blonde2435

I just visited Dickinson and really liked it academically, but i didn't get a good feel for what the social life is really like at Dickinson. Can someone please tell me about the social life?? Thanks!

Plainsman

I read on college ******* that Dickinson is different from most LACs socially in this sense: Greek Life is huge on campus. Whether that is good or bad is up to you. It's not what my D is looking for.

dg5052

Plainsman, my D is a freshman at Dickinson, and I have not heard one word from her about Greek life--and she is very social, has made friends, loves her classes and has chosen several extracurricular activities. I would not rely on whatever website the *******'s refer to; if your child is interested in the school, you should make further inquiries of actual students.

wyograd76

My D just graduated from Dickinson. She did not feel that Greek life was huge on campus. She knew kids who were involved, but knew far more who weren't. There are so many different interesting and diverse clubs and organizations, you don't have to be Greek to be active on campus.

intparent

Agree with dg5052 and wyograd76. D is a freshman at Dickinson, so has been there for about a month. I asked her a couple of days about about this (because it was one of our concerns about Dickinson), and she says her contact with Greek life has been nonexistent. She has made plenty of friends in her dorm, and is busy with campus clubs (she said that Friday night her political club made grilled cheese sandwiches on the dorm porch and registered voters until 1 am). She says that now she is there she has absolutely no concerns about it.

intparent

Other social activities she has mentioned: went to the football game last weekend, extensive games of Risk and Apples to Apples with her (co-ed) dormmates, out for pizza one night last week when prospective students & parents were on campus (they figured the cafeteria would be crowded), she posted photos of a bunch of students eating birthday cake in the dorm (the kid's parents arranged for the cake), several club meetings she has attended, many kids from the dorm got together in their common room to watch both the campaign conventions (every night of coverage). That said, Carlisle is a small town. Maybe in a year or two that might get old. But she seems very busy and happy at the moment. (Whew)

Juniper18

My D is also a freshman, and I can only echo the posts above. She had no interest in Greek life and made sure Dickinson was not heavily Greek -influenced before even applying. She is settling in nicely (and registered to vote in PA!) and could not be more pleased with life at Dickinson. She was accepted to 7 of the 9 schools she applied to and thought long and hard about her choices. Dickinson was not the most prestigious (based on USNWR rankings) but she felt it was the right fit for her, and we have been very pleased at how easily she seems to have adapted, both socially and academically (though on the latter, it is still early days!)

Peabodie

My freshman D is having a great time on campus, and also finding plenty of off-campus activities within walking distance. She seems to have a great social life, and very little of it is Greek-related.

Plainsman

Thanks everybody for clearing up my misconceptions. I guess the site I cruised is not very reliable. It's always better to have first-hand, current information.

by the way, Juniper18, would you mind sharing (can be PM) the other schools your D passed up for Dickinson? I have a feeling my D might make a similar type of decision.