Juniata College

Athletics are terrific, if you play volleyball. No other sport is really given the opportunity to grow. If the other sports teams on campus are successful, it is because they played well against their opponents and they have a strong coaching staff willing to struggle against the college's garbage. The field hockey and Track teams both have quite a few successes to their credit, but that's due to excellent leadership at the coaching level, not at the administration level. Think I'm overreacting? The Athletic Director is also a volleyball coach but don't bring up this conflict of interest to anyone at the college. A few years ago, about five, a football coach "resigned" because he expressed his concern about the conflict of interest. Yea, Yea, the volleyball team is amazing. Bollocks to that, it's easy to be great when the sport you play is still pretty much in its infancy across the nation.

the clubs on campus are continually lacking attendance and participation. If you're coming here expecting to participate in clubs, go someplace else. About the only club that has any significant level of involvement is Big Brothers/Big Sisters or those clubs involved with the sciences. And, the new Director of Student Activities is such a stickler financially that no one can get anything done. inter-collegiate club sports are simply a joke. Not because of the lack of involvement or motivation from the participants, but from the lack of resources the college provides them. The athletic facilities here are extremely lacking. (the football practice fields and intramural practice fields are literally a swamp so clubs can't use them from march to may. No one is permitted to touch the field hockey and soccer fields, The weight room is almost always filled with the Neanderthals on the practically winless football team. Oh, and gym space? fuggedaboutit if you're not on the volleyball team).

I mean this could all be redeeming if the social scene was worthwhile but it isn't, at all. Parties consist of a bunch of rapey guys standing, literally, in the concrete box they call east apartments. These parties consist of listening to music ridiculously loud, getting hammered and trying to find that scarce college hook up. Most students who drink sit in their rooms and play drinking games, most students who attend JC do not drink at all (yea, I know, I thought I was attending college too). If you're looking for a good magic the gathering card game on a saturday night you should come to Juniata. They have like 30 to 40 people every saturday night, I've witnessed it as I stumbled by their meeting in search of that long lost college party that is elusive at Juniata.

The weekend events are sub-par at best. Everyone can remember the debacle that was the fabolous concert (he showed up over two hours late). And, this past year? Matt Nathanson, are you serious? and who's ever heard of State Radio. If you want weekend events your best bet is to drive to State College and attend a penn state event, actually you should probably save the gas money and just transfer there. In fact, you'd probably have more fun hanging out with the kids at State College High than spending a weekend at Juniata. After all, I thought I was attending Juniata to get the college experience. Here, I come to find out that this isn't college but merely another four years of high school. Rumors spread like high school, students act like its high school, and some of the academics are like high school. The predominately Caucasian, Christian, wealthy class student body at Juniata literally live in a protective social bubble devoid of all scholarly socialization trends, Freud would have a field day. Here, people can do things that are of the highest level social unacceptability anyplace else. I?m convinced that there is a team of leading psychologists and sociologists sitting in a basement somewhere on campus watching this debacle on close circuit television. This place has got to be a sociological experiment gone wrong, it's the only way to describe it. Again, some enterprising student put up a facebook group about Juniata's social scene: it's called the ?50 worst things about Juniata College,? check it out if you're interested.

I know, I know...you're all thinking "well why don't you just transfer if you hate it so much." Believe me, snotty, that I have tried to transfer. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Applied to several places but here I find out that only a semester of my credits will transfer to someplace else, I'd start over as a freshmen. They literally trap you here in this bubble.

If you're looking for four more years of what you got in high school, come to Juniata College. If you're looking for the college experience, you should probably go someplace else.