Elizabethtown College

Date: Jun 07 2010
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
Regardless of your major, look into all required classes and plan out your 4 years at Elizabethtown. I would have had enough time to finish a major and minor and I seriously regret not making a 4 year plan as soon as I started. I've learned more about my major and particular field of interest (Communications/Advertising) from one particular (and crazy) Marketing professor than in my 2 years within the Communications department combined. The department tries, they really do, but most of them aren't current with the latest technology and almost always fall short. They preach a well-rounded education under a broad umbrella of Communications, but this tends to hurt you rather than help you, as Com is just too broad to learn and understand it all (when you think about how many jobs are Com majors ex: public relations, journalism, advertising, graphic design, television production, audio production, even marketing… it doesn't make sense not to at least specialize more in a concentrated area… Unless you plan to work in local markets for PR or News Production, work your tail off to get an internship near Philly, Baltimore or NYC… when it comes down to it, breaking out of the E-town bubble as soon as possible is the only way you'll be successful. (as in get internships each and every year, beginning as a freshman to guarantee a one-way ticket out of Central Pennsylvania). Regardless of your major, you're only going to be happy once you make E-town work for you, not vice versa… take advantage of small classes, independent study, jobs, clubs and various computer labs to build up your portfolio and make your limited time worthwhile. The experiences you have on your own and making something of yourself outside of the classroom will by far take you further than any college degree.

Overall, the campus is relatively pretty and campus events like Mr. E-town, the Tree Lighting and the cafeteria's themed dinners are surprisingly lively for a school that's otherwise dead on the weekends—because the entire campus shows up to them. Like any school, admissions heavily enhances E-town and it's all a facade. But let's be serious, there's nothing relatively cool to do on the weekends. As a Communications major, it was the worst decision I could have made, naively thinking I would get a cutting-edge education and the latest updates on technology… but silly me for going to a school in the middle of nowhere. Lancaster, Hershey and Harrisburg are nothing less than a day trip each at the most. Hershey is fun but you (and your wallet) can only take so much chocolate and roller-coasters. You will make the best friends of your life, but expect them to look exactly like you. There's absolutely no diversity and students are quite content living for the somewhat lame parties on the weekends. My best friends and I could care less about drinking and often found ourselves fleeing to Philadelphia or NYC on the weekends in order to stay sane and culturally aware. Take advantage of what little events are offered on campus by SWEET—if nothing else, they're free and a bus trip to major metropolitan areas like Philly, NYC or DC will run $15. While Admissions makes SWEET out to be the largest organization on campus, be wary as they are nothing more than a few power-hungry students planning on campus events. I've been lucky to meet a few cool people who work for them, but the rest are control freaks- much like the yearbook staff in high school- who plan events in order to guarantee that they and their group of friends will have a good time. A few-and I mean few- do a good job and actually understand what the students want—and for that, they deserve a medal.

Other than that, I've met a small group of faculty who actually care about their students' success—including those within my major. Together I can only count a handful of professors that I enjoyed and learned a lot from.

The food is okay—I've heard that it's better than most schools, but that's easy to say when you're not eating the same thing every day. Desserts in general tend to be good everyday, but for one cafeteria for the entire campus, the food gets boring very quickly. It gets especially old when you can't drive off campus and everything offered downtown includes pizza, pizza and more pizza. Expect little to no diversity on the menu.

Faculty members tend to be more friendly than not and I've had more enjoyable experiences with Campus Security and cleaning staff than with some of my professors or Dining Services. It all just depends.

Also, the campus promoted service learning as the motto is "Educate for Service" but it tends to be a small group of students who put in all the work. "Into the Streets" is a relatively popular service weekend, but it would be nice to see the positivity carry out all year. Relay for Life is absolutely huge on campus, which is definitely one of the positives that E-town offers—it will genuinely make you feel good all week afterwards.

If you're evenly remotely interested in Art, Design or anything of the sort, you're better off going somewhere else. Classes, even in the core program, are boring and often busywork… professors fail to make topics interesting and as a result, most classes are extremely dry. From my understanding, Occupational Therapy, International Business, Education and Music (Therapy, etc…) seem to be the strongest programs on campus. If you're considering any other majors, look into other options first—DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!

I knew my junior year of high school that I wanted to go to Elizabethtown and was led to believe that E-town was a progressive, culturally diverse and intellectually stimulating college… I had more time than most to look into the college, but none of that mattered because I was so blinded by their smoke and mirrors that once I realized sophomore year how much I hated it, there was no turning back. I'm transferring now having flushed 80,000 down the toilet. Pretty much every student has considered transferring at one point or another, just to warn you. Many of the upperclassmen have advised "to get our while you still can." Save your money, time and effort.