Saint Ambrose University Admission
Saint Ambrose University Undergraduate Program
Saint Ambrose University Application

The Facts

Saint Ambrose University is a rather small, private institution founded in 1882 in affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, to whom SAU’s ties are strong until today. The university is located in the town of Davenport, Iowa, and is home to over 2,000 undergraduate students and approximately 1,500 graduate and part-time professional students. Saint Ambrose is perhaps best known for its wonderful education program with an emphasis on elementary education. The university is actually divided up into several smaller undergraduate and graduate colleges, including schools of the arts and sciences, business, education and health sciences, as well as professional studies. These colleges offer degrees in biological science, communications and the arts, computer and physical science, education, engineering and environmental design, health professions, as well as social science. Sain Ambrose offers its students a wide variety of majors in both the liberal arts and sciences as well as preprofessional studies, however, some of the most popular with students include majors in the areas of biology, chemistry, engineering physics, business, psychology, and elementary education.

Admission to Saint Ambrose University is not terrifically competitive, particularly when compared to other, small, private institutions, however, those students who do apply tend to have been very academically successful in the past. Last year, more than 1,400 students applied for admission to the school and approximately 1,200 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 435 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming Fall semester. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1010 to 1112, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 20 to 27. Additionally, more than 52% of the accepted students were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about 3.48.

Saint Ambrose University has a very manageable student to faculty ratio of 13:1, and it is rare to find any class with more than 20 to 25 students. Even the required general education courses are held in comparatively small seminar courses where discussion is encouraged and every students’ voice is heard. Professors also get high marks in terms of accessibility and willingness to help those students who may need it. They have a great open door policy that allows students to have them as both professors and mentors.

The Social Scene

The town of Davenport is urban enough, but it doesn’t really offer students very much in the way of nightlife and entertainment. Most of the activity happens on campus, or students make the three hour drive to Chicago to soak up the vibrant city’s nightlife and culture. Most students own cars, making this a very do-able weekend road trip. There are no fraternities or sororities, but students don’t seem to miss them. Many people throw dorm parties, where alcohol is abundant, despite the administration’s strict policies.

The dating scene is rather dull, but most of the people have that friendly Midwestern cool, and would be happy to grab dinner and a drink...

What’s Good

“The campus is a great community and total strangers smile at you on your way from class to class.”

“The professors here are amazing. Teaching is their life, and they love it, and that shows.”

“The dorms are surprisingly nice. They’re well furnished, and you even have a bit of extra space, which is very very rare!”

What’s Bad

“If you don’t happen to own a car, there isn’t much to do. This area doesn’t even really have public transit, which makes things very difficult.”

“The dining hall food leaves much to be desired. I just go to the local grocery store and pick up my own meals...”

“The campus isn’t very diverse, and you get really tired of seeing the same people over and over again.”

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