LaGrange College

Date: Jun 16 2014
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
In general, I am a very open minded person and typically go with the flow rather easily. I spent four years at LaGrange and have recently graduated. I was very involved on campus as well. LaGrange caters mainly to alumni, which blows my mind because the current students are the future alumni. Because it is a small school, unless you are considered a commuter, you HAVE to live on campus every year. With living on campus, you also HAVE to have a meal plan. When you do the math, your meal plan is literally costing you just over $15 a meal. This is an absolutely OUTRAGEOUS price because the food is horrible quality. The food rarely varies, and anything with a liquid consistency is watered down to serve more students. Only time you see good food is for special events that include alumni or future students. Once you are able to live in the apartment style dorms, there is no need for a meal plan because you have a kitchen and can cook for yourself, but you have to have one. Because the food it awful, I am wasting my $5000 meal plan and spending extra money on food that I can cook myself and actually eat. A lot of the faculty are very inconsiderate and have no concern for students or their situations. I would probably not have stayed at LaGrange if transferring did not set you back almost a full year. Because it is a private school, it is very difficult to have all of your credits either transfer in or out. I also played a sport. This past year was the first year I had ever seen the athletic director actually do something about the complaints she received. A coach should never make you hate the sport you love and if you receive serious complaints about a coach (and I don't mean petty complaints about playing time), somethings needs to be done or at the very least looked into. At first, I thought the Art department was the only thing keeping me sane and wanting to stay at the school. During one semester, we had a temporary professor while our design professor was on sabbatical. Having a younger and outside perspective on design, made me realize that there was so much more that I needed to learn, and it wasn't going to happen in that one semester or in my last year at LaGrange with the old professor. Now, out in the real world, I feel unprepared (which is probably usual for many who recently graduate.) That being said, almost all of my professors were extremely nice and wanted me to succeed, but sometimes that is not enough. Lastly, LaGrange (the surrounding city, not the school) is not an exciting place filled with things to do. It is not a typical college town. There is a total of about three bars but two of those are more of a restaurant scene than a bar scene. The only entertainment that the city provides is a movie theater and the lake. All other fun is your own creation. If you are looking for the sorority life or fraternity life, I wouldn't recommend it at this small of a school. You are able to go to all of the sorority socials (if you have friends in the sorority that invite you) and all of the fraternity parties (no invite necessary) that you want without having to pay all the fees that members have to pay. It is 100% different than a larger school (I have a sister at a major SEC school in a sorority.) Not to mention, our school has some ridiculous rules that makes the frat houses close at midnight which is usually about the time that parties start. The school is a dry campus, but do not be fooled. About 80% of students are drinking every weekend. You just have to learn how to avoid getting caught. I am by no means complaining about the dry campus rule because I understand that it comes with being Methodist affiliated. Maintenance is rarely done in a timely manner unless it is considered an emergency, so bring your own draino and raid! Also, I would bring a dehumidifier (be prepared to empty it 3 times a day) and air vent allergen filters.