How's Colgate?

GoodGirl · 12-22-2005, 06:52 AM

Anybody who's visited Colgate? I want to hear from people who know Colgate. What sports is Colgate well-known for? (preferably, NCAA Division I, II, III level) Are there cheerleaders at Colgate? How about the people there? Are they nice, smart, interesting, happy etc? How's the university's reputation? And do the students must live with roommates for four years? Also, how's the dining? Is there going to be a lot of parties? Thank you. *^^*

RaboKarabekian · 12-22-2005, 10:51 AM

Colgate's football team made it to the NCAA DI-AA finals two years ago. Their softball team is also wicked good. They play DI sports, and yes, there is cheerleading. Oh yeah, hockey's pretty good too. You don't have to live with a roommate. I know a junior who has never had one. The university is one of the top LACs (not AWS, but close) and the alumni network is extremely active. It is also known as a party school.

GoodGirl · 12-22-2005, 11:06 AM

Cool. I'm so applying to Colgate. Thanks for your help.

ticklemepink · 12-22-2005, 08:59 PM

hey hey, what are you doing here, Brown University???

I'm a real Colgate student here :-P but the person's right on most part. I'm a sophomore so....

Colgate is extremely well known for its hockey, women's soccer, and football. I think lacrosse is getting up there along with softball. It's a D1 school but you'll find tons and tons of kids involved in athletics somehow (varsity, intermurals, club, etc). Yes, there are cheerleaders, whom I find extremely distracting because everytime they pull a stunt, I always miss a great play!

The gate students are one of the reasons why I love Colgate so much. People are so friendly and nice to each other. There's no pressure except for that you might miss out the fun if you don't go! They're pretty loose hanging out but hard-core when it comes to studying and partying (some party very hard....). People like to introduce each other to their friends and before you know it, you'll be connecting dots between different people and groups. Like I didn't realize that one of my friends in one organization is sharing an apartment with the captian of my team.... small world at Colgate.

The university's reputation is incredible and it gets better every year. Colgate has incredible med school acceptance rates and sends people off to great grad schools. It helps so much to have a small university focusing solely on undergrads and preparing them for the next step, whether it's grad school or career. Alumni network is pretty loyal.... you'll heard fond stories, haha. People just LOVE Colgate, they don't complain at all. But if they do, it's usually for a very good reason like difficult course registration because so many classes are capped to keep them small....

Depends how housing works out for you. For most part, we do have roommates. There are more opportunities for singles in sophomore, junior, and senior years, especially if you live in a Greek house or an apartment that doesn't fill all the beds available in the place.

Dining's good... generally, we're pretty happy because the services really do listen to us and our needs. Even the downtown has good stuff so dining's really flexible, depending how you look at it. There's meal plans... required for freshmen and sophomores (but they can get smaller number if they want). Like any other colleges, Friday and Saturday nights are the worst

There's always parties going on but not necessarily all-campus parties... the frats usually hold one or two all-campus parties during the semester. If you're not really into parties, there's tons of other things to do so you'll never, ever be bored at Colgate!

Any more questions... just PM or IM me

mhc48 · 12-22-2005, 10:27 PM

For more on sports at the Gate, check out: http://athletics.colgate.edu/.

Besides watching, there's plenty of opportunity to participate at any level. My D, a petite, 5'0" freshman, formerly a tree hugging, birkenstock wearing vegan, who had never played before (or even seen a match?) even joined the Women's Rugby Club:
http://groups.colgate.edu/rugbywomen...urrentteam.asp

(which was pretty weird for me when I had to tell friends that my daughter had gone off to a prestigious college and become a hooker)

She's made lots of diverse friends in one semester and is extremely comfortable and happy there. In fact, she pretty much describes the people there exactly the way you phrased your question: nice, friendly, smart, interesting, happy.

She's wise enough not to tell me too much about the party scene but it's still fairly clear that in addition to rugby, other student activities and studying, she's really having a great time.

