I
was overall pleased with my experience at Berry. You are
not treated as an ID number. It is extremely easy
to seek out assistance, whether it be from professors during
office hours or constructing your resume through career services.
Don't expect an academic “walk in the park” just because
the school doesn't attract Ivy-League caliber students. Most classes have
tough courseloads and there is no such thing as an
“Easy A” here. The professors are required to have 10
office hours a week and I never encountered one who
was inaccessible. Most of the Gen Ed courses seem like
unnecessary busy work, but when you get into the upper
level classes in your major and minor (if you choose
one), the classes become more relevant to the professions you
are interested in or the graduate programs you wish to
pursue.
Make sure there are activities that interest you at
Berry before you decide to enroll... whether it be intramurals,
Christian life organizations, or Student Government. There are very few
organized activities on campus, and fewer on weekends. KCAB, the
student entertainment organization, does an excellent job trying to think
of new activities, but most receive little participation. Many RAs
seem to be more interested in enjoying their larger dorm
rooms than actually facilitating hall get togethers. Berry has no
Greek system, though most students (including myself) prefer it that
way. The school really has no cliques... other than the
Campus Entertainment Committee seems to have inflated egos at time.
Berry does a nice job of keeping the dining halls,
student athletic facilities, and library open at reasonable hours for
the weekend. I wouldn't call it a “suitcase college,” but
there isn't much to do on-campus. I would advise that
you have some friends nearby at some of the state
schools so you can road trip.
All students have the
ability to work on campus. I believe 90% do. Be
advised that you only make minimum wage... However, on-campus employment
is a lot more flexible than if you look for
a job off campus. I never pursued an on-campus job,
because working hard for $6.25/hr. in between classes wasn't worth
it to knock off at most 10% of tuition.
Even
though alcohol is banned from campus, it's not too hard
to find off-campus parties if that's your thing. Granted they
are much tamer than Greek parties you'd find at say
UGA, but it's your best hope if you want to
blow off some steam on the weekends.
Berry has the
prettiest campus of any college that I have ever seen.
It encompasses over 26,000 acres, though the school buildings are
close together. It's kind of a welcome relief, because once
you leave campus you are thrust into Rome, Ga., a
town of 50,000 with nothing but fast food restaurants, two
Wal-Marts, a dinky mall, and a downtown full of dilapidated
buildings. I would recommend getting the largest on-campus meal plan
possible, unless you really like ordering fast food.
For a
campus that is incredibly beautiful, all the dormitories are absolutely
fetid and poorly maintained. Maintenance does the best they can
when there are major plumbing problems or structural problems, but
some things are too old for them even to fix.
Every dorm is in desperate need of renovation. Just do
the best you can to deal with it and eventually
you can move into the New Residence Hall when you
are a junior or senior.
If
you're a rabid sports fan, you might want to think
twice about going here. Athletic events are poorly attended and
few people watching sporting events on television. Intramurals aren't that
popular and don't seem to be particularly well organized. Still,
if you like to keep in shape, Berry just opened
the Cage Center which, for a school of Berry's enrollment,
may be the nicest in the country. There are numerous
basketball courts, a natatorium, a fantastic workout facility, and several
racquetball courts.
One misconception about Berry is that it is
a school for right-wing conservative Christians. Granted there are a
segment of students whom religion is very important to them,
but they aren't proselytizers. Berry is not affiliated with any
church, so the school has no agendas.
Also, if
you are a guy, don't choose Berry because it is
nearly 70% women. If you are looking for a hookup
culture, look elsewhere. I would posit that the majority of
Berry women are more concerned about their Mrs. degree. Many
Berry students are in serious relationships too, as in almost
engaged type, not the serious relationships which last a month
that you see at bigger schools.
Two things which did
surprise me about Berry:
1. There is a
decent marijuana culture there. I'm not into pot, but it's
not hard to find and quite a few smoke on
campus.
2. There are surprisingly quite a few out-of-the-closet homosexuals.
While I'm sure that it ruffles some feathers of the
super-religious, most students are okay with it.