Mark a survey and Inform Staff

Peer Review:
24.20.54.226::Duplicate Survey, :
5.45.80.218:valid:Content Nonsensical, Duplicate Survey, High Vulgarity, High Grammatical Error, Probably Admissions, Content Useless, Malicious Intent/Faked, SPAM, :1
5.45.80.218:valid:Content Nonsensical, Duplicate Sur

Statistical Analyzer:

You will get out of this school what you put into it. I grew up in Wilson and swore I would never attend, but after dropping out of another school, my mother begged me to take a few courses at ACC, which is what it was know as at the time. I relented, signed up, got involved with the newspaper, and found my purpose. O.k., Wilson nightlife isn't all that great, but there's a liquor store three miles down Nash Street. And, Bucks, Sub Plus and Acid Park are always fun places to visit. To prospective female students: Avoid the fraternities. I heard many horror stories about what happens at the frats, and the "brothers" back each other up if a crime is committed. I knew a lot of nice frat guys, but I knew a lot of bad ones also. In one instance, two frat boys beat a guy to near blindness on campus, and the school was amazingly forgiving. I think they got community service for their crime. Still, that was more than 10 years ago, so maybe men are no longer affected by ego and testosterone.

I found most of the teachers to be very approachable, and I even become friends with a few of them. The school, like Wilson, is small so you might occasionally find yourself at a party with one or more of your teachers. I probably could have gotten a better Journalism education at a larger school. We only had ONE journalism teacher, and he was a pretty inexperienced and generally feckless. The school fired his predecessor, who was a fantastic teacher. HUGE mistake. Still, I learned a lot working on the newspaper, and it's one of the biggest determinants of my success, excluding my parents.

Don't expect any great philospical conversations at Barton with your fellow Bulldogs—it doesn't attract that kind of student. I hate to say this, but a lot of the students I encountered were simpletons. I even knew one student who I think was borderline retarded. The girls especially were concerned mostly with ethereal topics, and many had no real thoughts about anything outside of pop culture, their looks, and their sorority. I must add that there are some really fun girls there, and some are quite attractive; it's just that there aren't many of them. Still, if you're looking for a good-looking girl with nothing between her ears, Barton is a good place to look.

One of Barton's strengths is its size. Sure, you don't have the academic depth of a larger school, but you do have a certain intimacy that you can't find elsewhere. I got involved in activities like student government and the newspaper, which I may not have approached at a larger school. Of course, there's also less competition at a small school.

Ok, so what are the downsides? Primarily, the size. Yeah, good is small unless you want a large school. Don't let your parents talk you into Barton if you want something larger with more social and academic opportunities. (Note to parents and anyone who thinks Barton is a Bob Jones or Liberty-type school: IT'S NOT. Enough said.)

The neighborhood surrounding the school is little dicey. Don't walk to down to the convenient stores alone after dark.

Wilson is a great little town, but it can quirky. I know because I grew up there. Wilson is an old town, and set in its way. Avoid getting involved with the locals. Trust me on this. There are few bars, and few nice restaurants. If you're into fast food, take-out Chinese, Chilis-type restaurants or buffet steak houses, you're in luck. For a nice meal, you've got a choice of a two good steak houses (Griff's and Rocky's) and Green River Coffee Company (Fantastic catfish and grits). There's also a good Mexican restaurant at the mall—pretty standard, but tasty. The mall cafeteria is pretty decent. The mall itself is nothing spectacular. Dick's Hotdog stand is way over-rated; don't believe the nostalgia-induced hype. On the other hand, Luna Bean on Nash St downtown is a great coffee shop.

As soon as you can, move out of the dorm by any means necessary. You're required to live in the dorm, but plenty of people live in apartments near campus. A girl I knew had to apply at ECU to convince the Campus Life lady of how much she needed to get out of the dorm. Dorms are o.k. when you're a freshman and getting adjusted to campus life, but after that you get really tired of people trying to get into your business and hanging out in your room when you need time for studying or your significant other. I heard that the women's dorms were worse than the guys as far as intrusiveness goes.

Back to academics… From what I've heard Barton is a great school for business, teaching and nursing. Everything else is pretty average, and some courses you'll find at larger school don't exist here. In my case, I was forced to take a useless art photography class rather than photojournalism, which wasn't offered. I also took marketing, which was interesting, but it wasn't the advertising class that I should have been taking. (As I said previously, that was 10 years ago; maybe they've added more courses.)

Still, I've done well with the degree I got from there. While I was there, I squeezed all I could out of it. As I said earlier, you'll get out of Barton what you put into it. You can put forth the minimum effort and get by, or do extra and excel, but that's how it goes in life also. I enjoyed my time at Barton, and I think I got a lot our of it. If one of my children wants to attend it one day, I'll support that decision.