GoodGirl · 12-23-2005, 07:23 AM

Thanks very much guys. Colgate seems like a wonderful place. :-)

RaboKarabekian · 12-27-2005, 02:03 PM

Just to explain...I grew up in Hamilton, my father teaches at Colgate, I took some classes there, and this summer spent a month with one of Colgate's study abroad groups, and even though I don't go to Colgate, I still love it and feel the need to comment.

brown08232 · 01-03-2006, 02:04 PM

My brother goes there. Be forewarned that the weather sucks big time, and the town is about as small as any in existance. Other than that, though, my brother likes it.

katuga · 01-03-2006, 03:35 PM

I like colgate a lot. When I first visited it, I thought the campus looked kind of austere and cold, but then I attended a camp there over the summer and met some of the students and got to stay in the dorms and eat in the cafeteria and take classes. Anyways, after that I really started to like it a lot and I could totally picture myself there.
My only concern is that I know there was an incident a few years ago where a few kids died in a drunk driving accident on campus. I have no problem w/ partying but is drinking still that big a problem? Do the majority of students belong to a frat/sorority, and is there any pressure to join them?

ticklemepink · 01-04-2006, 12:46 PM

That incident... Colgate completely cracked down big time with drinking and wild frat parties (as you can see in the NYT archives). They have bought all of Greek houses so they are liable for whatever happens to the students and can have more control over the happenings in the houses. They have stricter entrances to the parties- must have ID, you get a bracelet, they check your drinks, etc. But all that hasn't affected the students' fun as much as feared. The fact that the administration has control over the frats is the reason why I was okay with Colgate's Greek life. The Greeks have to meet very high standards in order to stay recognized.

Drinking is now not much of a problem- every week the Campus Safety finds a drunk freshman here and there but not as bad as some of the bigger party schools. People are more responsible and watch out for each other in case there's trouble.

There is no pressure to go Greek though many will fear losing their friends- Only true friends can balance their social life between their brothers/sisters and their non-Greek friends. The Greek life doesn't really give you much of a leg-up as I expected- it only introduces you to a broader social circle and more opportunities to get involved. But with a rate of 45% of sophomores, juniors, and seniors going Greek, sometimes it can feel pressurized to join if one in every two people is Greek. But no one gives a darn. The only way you can tell is if they're wearing their Greek letters (sororities are more likely to do this). My best friends aren't Greek and I respect their decisions.

Honestly, I feel so much better now about Colgate than before now that the administration's working on its image.

ticklemepink · 01-04-2006, 12:49 PM

Do you want to talk about "cold place"? Talk about Princeton and its gothic architecture!!!! So funny, for 12 years I grew up near Princeton but had never gone "inside" the campus until just last spring when my friend gave me a tour of his campus... amazing how a tour can change one's perspective on the campus. At first, I thought Princeton was cold, unfriendly... now I think it's one of the most beautiful campuses, right below Colgate.

mhc48 · 01-04-2006, 01:47 PM

Tick,

My D (who's a freshman) tells me that sorrorities don't have houses (some arcane state law about unmarried women living together being a house of ill repute?!) and that parties are all given by the (obviously male) frats.

So... what is the function/attraction/purpose of sororities at Colgate?

Colgate13 · 01-04-2006, 02:48 PM

I'll answer this one even though I'm a guy.

That think about the state law is all BS. Its an urban legend that is at many different colleges. At least in my experience, most of the students who believe it are girls.

Some of the sororities have houses. I've been to tri-delta's house once. I know there is at least one other one that has a house on Board St. I think some of the other ones have townhouses.

I've never heard of or been to a sorority party, only frat parities. I know they do stuff together, it may just be not open to everyone (No need to remind me of the school's "policies" on this. I'm also not trying to imply that they are not welcoming).

RaboKarabekian · 01-04-2006, 06:44 PM

I know the blue greek house on Broad st. is a sorority house. Sororities do fundraiser charity things (like the teeter-totter-athon) and help clean up broad street every sunday morning. I would guess sororities also do a lot of stuff within their own house.

Colgate13 · 01-04-2006, 10:06 PM

Thats the one I was thinking of. I'm pretty that this house served as the home of the Broken Lizards guys characters in Puddle Cruiser.

For those who do not know, Puddle Cruiser was the first movie shot by a group of Colgate alumni. They are most famous for Super Troopers. Puddle Cruiser was filmed at Colgate and in Hamilton. I used the movie to show my grandmother what the campus looks like, had to mute the sound though.

There were a couple of scenes in Slap Shot that were filmed in Starr Rink.