Brandeis University

Date: Apr 27 2008
Major: Anthropology (This Major's Salary over time)
I liked Brandeis for the first month or so. I have to give props to the planned orientation activites because it gave me genuine hope about the college experience I was in for. Then the semester began, and everyone fell into their own routines, and the novelty wore off.

Half my friends wanted to transfer after the first semester. Some did, some decided that they would be satisfied with mediocrity.

Here are some cons:

Food services. Sherman will make you ill. Eat there at your own risk. Usdan is generally alright (not good, but satisfactory), but they serve the same things every day. If you are vegan or vegetarian, you will find yourself eating a lot of salad and toast. We eat out as much as we eat on campus, which makes the meal plan even more over-priced and unnecessary than it already is. Some people decided to live off campus just so they can avoid the meal plan.

Dorms. This year I lived in what is universally known as the worst dorm on campus, so I guess my experience is not necessarily the one you would have. It also depends heavily on the people you have in your hall. I hear sophomore options are much better.

Social life. This is the big one. Before I came to this school, I didn't believe what people told me about the complete and utter lack of night life at Brandeis. I thought they were exaggerating. At the beginning of the year, there are some "frat" parties, but 90% of the time you will get there and wonder why you just walked a mile to get to a hot, claustrophobic apartment to have a drunk freshman spill their beer on you. The fact that the frat parties stopped after a while didn't bother me too much.

Unfortunately, if you don't feel like getting drunk on or off campus with a small group of friends every single weekend, there's not much else to do. Besides, of course, doing drugs instead. Many times, you get drunk just because there's nothing else to do. Fun times.

Then of course, there's the Brandeis people themselves. There's a very specific type of person that comes to Brandeis. They're hard to classify at first, but when you meet them, you know them. They are socially awkward to the extreme. I had not met people this socially awkward until I came to Brandeis. I can not stress this point enough. Dropping hints, useless. Subtlety, unrecognized. Sarcasm, a foreign language.

Unfortunetly, more often than not this lack of social development manifests itself as people being absurdly immature and inconsiderate. Though I guess that's something that could be expected of freshmen universally.

Because such a specific type of person comes here, if you recognize yourself as strange and socially awkward, you will love it here. Your people are here.

For anyone else, you will obviously be able to find some people to get drunk with on the weekends, but don't count on being able to relate to the vast majority of the Brandeis population.

Let's talk academics. If you are into biology, chemistry, or you are Pre-med, it will be hard for you to find anywhere as good as Brandeis. Sciences here are top notch.

Personally, being in the social sciences, I was less than thrilled. There are some good classes, and some amazing professors, but I've never felt academically challenged here. That would probably change with classes later on, but I came here largely for the academics and I was disappointed.

If you are looking for a dynamic college campus full of eclectic people, you should not come to Brandeis. If you are looking for a run of the mill college experience or you are a biochem major, you may like it here. If you are expecting dating prospects, you will be disapointed. If you are blind, don't care for personality, or have extremely low standards, Brandeis would be ok for you.

Don't get me wrong, Brandeis works for some people. Some people love it here, and couldn't imagine themselves anywhere else. Personally, it didn't work for me. I'm transferring somewhere where the school and the students have some personality.