Centre College

Date: Dec 31 1969
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
The art department is awesome, except for Steven Powell, the glassblower. He has this exclusive 'good ol boys club' of his glassblowing students that work for him. He is an asshole in class, and it's usually his upper level students who end up teaching. I know large universities have TA's and all, but Centre College is about having a personal education and prides its reputation on a wonderful faculty. I would say take Steve Powell out of the picture and the art department would be a wonderful, harmonious place. And, if you're a 2D or Art History major, you don't ever have to take his class so you can get around him if you wish.

The college prides itsself on being challenging, they like to keep the student body at a B- average, so the professors stick to a curve. I felt like there were several instances when students who worked as hard or harder than their peers became victims of the curve, which is not objective. My major complaint about the college is that I was not graded on my understanding and knowledge, but on that of my classmates. There are lots of very intelligent students at Centre, so this makes life a little tough when you're applying to graduate schools with a b/b- gpa from centre, competing with students from state schools who have 3.5 gpa or higher who might not have been admitted to Centre based on aptitude.

I have been fortunate to have WONDERFUL professors! getting rec letters was no sweat - I visited their homes, went on international trips, and got to know them as mentors in the most personal sense. The faculty at Centre is awesome and definatly goes out of their way for their students, even under the constraints of the grading curve. They are also all PhD's with tons of experience, rather than other students teaching students or instructors without english fluency.