Goucher College

Date: Jan 16 2012
Major: Anthropology (This Major's Salary over time)
I love Goucher College. There are some problems with administration, but bureaucracies tend to suck everywhere. People are very friendly and everyone will find their niche. It can remind you of summer camp, but that just says something about the closeness and tight knit community. Goucher is super involved, with many opportunities to volunteer, join clubs, hear speakers, attend events- you just have to be proactive YOURSELF. This may not be the best school for you if you are preppy and listen to the top 40 on the radio, but number of bros and biddies has been increasing recently and the frats at hopkins and towson state are a quick free shuttle ride away. You will find an awesome eclectic mix of students: from hipster, Yuppie designer rich kids, ravers, Larpers, hippies, steam punks, artsy geeks, straight edgers, druggies, preps, basically any label or non-labe you can think of. There is a HUGE lgbt community, and Goucher is super accepting of pretty much anything. Campus Saftey is kind of a joke, but that usually works out in the students favor. Recently they have been cracking down on alcohol/drug violations. The party scene on campus is mainly 10-15 people drinking in a dorm room, sweaty dance parties thrown by aspiring student DJ's, and drunken shenanigans in the hallways. In the springtime and early fall the entire campus seems to drunken congregate outside. However, Towson has many bars in walking distance for upperclassmen, the are usually larger house parties at the off-campus apartment in towson and baltimore, and our neighboring schools are filled with greeklife. You may feel claustrophobic and stuck in the goucher bubble, but baltimore is a quick free college town shuttle ride away, filled with awesome shows/concerts, cute neighborhoods such as hampden and fell's point, museums, the harbor, clubs, bars and more. Underclass tend to stay on campus a lot and complain about that, but there is nothing stopping them from going out to the city. Dating at Goucher can be troublesome, but not as bad as many people make it out to be. The girl to boy ratio is definitely in the guys favor, but it is slowly evening out. It is a small campus, so relationships can become incestious among friend groups. However, you can find almost any kind of person you would ever possible be interested in, and there are tons of schools close buy if you're having trouble. Students tend to be more into hook-ups (including long term unofficial official "things") than dating, and the mandatory semester abroad (though completely awesome and amazing) is often a relationship ruiner. However, as a sophomore I've had two boyfriends, one for almost a year now, so it's not out of the question. The teachers are super friendly and helpful, and there are lots of resources and aids available, however YOU have to be the one to seek them out. The academics aren't extremely challenging, however it is relatively easy for even a smart student to fail out or get academic probation. You really have to stay on top on yourself and seek out opportunities and assistance on your own. As i said before the administration is a little spicy, and that can get annoying but it's not a deal breaker for how much i love the school. Sports are not a big part of campus life, and unless you or a friend of yours is on a sports team you probably won't pay too much attention. However, Gopher pride and school spirit is rampant regardless. Drugs and Alcohol are easily available, however there is no pressure to partake and you will not be judged either way. Alcohol is definitely visible. Marijuana use is common, but not as obvious, though you can often smell it walking around campus. Harder drugs and psychedelics are used by some students, but if you aren't friends with those people, you would probably never notice there existence on campus. Drugs use is not common nor is it uncommon, regardless it does not seem to be a huge problem negatively affecting the campus nor does it really seem to inter fear with academics or extra-curriculars. of course that is all relative. The food is pretty decent for dorm food (which is pretty much gross everywhere) there are usually a few vegetarian options, gluten free bread and deserts, and we have a small kosher dinning hall. There are super markets in walking distance, as well as fast food. we are also super close to downtown Towson and The Mall.

OVERALL, Goucher College is an Incredible place!