Franklin and Marshall College

Date: Jul 31 2008
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
When I was deciding which school to go to after high school, Franklin and Marshall seemed to be a great choice. The campus looked nice, the tour guide I had was very friendly, and the college had a great reputation for its premedical curriculum.

Starting at Franklin and Marshall was a blast - I know now that starting at any college is a lot of fun. For the first two or three months I was having the time of my life; classes weren't too hard, people seemed nice, and there was no construction on campus.

While after this initial time at F&M the classes stayed the same caliber, my friends' attitudes began to change. Most of them grew unhappy with Franklin and Marshall; feeling that the college was too small and that their confederates were bitter that they were not attending a truly prestigious institution (rather than one that told the country it was).

Before winter break almost all of my friends were talking about how much they despised Franklin and Marshall College and that they wanted to transfer. And by this point I too realized that I agreed with many of my friends' perspectives, as well as adding some of my own complaints.

After winter break I began to notice that almost everyone at Franklin and Marshall was pre-med, not only this but most of them seemed to be maliciously competing with each other. The people in my lab would act suspicious of one another and would never answer a question proposed by anyone other than a professor.

When I went to my advisor to talk with her about my concerns and desire to transfer she suggested that I get involved in a club. While I had already started my own club on campus I went to see what other organizations existed. And after only a brief glance I found that there were many "overlapping" clubs such as the many African American clubs; I did not believe there should be three clubs, funded by the college, for a group of individuals that numbered no more than ten people total on the entire campus.

I therefore pressed my desires to transfer more on my advisor who sent me to the specially appointed transfer dean of Franklin and Marshall College. An individual who when I met him made no attempts to keep me at the institution but rather seemed used to the fact that people wanted to leave the college.

This combination of lack of school pride by the students, unreasonable competitiveness, atrocious organization, and lack of care by the faculty made me transfer; one of the best decisions I made in my academic career.

I am writing this article now, late as I transfered 3 years ago from Franklin and Marshall College, to help dissuade anyone planning on attending this institution. Maybe in ten years Franklin and Marshall will live up to the name it wants everyone to think it has, but right now it does not, and there is no reason why you should suffer while it sacrifices everything a college experience should include in order to raise its collegiate ranking.