Guilford College

Date: May 13 2004
Major: Public Policy (This Major's Salary over time)
Guilford has some serious delusions of grandeur. When I was in college Guilford had the gall to pass itself off as the

Harvard of the South

In truth, I was able to easily graduate with a 4.0 average while working full time and doing my fair share of partying. I found my courses not challenging and, for the most part, pretty flaky. Guilford in no way prepared me for a career or life as a member of the workforce. They had ridiculous on campus recruiting. The only major corporation to recruit the year I graduated was PanAm Airlines, recruiting for international bilingual flight attendants (I kid you not!) starting at $12,000/year. I interviewed just for the experience and they turned me down because my French (my minor that I got straigth As in) was not good enough. Only local law enforcement recruiters showed up for the “job fair” for students in my major. Eventhough I graduated at the very top of my class (although it is not publicly acknowledged - the whole Quaker mentality about competition) I could not find a job for a very long time after I graduated. I finally settled for jobs for which I was overqualified, just to survive. It took me ten years of scraping to finally get into a position that suited me, and I am now doing very well. No thanks to Guilford for my success. Campus life wasn’t that great, either. There was not a lot to do, and no way to get around the city without a car. The dorms were filthy. The cafeteria was filthy and the food was horrendous. Fellow students were okay, but tended to be either spoiled rotten or hippy wannabees. Last but not least, while at Guilford I was assaulted by a fellow student that broke into my room. The Dean of Student Affairs strongly encouraged me NOT to report the incident to the police. God forbide the reputation of the school and one of its star athletes be ruined. Fortunately, I did go the police and my assailant is now a trash collector - just desserts! I would have transferred in a minute, but my parents were strong believers in finishing what you start and refused to finance my education if I transferred.