College of the Atlantic

Date: Jan 16 2014
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
People are generally nice, but you grow out of this place pretty fast. A lot of students are superstars in the environmental movement and will usually not hesitate to tell you so…several times. And judge you for whatever heathenistic environmental damage you're causing by drinking juice. The arrogant are not the majority, but they are the loudest.

Academics are hit or miss. I generally enjoyed my classes here, but the grade inflation is crazy and probably 80% of my professors took an "A for effort" approach. Working one on one with profs in office hours or doing independent studies is the best way to get the most out of the experience. I was a visiting student at a large university at one point, and COA is definitely not as rigorous as a mildly competitive state school.

Social life sucks for most people, but I enjoyed building relationships with locals, and now I spend more of my time in town and less at school. Can't beat Bar Harbor in terms of beauty and adventure. It is dead and isolated in winter, though, so people get super depressed and a lot of drinking and sleeping around takes place because people are bored.