The University of Redlands

Date: May 09 2013
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
To be perfectly fair - I chose Redlands initially because they gave me the most financial aid out of all the small, private, liberal arts colleges I applied to. There was nothing that stood out as particularly special but I wasn't too excited about college anyway. Redlands was not the right choice for me. I'm currently in the process of transferring as a junior to either a UC or another private university. The academics were the only thing that kept me at Redlands for sophomore year, otherwise I would have withdrawn after freshman year. My teachers and professors were great - they ALWAYS make time for their students, as long as you ask. I had a calculus and chemistry professor who scheduled weekend study sessions before the final because students wanted more review. I also had an english professor schedule individual appointments with the entire class to go over each of our essays in person with us before the final draft was due. I learned A LOT, and there was minimal busy work (which is impressive for an art major to say…). However, the student body was unbearable. If you're not a so-cal, rich, strong-minded individual, it will be hard to fit in. There is a lot of cocaine use, especially by the student athletes, and raves down in San Bernardino are really popular. There is a constant battle between the conservatives and the liberals, and the Greek scene is the ONLY scene on campus. The surrounding city is terrible - there is nothing to do unless you want to go bowling, see an over-priced movie, or get a tattoo. Campus events are all-school all-drunk parties, and even the intramural sports fall through so it's nearly impossible to get involved unless you want to get hazed by a frat/sorority. I'm from northern California, and four of my northern California friends are also transferring. I'm sure there are nice people there, but I just wasn't able to find them in my two years there. Also, the gardeners are always working. You'll hear leaf-blowers at all hours of the day if you have on-campus housing. But the dorms are nice (except my freshman dorm where everyone was drunk and throwing up in the bathrooms every weekend). Overall, I was honestly miserable at Redlands. I couldn't wait to transfer.