York College Pennsylvania

Date: Nov 01 2017
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I've personally enjoyed every year at YCP so far. Since I matriculated in 2014, I've seen a lot of changes, both good and bad.

The quality of the food in the dining hall has gone up considerably since I got here, and I'm impressed with the themed dinner nights and "YCP Tasty" cooking lessons. CAB has increased their events to be more welcoming and fun, instead of just doing the exact same things over and over and over again, and their last concerts have been amazing! My classes have grown to challenge me in just the right way, with the occasional "easy" class that gives me a nice break but still teaches me about my field of study. The campus is nice, with lots of greenery and nice students (barring the occasional, unavoidable snobby ones). The staff in my department and in most of the departments are helpful and kind. I know for a fact that the German professor takes students out to lunch regularly and makes sure to take time to see how they're doing, and I can count on any professor in the HUM department to advise me on any issues I have. There is also a shuttle service that takes students to Queensgate shopping mall (a blessing for those of us without cars) and to fun York City events like First Friday and the Downtown Market! Now, that's not to say there aren't some negatives to YCP!

Although Campus Safety tries their best, I don't feel safe walking to and from campus at night. For students who like to stay up studying for a while, or who are swamped with tests or papers, having to walk back to west campus after 1:30 or 2:30 (on the weekends) once the shuttle stops is pretty scary. I'm from a small farming town and we don't usually have any crime in my area. Recently, we had three robberies/assaults on or near the roads leading between the campuses. The shuttle stops running at 1:30 am (weekdays) or 2:30 am (weekends) and for students who don't drive or live on west that need to cram/study, that's a bit early (though totally understandable!) I wish we had a better way to get over to west campus at night or vice versa, or that we had another library or study area on west for students to stay in. YCP has also changed their system from ADRs to Constellations, a confusing, not well-thought-out jumble of what to take and what not to take. It's killed the language departments, which is upsetting and doesn't give students enough of a "Renaissance" education like YCP preached when I matriculated. I also wished that YCP would use more resources for fun activities than promoting the college so violently. Posters everywhere, a commercial (a terrible commercial), radio advertisements, etc. are nothing compared to students physically telling others that YCP is great!