Calvin College

Date: Sep 05 2002
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
Calvin is a very good school. The Christianity is real, but not obnoxious. The academics are excellent. The professors are the greatest people I've ever met, but beware the students and administration.

Almost everyone here is wealthy, white, Dutch, and from Michigan. They've gone to private school or wealthy public schools and have know clue about the world. They can therefore be annoyingly arrogant, over-confident and naive at times. Many just take their incomes forgranted. However, many of them are trying to some extent at least to correct for their lack of knowledge about the world.

The administration has a tendancy to treat us like we're all 12 and be rather condescending, especially if you're not rich. They have no comprehension of financial difficulty; 50,00/yr is "needy". However, though they complain about all the "bad" things we do, the school is quite relaxed compared to other Christian colleges, though that seems to be changing. If you smoke, be warned that it's only allowed in designated (about 6) outdoor areas and there is talk of abolishing these as well. Parking can be a pain too, since Freshman are allowed cars.

The academics, as I said are great. If you work hard, the professors will bend over backwards for you. If you show interest they'll love you, even if you're not a great student. In fact, they'll love you, just not like you, no matter what. They put students before research or much of anything else. Most anyone will give you advice, loan or suggest books, chat about life, provide an independent study(if you've got a good reason). They're amazing. However, be warned. They are not easy; many are very well educated. If you want to slack off or if you aren't very bright, this may not be the school for you. On the other hand, if you want challenge Calvin is pretty good. However, there may be some changes. Some professors seem to play to the slower students. Moreover, the liberal arts are losing ground to the applied disciplines. This is not to say the faculty are less than great, but more students are in other programs, which therefore, get more money, attention, etc. Further, the new core is not exactly "liberal artsy." If a traditional liberal arts education is important to you, you may want to think a little before coming. Nevertheless, Calvin can still provide you with a wonderful, well-round education, you just need to be more proactive and to put up with cheeseey 'new core" classes.