The department of political science is supposedly one of the best and most difficult departments on campus. Professors claim that the average grade is about a B-/C+. The faculty in the department of political science are very helpful and most are very intelligent. Many political science majors at Allegheny attend graduate school after receiving their degree from Allegheny. Personally, I have found Professor Smith (political philosophy) and Professor Shea (U.S. institutions and the media) to be my favorite professors, although I have heard a lot of good things about Professor Howard Tamashiro (foreign policy, national security policy) and Professor and Professor Michael Maniates (environmental policy), although I have not taken any classes with either of these professors.
The French department is also very helpful, although it is also very difficult, especially since Allegheny College has no language requirement. Therefore, the language classes are filled with students who take their perspective langauge quite seriously. This is particularly true in the French department.
In terms of things other than academics, the campus is beautiful and well maintained [see: tuition cost for reasons why]. The party scene is marginal, although Allegheny usually has a nice Springfast, that is, when Meadville is not still freezing in April. The town of Meadville is not particularly attractive for those who enjoy shopping, although the town is quite old, and therefore, it you enjoy learning about the history of Meadville, it would be an interesting study.
Most norms (Schultz, Brooks, Walker, North Village II) are quite nice. The food is relatively good, although its quality has declined since my freshman year - most likely an attempt to avoiding raising the meal plan costs. My biggest negative is the tuition and financial aid process. Allegheny's tuition is higher than I think it needs to be, and in an economic downturn, I believe the college could make more effort to keep tuition costs reasonable, especially because financial aid (at least for me) has not increased despite the increases in tuition and room costs.
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