Although
I'm an alumni (and now a graduate student at Adelphi
as well), I thought I'd offer my experience at Adelphi
for those who are considering going there. Overall, I
am happy with my education at Adelphi. I had attended
a large university (with over 30,000 students) and didn't particularly
like the impersonal environment. While you're just a social security
# at the big schools, you really get to know
your proffesors at Adelphi. With only 30 or so students
in the class, your proffesors will know you by name
(and you can count on getting a lot of great
recommendations if you plan on going on to graduate school).
Although it seems a lot like high school, some people
really need an environment like this. I know being in
a lecture hall with 100+ students and never having the
chance to ask your proffesor a question was definitly not
for me! The proffesors are excellent for the most part.
The social atmosphere at Adelphi is not what you
expect when you think of going away to college. The
incoming freshman are always disappointed, always complaining and really think
that they are going to turn Adelphi into a party
school. If you've been here for a while, you learn
to accept the fact that Adelphi is NOT a party
school. The students here are always complaining about the social
life. However, I think it's really what you make of
it. I pledged a sorority and had an awesome social
life. If you just go to class and go home
what kinda social life do you expect? Greek orgs and
sports teams organize Adelphi bar nites every Tuesdays and Thursday
nites usually so the social life isn't as dismal as
it may seem. I had a great time! The weekends
are quiet though, which gives you a break and forces
you to study.
For the most part though the
people are snobbish, but what do you expect for an
expensive private school on Long Island??? Since most students are
commuters, all of them tend to come to school all
dressed up in their designer clothes. It's definitly not an
intellectual environment and most students aren't motivated. If you take
your education very seriously (which if you did you'd probably
be going to a more reputable school anyway), the total
apathy of the environment just brings you down.
I'd
recommend Adelphi to two different groups of students:
1) those
who are somewhat serious about their education and life and
who aren't interested in being involved in the whole college
scene.
2) Those you barely made it through high
school, are only interested in partying and who are not
yet mature enough to handle going to a “party” school.
I think if I could do it again, I'd
probably go to Hofstra. Hofstra is a little larger than
Adelphi and offers more of the college type of experience.