Evergreen State College
“Evergreen ended up being a tougher school thanQuite BrightFine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc
Evergreen ended up being a tougher school than I expected, but I learned an incredible ammount. In the end I graduated with real world skills that were immediately useful and had no trouble securing a good job. I worked my butt off in Evergreen, but that was because I was motivated by the great faculty and demanding, yet really interesting curriculum. This is a really different school with interdiciplinary courses. If you like to take one course at a time and prefer that the course be only on that subject, TESC probably would dissappoint you. If you like to know everything about a subject including how it influences or is influenced by other subjects, then you'll thrive at TESC. The facilities are first rate and access to high-end equipment is wonderful. You don't have to be a graduate student to be working with state of the art research equipment. Student to teacher ratio is also excellent. About the only negative is Olympia Wa, which is pretty quiet. But Seattle is only about an hour away and has lots to offer.
view full review→Dec 26 2004
2nd Year Male -- Class 1989
Individual Value: A+, Surrounding City: B
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Recommended: Create The Right Career Habits Now
“Evergreen is unlike any accredited college in theQuite BrightOther
Evergreen is unlike any accredited college in the US. Hampshire would possibly be the closest thing to Evergreen's, no grades (narrative evaluations), no required classes and lack of tradional majors. Yet, the defining feature of Evergreen is the program structure. 16 credit interdisciplinary programs which either work for you, or don't. If it does work however, it creates an unparalleled learning environment, leaving you with an amazingly cohesive understanding of your studies, and lasting human connections.
Evergreen has a lot of transfer students (myself included) who came for something more than the antiquated, rigid confines of traditional education they have endured for so long. For this reason, Evergreen freshman are either extremely mature and understand the totality of Evergreen's mission and purpose, or are totally lost and usually end up leaving or floating through.
Apart from the academic structure of the school, Evergreen differs greatly from the vast majority of liberal arts schools, in that it is a state school. With tuition being considerably cheaper than every other school of its kind, it broadens the diversity of the student population (non-traditional students, different socio-economic backgrounds, etc) and consequently makes for a less self-aware, pretentious attitude prevalent at many self-proclaimed 'leftist' schools. Though, don't be fooled, with more recent exposure (hightimes, hipster handbook, US News, etc) and the draw to the vibrant independent music scene in Olympia, ostentatiousness exists in certain social pockets.
That said, Olympia has fostered an unequaled, progressive music scene (for its size) since the early 80s and shows no signs of letting up. Olympia offers a bit more than you would expect upon your first impression, but it takes a while to fully dig into it. Basically, try and research Evergreen as much as possible before attending, because it truly is unique. But, know that you won't fully understand what it's all about until you choose to attend, and even then it might take a little while.
view full review→Mar 12 2004
3rd Year Male -- Class 2005
Education Quality: A+, Extracurricular Activities: B-
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Recommended: College Academic Survival Guide
“Everything about evergreen is a double-edged sword.BrightOther
Everything about evergreen is a double-edged sword. You think no grades, no required general ed credits or major requirements. The no grades thing, combined with Evergreen being ranked the "#1 cannabis school" last year is bringing in the students who don't give a shit. Not having any order to the credits you're earning makes transferring tricky, as you might need just one or two certain credits that you can't get without taking a 16 credit program you can't stand.
The faculty are a mixed bag too. You get the few that truly believe in the philosophies of the college and don't slack. But you also get a lot of really flaky people. Sometimes I wonder how these types got through graduate school. With them, you can turn a paper in weeks late and it won't even matter. This really makes those of us who have our act together feel like we're wasting our time.
Something that goes hand-in-hand with this flakiness is the bullshit you'll find in your narrative evals. A lot of programs here are fluff, and it's easy to see that just reading the catalog. You really do need to be incredibly self-motivated to come here, but if you're not..you'll get by anyway. There are entire 16-credit programs dedicated to puppet theatre; photography; printingmaking; etc.
The social life sucks. Nothing starts happening till 10, and everything is shut down by 1a.m. due to the campus-wide sound curfew. There's usually only one, sometimes two, big parties on campus on any given weekend. Despite almost everyone having friday's off class, nothing happens till friday or saturday night, and usually only one of those.
The music people are into is almost exclusively indie hip hop or modest mouse. You make the call if that's a good thing, personally dancing to the same atmosphere song every weekend gets old.
It's a small enough school that you can meet someone and see them around again. My problem with being at such a small college is everyone knows everyone, I really wanted to get away from that aftr leaving a small town.
Olympia sucks. No bands come here, the only decent theater is a 20 minute drive from campus or a 45 minute busride. Oh, the buses? Yeah, they stop running around 6 on weekends. Good luck seeing a movie or eating dinner or doing anything.
Also, the rain? I'm from the northwest, but the rain here is just sinister. It's out to get you, no doubt about it. Olympia is in a special pocket of geography that sucks all the shitty weather into it.
And how could I forget the food. Freshman are required to buy a (minimum) $500 meal plan. The food fucking blows, and it costs a fortune. It's run by Bon Appetit, a massive corporation that makes food for prisons.I guess what I'm trying to say is if you have dreadlocks, like talking about Phish shows or trading Modest Mouse bootlegs and want to get a B.S. in BS, come to Evergreen.
view full review→Feb 26 2004
1st Year Male -- Class 2007
Faculty Accessibility: A+, Social Life: D
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