narrow sectarianism characteristic of earlier American colleges; today, Union is one of the oldest nondenominational colleges in the country.
Unlike most other colleges of its time, Union didn't have a heavy classical bias. The motto is "Sous les lois de Minerve nous devenons tous freres," or "We all become brothers under the laws of Minerva." Notice how it's French rather than Latin. Union was among the first to introduce French on an equal level with Greek and Latin. Take that Harvard!
In the 1820s, when the classical curriculum was the most widely accepted field of study, Union introduced a bachelor's degree with greater emphasis on history, science, modern languages, and mathematics. This liberality of educational vision characterized Union during the early years of the term of Eliphalet Nott, who was president from 1804 to 1866. Science and technology became important concerns; chemistry was taught before 1809, a degree in scientific studies was added, and in 1845 Union became the first liberal arts college to offer engineering. The College was one of the first to offer work in American history and constitutional government and did pioneer work in the elective system of study.
By about 1830, Union was graduating as many students as any other college in America. Along with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, it was spoken of as one of the big four (which has a different connotation today, now it's athletic). Students came accross the country; among them were the father of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the grandfather of Winston Churchill, the 21st President of the United States (Chester A. Arthur, Class of 1848), seven cabinet secretaries, fifteen United States senators, ninety-one members of the House of Representatives, thirteen governors, fifty important diplomats, more than 200 judges, forty missionaries, sixteen generals, and ninety college presidents, including the first presidents of the University of Illinois, the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Vassar College, Smith College, and Elmira College.
Union gained a reputation for some great schemes to finance higher education, such as the statewide Lottery, created by the school's president Nott. There was a scandal later, as there were some corrupted lotto officials. Nott's refusal to relinquish control of the College during his final years began a disintegration that accelerated in the quarter century after the president's death. At its low point in 1888, Union had fewer students in all four classes than it had graduated as seniors a half century earlier.
The revival of the College began in the late nineteenth-century under the leadership of Andrew Van Vranken Raymond, president from 1894 to 1907. Among his most important innovations was the establishment of a Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics, headed by the "electrical wizard" of the General Electric Company, Charles P. Steinmetz. The new department gave impetus to the development of strong programs in science and technology and attracted attention and applications to the College.
The College has done important experimental work in interdepartmental studies, there are a number of programs that cut across the lines of academic disciplines. Organized interdepartmental majors are offered in numerous areas, and the College has also developed programs that enable students to work toward both a bachelor's degree and an advanced degree. The 8-year Leadership in medicine program gives students a Bachelors of Arts, a Masters in Health Administration, and a M.D. Degree at Albany Medical School.
Union has a trimester system instead of the Semester that most other colleges offer. Few colleges on the East coast offer this, Dartmouth may be the only other that I know of besides California. Every so often the school puts it to a vote, and the students and teachers vote for the trimester overwhelmingly. From what I hear, you learn much more in just 11 weeks than you do in a semester. It's sort of more rigorous as there's a bit less time, but you absorb the information better, and then have 7 weeks break in between. You're also taking less classes, but the ones you take give you a better understanding of the subject. The people I've met really enjoy it. You study during school, but when the break hits, you have nothingno summer reading or anything.
Since Union is near Albany, it's over an hour from Manhattan, and there's snow, there's ski resorts nearby.
One of the really cool buildings on campus is the Nott Memorial. It was the only 16-sided building in the world, until one was built in Austrailia, so now it's the only one in the northern hemisphere. It was built to symbolize the cooperation among the three major religions in the world. There is stained glass to represent Christianity, Star of David on the dome to symbolize Judaism, and mosaics within to symbolize Islam.
Study Abroad is a big thing, something like 50% of the students do it at some time or another. There are full semesters where you can go stay at another country's college, like Columbia's study location in Spain, and whatever credits you earn there get transferred to Union. There's also a 2-week mini-trip, to somewhere warm like Barbados.
As I said before, it's small, about 2100 people, but the classes are no larger than 30 people. The Alumni all love the college, and stay in contact.
Union accepts the Common Application, they have two tiers of Early Decision, and a very small supplement consisting of submitting a writing sample from an English class that was graded by your teacher. If you're applying to Ivy League Schools, you might consider this a safety school in terms of minimum SAT scores and class size, but trust me, it's an amazing place.
--Historical facts and years taken from Union.edu
Update: Well, I've sent in my deposit check, and It's official, I'm going to Union. It was a tough choice: rejected from Columbia University and Brown, stuck between Boston College, Boston Univeristy and Union. Boston C was energetic, and in a great location, but I felt like it was a little too big (8500 undergrads), and Boston U was twice its size. Union's smallness, individual treatment, trimester system, and great Pre-medical program and Study Abroad sealed the deal.
Well, I can't ignore the nice merit-based scholarship they generously offered me...