Albion College

Date: Apr 30 2005
Major: Sociology (This Major's Salary over time)
Classwork: I thought that the coursework would be much harder than it is when I first arrived. Your workload depends on the professor. I have not been overwhelmed by any single course. A lot of classes consist solely of reading and papers, particularly in the social sciences. Science majors tend to have more emphasis placed on exams. A major complaint among science majors is that you do not receive any credit for labs, which translates into 3+ hours of extra work each week for many of these individuals. Everyone is required to take at least one lab, which can be difficult for non-science majors to fulfill. Modes and categories can be a pain, too. It seems that a lot of science majors end up with a minor is a social science department just, because they have to take so many classes to fulfill their modes and categories. The institutes are a nice asset to the academics at Albion as they allow students within them special opportunities such as speakers, classes, seminars, etc. to advance in their major/interest. They do eat up some more classes, but the contacts that can be made with alumni in the field of interest are invaluable. In general, Albion seems to stress that education is not only in the classroom but outside of it as well.

Professors: The professors are amazing here. Albion's professors are passionate about their work and compassionate about their students. They are willing to help, and most are flexiable when it comes to guidelines, deadlines, etc. Of course, there are students that take advantage of this, but if you are genuinely interested in learning, then there is ample opportunity to do so. Professors are accessible during office hours, and most students develop professional partnerships with professors in their department through driected study work or research. While professors may not be the top of the top in their field, they certainly are pretty high up there, and many have contacts with the best in there field, which can be a definite benefit to students. While bigger schools (UMich or MSU) might have the top experts in their field, having accessible professors at Albion who are willing to sit down with you and talk about class material, academic interests, or even life in general has been more beneficial for me. I can read the work of the top professors at UMich or MSU in the lastest academic journal, but I could not get the individual attention that I get here at a larger school. Top students in particular will find professors to be receptive to them and their idea/work/interests.

Campus Aesthetics and Surrounding City: The campus is beautiful and pseudo-esoteric. Warm days often find students crammed onto the quad sunbathing, playing frisbee, or whatnot. Many students do not get off campus enough, and you will probably hear that the city is a dump. In reality, Albion (the city) is the perfect laboratory to observe much of what is learned in the classroom. The people of Albion are amazing, and the town has a quaint sort of feel to those familiar with it. For students coming from the suburbs, it may be a step down as there is not a whole lot to do, and any shopping that needs to be done calls for a trip to Jackson, unless you want to go to Goodwill. Crime does exist in Albion, but it is much like anywhere else in that if you are stupid about walking alone at night, carrying a lot of money on you, etc., you will have problems. If you are smart about how you act, you will fine. Personally, I would encourage anyone who asks to spend more time in the town than on campus as you will find that you will learn a lot more if you go outside the confines of the quad. There is a whole world outside of the campus, go explore.

Social Life: This is where Albion get low marks. The students can be very clique-ish, and Greek life (frats. and sororities) make a small campus seem even smaller. If you fit into the Greek system, then I would encourage you to rush/pledge, because otherwise it is hard to carve out your niche. There is a small activist, alternative group on campus that tends to be liberal. Parties center around the frats and annexes. There is a lot of drinking, but you can avoid it if you want to. For sober individuals, weekend fun will be harder to come by, but it is possible. Wednesday nights are party nights here, instead of Thurs., like a lot of other schools. Drinking policy was recently tightened but with no avail to reducing alcohol. As previously mentioned, the social scene at Albion tends to be very centered around cliques as well as Greek life. If I had to go through the application/decision process all over again, I would probably not come back to Albion, primarily because of my dissatisfaction with the social dynamics of the school.