Keene State College

Date: Jul 17 2012
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
As a senior in high school, I was very excited to attend Keene State. I had heard that the campus was beautiful, the English program excellent, and the night life/parties were really great. I really looked forward to going.

First off, let me say that the surrounding city is a MASSIVE disappointment. Very small, very rural. The downtown shops are unimpressive and overpriced. The only good way to pass the time downtown was to go to a restaurant. As for general shopping, there is a Walmart within walking distance of campus, and you can get shuttled to Target Monday through Saturday (the shuttle hours, however, are awful and the shuttle was NEVER on time).

The parties are disgraceful Honestly, it's better just to go to UNH or UMass for the weekend and not bother with the pathetic social gatherings Keene State students call "parties". The social life is abhorrent.

The students fall into literally two categories: Crunchies and Connecticuts. Neither care about education. The crunchies like their weed, philosophy discussions, and sleeping during class. They are not attending college to educate themselves. The Connecticuts are worse; they are lazy as well as snotty. It is rare to see someone who cares about academics/their future at Keene State. Most people are worried about their Sperrys and Vineyard Vines, not seeming to understand that Keene is a low level state school at best and it doesn't matter what they wear.

I will say this; the faculty is excellent. Kind and helpful across the board. Many of them are adjunct, however, and few have PhDs. Not good. Classes are suited to fit the majority of the student body - i.e. middle school level learning. Very easy, but that's to be expected when you're surrounded by kids who don't care.

Housing is nice, I lived in Holloway this past year. Living in a triple can be difficult; usually one person is left in the dust while the other two are off having fun. Keene really loves triples/suite style dorms. In this way, they can cram as many kids as possible in one room and still charge an arm and a leg. The dorms are passable. Notable exceptions being Huntress and Butler - both beautiful, newly renovated dorms. The prices of housing are average - around $9,000 a year. Tuition is cheap if you're in state. Out of state, you're getting ripped off BIG TIME. If you are a Massachusetts or Connecticut resident, try for UConn or UMass. Much better value and will most likely cost you less.

The food is great, and may be the only highlight of the school.

Overall, a terrible experience and I am thrilled to be transferring.