The Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

First off, don't be fooled by how nice the Highlands look. They're falling apart, and they're nearly brand new. When I was filling out my housing form, I marked that I wanted to live in the traditional dorms (and so did all of my roommates, and all of my friends I've met). Somehow, we all ended up in the Highlands, yet there's still a waiting list of people who actually want to live there. The reason for this, I've heard, is the university wants to force everyone to live in the Highlands to squeeze extra money out of our pockets. I wouldn't mind if these buildings were actually built to last. They were only built to last about 10 years, and they're already starting to fail. I've seen problems with the plumbing all over the building, the building I live in itself is on a slant, the walls are made of cardboard, power outages galore... Must I go on?

Second, most of the people I've met have been extremely snobby. They have their nose in the air for everything, and they're very close-minded. None of them seem to be very aware of what's going on in the world, which frustrates me personally because I'm quite the opposite. There's no compromising with these people. If you get into a small argument that could be solved very rationally and maturely, they would rather save their pride. Don't get me wrong, I've found a few really good friends here who are compassionate, friendly, and open to new experiences and new people. I've found that cliques form in a matter of a week. There's TONS of drama, unfortunately. You'll feel like you're back in high school here. Granted, everyone's social experience may vary due to differing personality types and interests, but for me, I don't fit in here at all.

We're known to have a lot of sexual violence on campus. In fact, there's a set of woods on campus known as the "Rape Woods", and it's right next to my building. I don't go out alone at night because I'm scared. I've never personally been attacked, but I try to be extremely cautious. All in all, everyone should base their college decision on what they feel is right for them. If you feel Edinboro is the right fit for you, then go for it! If all else fails, you could always transfer, or drop out if your heart so inclines (no judgement here!). Good luck in your future endeavors!

Night life/partying? Nonexistent. Even if you are 21, there's 2 small-town type bars that people go to and they get extremely crowded on the weekends. Halloween and homecoming weekends are the only times I wouldn't be embarrassed to have people from out of town come visit as those are the two weekends everyone seems to come out of their shell and go out and have a good time.

Greek life is a complete joke here, which is a shame because I feel it is something I might have been involved with, had I chose to attend elsewhere.

There really aren't any groups or organizations I could see myself joining and enjoying, although I have struggled to get involved thus far. I would consider myself pretty athletic and outgoing, so that's kind of saying a lot. It seems as if you don't dive in and really strive and make it a point to make new friends within the first weeks, everyone has made their established group of friends within a very short amount of time. The students here seem to be very clique-y.

If you're one of those students that is going to have to hold a job while going to school here? Good luck- there are barely any places to work in Edinboro, so you would have to drive 20+ minutes to Erie to get any kind of job with decent hours.

If you choose to live in the dorms, you have to sign a 2-year housing contract. The dorms seem nice at orientation (especially the Highlands) but are built very poorly.

If I could re-do my college experience, I would not go here. I'm all for the "you get out of college what you put into it" but there really is only so much you can put into this school and I'm exhausted from trying to pretend like I made the right decision. I have made a great group of friends and have had some good times here, don't get me wrong, but it's not enough to make me want to stick around.