Allegheny College

Date: Jun 22 2005
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
Allegheny College, for three years, has been good to me. I've been to several schools in the three years I've been a student at Allegheny, and I have not yet seen one that I would choose over Allegheny had I needed to make the decision again.

Like any school, Allegheny has its negatives. One negative is the Financial Aid Office and the Student Accounts Office—not the most personable people on campus. Maybe that fits with what they're charged with doing for the university—looking at the bottom line—but even so, they could still be more understanding with students than they are currently. Another negative that I see is misguided policies. Admissions is currently doing a great job of marketing the school, and as a result, an increasing number of kids are making the decision to attend Allegheny. But when the Department of Residence Life decides to extend the On-campus Residency Requirement, a shortage in housing results, and Residence Life is then forced to convert rooms meant to be doubles into triples, or as they like to call them, "expanded doubles."

As far as positive goes, I could pretty much say "everything else," and that would hit pretty close to the truth. From the faculty, to the campus, to the academics, to student activities, even to the friendly administration, this college is top-notch. The residence life policies are not near as restrictive as other schools—men and women can be in the same dorm.. some even live in the same hallways.. without doors being propped open with a shoe in the doorway. There are no "visiting hours," and there's no "front desk." Students are given the benefit of the doubt, and they're expected to understand that they're to behave like the people they are—young adults. They're not treated like hoodlums like at other schools.

Another definite positive is the honor code. Students, when they matriculate, take an oath to uphold the Honor Code during their four years at Allegheny. The Honor Code is an understanding between students and the college that academic dishonesty is a grievous offense in the academic community and it will not be tolerated. In exchange for this pledge, students are allowed unproctored and take-home exams. Again, it is the college's belief that when treated as fundamentally honest people, students repay the generosity with their best academic work.

The last positive thing I'll state here about Allegheny College is the tradition. Founded in 1815, you can sense the tradition as soon as you get on campus. On the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, you can sense that at one time this was a campus on the frontier. It's the first school founded west of the Alleghenies, and when you look at photos of the campus from fifty, even one hundred years go, many of the buildings look the same as they do now.

In sum, Allegheny College is a college that's rising among its liberal arts brethren. The school has one of the best academic programs around, it's established in the community, and it's located on a beautiful campus. The campus has a new campus center, it will have a new alumni center by the fall of 2005, and it's attracting students like never before. If I was given a chance to make my college decision again, I'd choose Allegheny in a heartbeat.