nyc

Is Hartwick isolated? If D does not have a car will she be "stuck" on campus w/ little to do?

Also what is the prevaling campus culture? A number of the upstate schools are often described as very preppy, is that true of Hartwick as well?

elizahartwick

I am a senior at Hartwick and I have never felt stuck on campus! There is a bus that is free to all students that runs in the evenings from the campus to downtown, the mall and movie theatre, and Walmart. Hartwick also works to bring activities onto the campus. There are frequently bands or comedians on the weekends, sometimes even a hypnotist. The town is a five minute walk from the campus and it is a cute college town with lots of shops and excellent food.

I wouldn't say the college is preppy. It is definitely a New England school but we have students from all over the country and world here and they fit right in.

Dado2grls

There is also a bit of an earthy influence. My D lives at Hartwick's Pine Lake Environmental Campus (920 acres) off of Charlotte Creek Road, one town over in West Davenport. She is fine without a car and utilizes the Pine Lake Shuttle. Oneonta itself seems like a little upstate 'city'. Perked up and 'cute' might be descriptive words I have heard.

Once you are on campus, Hartwick is obviously not prepped out in the sense of some other schools my D's considered such as Colby, Bowdoin, Ursinus, Dickinson, Skidmore, ect.

nyc

Dado2, thanks - - that was indeed my concern. We keep pushing Ursinus (one of D's advisors is an alum) farther down on the list b/c it sounds too preppy and too straight.

Other than the earthy/crunchy influence, is Hartwick very "straight?" D is a bit of an eclectic rban hipster (a touch of punk and into funky scarves, but also lovers her flannel shirts; usually wears sneakers or cowboy boots, but has Uggs, etc.).

We have a number of the usual hipster schools on her list, but it has been difficult to identify schools with a bit more structure than Hampshire/Bennington/etc., but that still have at least a critical mass of edgy students. Might Hartwick fit the bill?

Dado2grls

My view is that the student body stretches across a wide spectrum, but my impression culled from my D and visits is that it certainly does not lean strongly to the preppy or too straight. It sounds pretty open minded.

Dado2grls

Ursinus was interesting and a good academic alternative, but there was a little more of a Northeast prep influence than Hartwick.