Franklin and Marshall College

Date: Jul 09 2017
Major: Video/Media (This Major's Salary over time)
Franklin & Marshall is a college of great strengths and great weaknesses.

Academics - You hear a lot of students talk about how harsh grading is here and how F&M holds its students to a unfairly high standard when compared to other colleges and universities. I think this is an exaggeration. If you follow the syllabus and spend about as much time studying as you do in class during the week you should be able to pull over a 3.0 without much difficulty and get into grad school. A common complaint is that students have a really bad first semester or two for other reasons then can't transfer to another reputable school because their GPA has been butchered. The professors are generally passionate, friendly, fair and very accessible outside of class. They want to get to know their students individually, and if they play favorites it's because those students are passionate and take the time to build a relationship with them. Almost all classes have a participation grade built in, which is not as common at other colleges. Some students complain about this, but these are just free points so long as you go to class. Courses are taught with a emphasis on the liberal arts and creative aspects, even science courses.

Campus and Facilities - Campus landscape is scenic and nice. Lots of green, trees and open space. Students are required to live in campus housing (house system) freshman year. Campus housing is horrid. The dorms are small and in terrible condition unless you are lucky enough to be assigned in the new college house, which they show to all tour groups. The campus dining is horrid. Food is bad and all the meal plans are designed for you to run out of swipes and to make the college money. Even with a meal plan, you'll be using a lot of your spending money on food. There are two libraries and they are alright. Being in Lancaster is also a major setback. Not being in a major city makes work, internships and networking extremely difficult in comparison to urban school. It also further limits your social options.

Social Life - F&M's biggest shortcoming. The vast majority of F&M students are white and extremely wealthy or upper-middle class. This creates an elitist culture that you do not see at other small colleges and would not expect for a liberal arts school. Because F&M is so small, tight-knit social circles and cliques form rapidly making it feel much more like "High school 2.0" instead of the refreshing million social options you get when you go to a large university. Despite the college's enduring attempts to change it, the party scene revolves around greek life. A few have been rendered irrelevant, but the smarter ones have survived and are still thriving traditional fraternities. It's really tough to be a straight male student at F&M if you don't join a fraternity, play a competitive sport, have a steady girlfriend, or maintain the right friendships. Even in strong social groups you tend to get the feeling people don't really like each other that much. Also, in all honesty the female population at F&M isn't particularly physically attractive. It might seem petty, but it gets to you after a while. Given the cliquey nature of the school and small size it's really difficult to meet the right girl without having the right social capital or very good luck. F&M is so small that when you're a senior you kind of know everyone or at least recognize them from somewhere and some students develop reputations that they can't shake off. If you're looking for "the best four years of your life" your coach told you about in high school, F&M is probably not the place to find that experience. Mental health is a major issue on campus. I've seen students have mental breakdowns and talked to students with observable depression that just hate it here. Like many colleges around the country, there is also a lot of tension and drama reflective of current political conditions.

Advice - F&M is not for everyone and the transfer rate is quite high. If I could do it again, I would have gone to a large university. That said, there are certainly ways to make the most of what the college has to offer and have a rewarding experience. If you choose F&M, here's my advice. Play a sport. This is the healthiest way to have a social life here. It creates structure and an outlet for stress. Competitive athletics also instill values and work ethic that will serve you well in life. If you don't have experience in athletics, there are many teams that take walk-ons and intramural teams eager for new members. Make school work a priority. It's very easy to forget you are in college to gain knowledge for your future career. Find a major that fits your ambitions and passions. Do this as early as possible and stick with it. Get to know your professors, participate in class and use all the resources you can to improve yourself. Keep your priorities straight. It's easy to get distracted by drama and petty things that you won't care about two weeks later. If you can remember this, it will help you throughout life. No, I don't think F&M is worth the high, constantly increasing tuition and four years of lackluster college experience. However, if you play your cards right you might graduate with some great skills, stories and wisdom to carry forward into your future.