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| Bright | Like every other college out there, IC is what you make of it. I'm a sophomore here and I love it. I'm a double major (english & drama) and am having a great time. I work hard and am challenged in my classes, and I give most of my free time to the theatre program. The social life is great (there is always something to do here), the food is pretty decent for a college campus, and the campus is "gorges." Of course its freezing in the winter, but I'm from California and I don't particularity mind it. And yeah, its expensive, but its a private college, so what do you expect? I got good financial aid, so its manageable. The only complaint I have about IC is that they let in the biggest class ever last year, and now everything is a bit overcrowded. It's not too bad though, and hopefully will even out a bit over the next couple years. | Education Quality: A+, Scholastic Success: B+ |  | | |
| | Oct 06 2009 | 1st Year Female --
Class 2012 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Quite Bright | THe thing about Ithaca is what that you either make it awesome or you make your life here miserable. I think it's all about the people you meet. the school's pretty small (3000), and my high school was about 2000. the point is, you see the same people around campus all the time, so people will make judgements and assumptions about you based on who you are friends with etc. I made some awesome friends. I partied a lot, and if you don't like drinking and smoking then...IC isn't the best choice. I slacked off in the academic department, but i still have to say i liked most of my classes and i learned a lot. I'm in the Park school, and it definitely is the best academic program at IC. most other people are in business, Physical tgherapy, health edu, etc. If you are studying humanities and such, do not come here. not worth your money at all. | Education Quality: A+, Useful Schoolwork: C | | | |
| | May 07 2009 | 1st Year Female --
Class 2012 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Not so bright |
Social Life/Parties: People here are generally nice, but they are also very cliquey. I came to this school expecting to be part of a tightly knit community, but instead I found that cliques here tend to keep to themselves.
On weekends, there usually isn't much to do besides party. The party scene seems exciting when you're a freshman, but it gets old fast. There are always a few open parties at the Circle Apartments or off campus that virtually anyone (ie: freshman guys) can get into. They have the same dynamic that most frat parties on other campuses do: too many people cramped in a small space, lots of shitty beer, and plenty of horny freshman guys hitting on uninterested girls. By the time you're a sophomore, you'll probably grow sick of these parties, and if you have the right friends, you'll get invited to more exclusive parties, which are much more fun. You might also go to a frat party at Cornell a couple times a year.
If you like to smoke weed, it's readily available, but when people say that Ithaca is a "stoner" school, they're exaggerating.
Clubs: One of Ithaca's strong points is the number of clubs it has to offer. If you end up here, you should definitely take advantage of them. They can make your entire experience.
Academics: Ithaca has a great reputation for its Music, Theater, and Communications programs. I've heard mixed reviews about them from other students and lots of complaints about elitism, but I'm probably not the best person to ask about that.
The Politics department is impressive; all of the teachers I've had were knowledgeable and passionate about what they were teaching. However, if you're not a diligent student, its definitely possible to bullshit your way through your Politics classes and not do any of the reading. If you're a conservative, you'll probably hate the department here. The majority of teachers are left wing, and a some of them are pretty radical.
My Gen. Ed. classes were decent for the most part. Some teachers were outstanding, most were average, and some should have been fired a long time ago.
Students: Most of the students here are pretty bright, but there will be a few idiots in most of your classes. Ithaca has somewhat of a reputation for being a "hippie" or a "stoner" school, but that really doesn't hold much ground. Don't get me wrong, its not hard to find those people, but for the most part, the student population here isn't very different from that at any other school I've visited.
Politically, most people here are either liberal or apathetic. There is a minority of self-hating white students who despise capitalism, but there is also a very vocal minority of Republicans who tend to get their political signs torn down or vandalized by the other group.
Racially, Ithaca is pretty homogeneous. Lots of white people, but as one might expect in a northeastern private school, there is a significant Jewish population. The gay community is very accepted here.
Town: Ithaca is a pleasant little town, but if you don't have a car, you won't go there very much. Sure, its just a 20 minute walk, but when it gets cold and snowy, you won't want to walk down and up that steep hill.
There are some small music venues, lots of great places to eat, and plenty of hippie stuff in the town. There are literally three head shops on one block that's really close to the school. The town is probably why IC has the reputation it has, but the students don't really reflect what the town is like.
Weather: Its fucking cold here. If you hate cold weather, don't come here. I cannot stress this enough.
Dorms: Dorms are decent, but nothing to write home about. In my opinion, the worst dorms are the terraces because they're isolated on the edge of campus, which especially sucks in the winter. The rooms might slightly bigger there than the other dorms are, but that doesn't justify the distance. Lots of freshmen live in the towers, which are pretty conveniently located. The upper quads have the best location on campus in my opinion; the lower quad buildings aren't much worse. There's also Emerson, which is somewhat far from the academic buildings, but has private bathrooms in double and triple dorms. There are no singles there.
You won't be able to live in the on campus apartments until you're a sophomore, so I won't bother commenting on those.
Conclusion: There are a few spectacular things about Ithaca, but unless you're in one of its more prestigious departments, it's an average northeastern private school. In other words, the education quality is above average, but the overall experience might be pretty boring. If I had an amazing group of friends that I loved here, I might stay, but since I don't really miss my friends when I'm gone, I don't really have an incentive to stay.
Ithaca is cold and in the middle of nowhere, and I'm starting to feel really claustrophobic. The Politics department is good, but its not worth the price of tuition.
If you visit Ithaca and fall in love with its music, theater, or communications department, it might be a good fit for you. Otherwise, I cannot recommend it. Next year I'm transferring to a similarly sized school with a better polysci department and an urban campus. I hope to have a more interesting and dynamic experience there. | Perceived Campus Safety: A+, Social Life: C- | | | |
| | Apr 03 2009 | 2nd Year Male --
Class 2011 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Quite Bright |
Ithaca College is a pretty terrible institution. If you have any other choices, I urge you to go somewhere else.
Social Life:
If you're a little shy and the world does not turn around drinking and smoking pot you will probably make no friends at all. It's a very harsh environment and no one will reach out to you. There is basically nothing to do at Ithaca ever, so expect to be bored and friendless.
Academics:
If you took any difficult classes in high school prepare yourself for a relatively smooth sail. The classes are painfully easy, some have mind numbing busy work but most just have lots of reading that you don't really have to do anyways. You most likely won't learn anything in your classes.p
Staff:
The staff here is unwilling to help and almost impossible to contact. Both me and my room mate transferred after one semester and we both got routed in and out of 4 different places before finding out whether or not we needed to do any paperwork to make our leaving official. I never met with my advisor, not even one time, I don't even know what she looked like.
Students:
The vast majority of kids are assholes with attitudes. This statement isn't really fair, but the loudest kids and the ones you see more frequently stammering through hallways act like stuck up jackasses. The rest of the students are actually quite nice but again they probably spend all of their time drinking and doing drugs. The few kids you will meet that aren't obsessed with doing illicit acts exist there but are totally miserable so they just stay in their rooms.
Dorms:
The dorms suck, and it's pretty outrageous that the school is so obsessed with money that they won't let students live off-campus.
Also, the school crushes your creative spirit.
If you attend here, expect to be bored about 99% of the time.
I urge anyone considering Ithaca College to think again, I transferred after one semester and I couldn't be happier. It's important to be in a place with diversity (I'm pretty sure my entire time on campus I saw no asian people and a handful of African Americans and about three people who weren't from the east coast) and that doesn't just treat you like a number with a money machine attached. | Faculty Accessibility: C, Education Quality: F | | | |
| | Mar 29 2009 | 1st Year Female --
Class 2012 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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