Brandeis University

If you are upper class, white, jewish, and liberal you'll fit right in. If not, you're not going to be able to relate to a lot of the issues that people are talking about and you might find yourself getting annoyed with some of the arrogant, haphazard attitudes a lot of students here have towards politics and religion.

Just because people here are liberal does not mean that they are open-minded. Keep that in mind.

There are lots of friendly people here, but in general people here are kind of unmotivated. Everyone complains about the lack of social life or social awkwardness, but nobody ever actually wants to hang out or do something to change their behavior. That being said, greek life is okay. ZBT guys are nice but throw bad parties, AEPi guys throw good parties, Phi Psi sucks, nobody cares about ADPhi, and SAMy is more of a country club than a frat. SDT is mostly rude, spoiled girls with some exceptions… and there's DPhiE, who I think are generally very sweet and friendly (even though I'm not a member).

The dorms here are terrible. They're old, they are never cleaned, and lately a lot of cealings have been caving in due to the rain. I hate living on campus - printing is expensive and the wireless sucks. There isn't a lot of parking for people who have cars - they have to park in Grad. The room selection process is a bitch - beware! The gym facilities, however, are very lovely. The dining here is overpriced and pretty bad, but it's not as bad as people say it is. It's a campus cafeteria - you can't expect spaghetti and meatballs like your mom makes at home!

The academics are the only thing I have no complaint about - all of the professors I've had have been very helpful. Even in the case of a bad professor, the TAs here are amazing. This campus also has a lot of fun job oppertunities - you can work in the offices, at the daycare, the cafeterias, in labs, even in the lab with the famous parrots! Brandeis is really a goldmine for a lot of subjects - I love my department, and the business, economics, the language and cultural studies departments… they're all really good! The only department I have heard bad things about is the art, but that's mainly due to the controversy over the Rose Art Museaum. However, there are some weird minors that I have no idea what they consist of or why they exist. I can't speak for those departments.

Their financial aid office has been very helpful to me. If you ever have any questions (even the smallest ones) don't hesitate to stop by. The people there are amazing. Whenever I've needed to make an adjustment on my account or had a question about loans, they've helped me and my family out.

Oh! I almost forgot - transportation. The Boston/Cambridge shuttle and the Waltham shuttle are both very reliable, but Branvans are not. I'd sooner call a cab than call a Branvan.