Evergreen State College

Date: Oct 10 2010
Major: Undecided (This Major's Salary over time)
Honestly I am completely surprised by how few of these reviews mention the drug scene at Evergreen. I have never in my life been to a place where drugs were so easy to find. Anything you want, almost whenever you want it, is available. 90% of the student body smokes weed, and most of them smoke it every day.

Overall this was not my problem with Evergreen. I met some truly amazing people there who taught me more about myself and the world than I thought I would ever learn at 18 years of age. People are friendly and accepting but EXTREMELY liberal; if you do not approve of left wing politics taken to the extreme, I would recommend looking elsewhere. I went to a very good private high school and found the work at Evergreen to be less challenging than I had hoped.

However, please note that if you are not highly self motivated you will probably not succeed there. Absolutely nobody is going to hold your hand. Evergreen has a huge commuter population as well as a large adult population. Many of the professors have become accustomed to older students who are truly excited to learn. If you want a typical college experience, looking at other schools is probably a better choice.

Also, out-of-state tuition is ridiculously expensive. With the economy the way it is jobs in Olympia are extremely hard to find. To get residency in Washington you must live and work in the state (while only taking a certain number of school credits) for at least one year. Then your tuition would be about $5,000 a year, but without Washington residency it is closer to $30,000.

The biggest issue I had with Evergreen is that you take programs and not classes. After six hours of lectures and seminars revolving around the same subject I was ready to leave after the first quarter. I stuck it out for a year, getting very sick in the process (this is common in Olympia as well as there is black mold absolutely everywhere, especially in the residence buildings.) The kitchens in the soup suck (the apartments on campus), and the food is terrible.

However, I know a lot of people who love Evergreen and never want to leave. The social scene is a little fucked up due to all the extensive drug use but overall comfortable and supportive. I would recommend sitting in on a class at least once before you make the commitment.