Brandeis University

Date: Feb 09 2010
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
I am reviewing this school as a student who attended it for one semester of college before transferring out. It was my first semester of college ever and I was from South Florida so it was a very meaningful time for me, and though I sometimes wonder if that clouds my opinion of the school, I'd still have to say I have a positive opinion of it in retrospect.

I transferred out because you aren't allowed to have a car in your first year and I had always dreamed of going to New York City for my undergraduate work… it killed me to be twenty minutes outside of Boston and never able to go in (the rail system absolutely sucks and the Bran Van only runs Thursday to Sunday). I also think I was trying to distance myself from some personal bad choices that had nothing to do with the school… but either way, I transferred, and when I did I was extraordinarily happy to "get the hell out." I really, really, really wish I had stayed now. Three schools later (long story), I've discovered that Brandeis is still what I consider my alma mater, and the best institution I've ever attended (including all of my schooling since kindergarten). I think it says something that I feel that way after only attending for four months.

People bitch about the social life and I guess if you're a "typical" college student, you'd be right about that. I'm basically married and a cat lady who plays World of Warcraft, so I was actually unhappy because I was placed in a dorm hall I thought was too loud (Brandeis took the twelve jocks who got in and put them on my floor, they had women over from other Boston schools who burst into the bathroom to throw up, drunk, while I was showering… the boys themselves then came in to make sure they were okay, and all the while I was in the shower). I do think the campus is pretty, though not breath-taking; the hill is a pain in the damn ass but you'll have great calves. Everyone also bitches about Sherman and granted, I only had to eat it for four months (and really not even that because I spent a lot of time off-campus at my boyfriend's house), but I loved the food, especially the brownies and ice cream that led me to the freshman fifteen. I'm a relatively timid person (and by relatively I mean very much so) and I met some amazing people who I'm still in contact with, and people actually know things and care about their intellectual endeavors, something I never encountered before Brandeis.

All in all, the worst part (and the only part that is actually bad) is the town. Don't get me wrong, I love Waltham for a variety of reasons; it's cute and picturesque and beautiful and the birthplace of the man I'm probably going to marry (who followed me back down to Florida from his hometown when I decided to move back), but not having a car means you're stuck on Brandeis's campus, and if you're someone like me (not super involved with your peers, wanting to have stuff to do off-campus that's not school related), it's kind of a bummer. I need escape, I guess, and Boston is not at all as accessible as you'd think. However, I would encourage anyone considering Brandeis to GO and STAY FOR AT LEAST A YEAR. I think if I had given it another semester I would still be there and not be thinking fondly about the very very limited days I spent there, not be planning to attempt to go there for grad school, not be fantasizing about teaching there as a professor.