The West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Date: Oct 16 2006
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
West Chester University is a school that is increasingly becoming more difficult to get into. It is one of, if not, the hardest of the PA state schools to gain admission to. The campus itself is small but due to its great location in the quaint borough of West Chester it feels a lot bigger. The academic quad has a great feel and has a very stereotypical east coast university look.

Most of the dorms are old and not in great condition. New additions to the residence program are very nice including a suite style and apartment living for students but they are expensive. Tyson and Goshen tend to be the most popular dorms as they have bigger rooms and laundry rooms on all floors. Killinger is 24 hour quiet and all honors students live there. McCarthy is all female. Wayne is also fairly popular. Sanderson and Ramsey fall somewhat towards the bottom of the list. University Hall is the new suite style building and its not offered for first year students. It is more expensive but includes private bathrooms for the suite and some even have living areas. On the small south campus there are two apartment complexes which first year students can'tlive in.The South Campus Apartments and the Village. South Campus Apts are less expensive but nice and the Village is a year long lease, more expensive but very nice. The only downside is that you have to take a bus to get to North Campus (the main WCU area) and the buses are often crowded and don't run on time. Most Jrs and Srs live off campus in the many houses/rooms/apartments that are rented to students in the borough.

The food at the school is below average. The main dining hall is typical cafeteria food while the options at the Student Union can be good on some days. Parking is horrible. You don't need a car and its not even worth the hassel. If you must drive cough up the $150/semester for the parking garage but make sure you get there early…passes go fast and most students camp out over night to get them.

Academically the school is above average. WCU is known for its education major and excels in that area. The communication studies program is also very good. West Chester is also well known for its band and theatre activites (although the theatre major is not that great) Most students are focused and the school is known for stressing academic excellence.

Sports at West Chester are not that great and most of the teams are not very well ranked. Greek life is present but not overwhelming. The campus is also dry and with the new SIPS program the dry policy is being enforced. WCU does still have its old party school rep as most students find ways around the dry campus. Most students drink and often consume hard liquor in their rooms before heading out for the night. Most parties are at crowded frats and the over 21 crowd heads into West Chester for the great night life it provides. Thursday night is the biggest party night at WCU and you can tell by the amount of people walking up and down High Street walking to the frats. Drug use is also somewhat high at WCU with marijuana and cocaine being the most popular…this is due to its proximenty to several affluent areas. The schools is also a suitcase school with about 50% of the campus leaving each weekend which accounts for Thursday being the biggest drinking night.

Safety on campus is a concern with the current Fall 06 semester as many students have been involved in assaults both on and off campus. A card access system is in place in the dorms. During the hours of 8am-8pm students can enter either through the front or back doors of their dorms by swiping their Ram E Card. Your card only opens your dorm. Basically this means that anyone can enter the buildings if they wait for a resident to open the door for them. After 8pm students must enter through the front door, swipe their cards and then show the security officer their ID which has a sticker on it that shows you are a resident of that building. Guests must also being signed in during that time.