Chloe here for YOUniversity TV.
Welcome to University
of Southern Maine
in Portland,
Maine’s largest city.
Just two hours north of Boston,
the area features a wide range
of recreational opportunities
and is minutes from the ocean.
The rocky coast of Maine
and the breathtaking beauty
of the nearby mountains
make the greater Portland area
a perfect destination
for college students.
USM’s campuses in Portland
and nearby Gorham
provide rich opportunities
for students to participate
in the life of the area.
There’s a third campus in
the Lewiston Auburn area
forty-five minutes north.
One of the achievements the
university’s really proud of
is right now we own four out of,
I think five LEED registered
buildings in the state.
LEED stands for
leadership in environmental
and educational design.
Essentially buildings are
planned, constructed,
and continue to operate
on a day-to-day basis
in a greener environmentally
friendly manner.
The University of Southern Maine
enrolls over 10,000 students
including more than
8,200 undergraduates.
Students come to USM from more
than 34 states and 37 countries.
Women make up nearly
62% of the population.
General admission
requirements for traditional
first year students
are college prep classes
and GPAs of admitted students
are generally B- or better.
Standardized test scores
are typically 900 for the SAT
with critical reasoning
and math combined
and a 19 on the ACT.
Some additional requirements
are set by individual schools
and colleges.
Tuition for Maine students runs
approximately $15,000 per year
including room and board.
While out-of-state students
pay about $25,000 per year.
One of the main reasons
that most students decide
to come here is,
is majority is their major.
They, they feel that USM
is going to give them
a great education.
But a lot of them feel that USM
has got not only the better
education, but also
a better fit for them.
Southern Maine offers over
50 undergraduate majors
from more than 40
different programs.
With an average
class size of just 22,
it makes the kind of learning
experience possible
that USM students point
out over and over again.
That faculty really
care about the students
and that their commitment to
teaching and to the success
of their students is invaluable.
University of Southern Maine
has many connections
with the community so
the students can study
off campus.
One of the most important
that’s been developing recently
is um, community based
work as part of classes.
We also have internships.
The women's studies
program, for example,
students have interned with
the Maine women’s lobby,
they’ve interned with Alice
James Books as editors.
USM has eight schools
and colleges which include
arts and sciences, business,
education and human development,
applied science, engineering
and technology,
Lewiston Auburn College,
nursing and health professions,
Muskie School of Public Service,
and University of Maine
School of Law.
Russell Hall is home to
the theater department.
Half of it is a
main stage theater
and half of it’s a
black box theater.
Speaking of acting, have
you ever heard the name
Tony Shaloub?
Well he’s better known as Monk
as he’s a USM graduate.
A few of the most popular majors
include business, psychology,
biology, sports medicine,
criminology, English,
political science,
accounting and finance,
and media studies.
Exceptional students may
also want to look into USM’s
nationally recognized
honors program.
Believe it or not, this
rhino here is a legend
on the USM campus.
He used to be a secret
hiding place for students
and his name changes
from year to year.
I think I’ll call him George.
With a student to faculty
ratio of a mere 14 to one,
students have a great
opportunity to interact
with their professors
and get more out of their
college experience.
Students conduct
undergraduate research,
engage in pre-professional
internships,
and benefit from both the
academic and real world
experiences of their professors.
We’re on the path
of characterizing
a novel intake hormone*
that we identified.
And it’s a very important
hormone that actually
initiates metamorphosis and we
published a paper last summer
in Science Magazine.
That was the first paper
describing this hormone
and we’re on the trail
of that hormone now
and it’s very
exciting right now.
If it’s sports you like,
USM has them.
Twenty-two men's and women's
Husky athletic teams compete
in the NCAA Division Three level
in the Little East Conference.
The Lady Huskies basketball
has been on top of its game.
They’ve played in the final four
four times since 1998
and have been Little East
Conference Champs
for two decades.
I should be on the team.
Eight residence halls offer
a variety of living options.
Students can be part
of an arts community
or an environmental learning
community for instance.
Students can choose from
traditional dormitory style
to apartment or suite style.
There are a ton of choices.
The positive experiences
that I had in the dorms were,
I like the community, you have a
hall and so you get to know
everybody on your hall,
you do things with everybody
on your floor.
The RAs are great
at creating events,
going skydiving
as a hall together,
maybe doing whitewater rafting.
USM provides students
with nearly 100 clubs
and organizations
including USM Recycles,
Student in Free Enterprise and
Southern Maine Outing Club.
USM students are deeply
committed to volunteering.
One college actually logged
27,000 hours of service
in the spring of 2007 alone.
The alternative
spring break program,
in which students help Habitat
for Humanity build houses
for families in need around
the country is very popular.
Southern Maine was named
one of the best colleges
in the northeast in the
2008 Princeton Review
Best Northeastern
Colleges Guide.
If you’re looking for a
classroom and city college life
with a host of networking,
internship,
and field experiences
at a mid-sized university
that connects you to an array
of cultural and recreational
opportunities then
look no further than
the University
of Southern Maine.
Thanks so much for joining
us on our campus tour of
University of Southern Maine.
I hope you enjoyed
the tour as much as I did.
See ya soon!
