Dickinson/F&M

hudsonvalley51
Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:56:55 +0000

From what I’ve heard F&M offers a somewhat more intense acdemic atmosphere. Lots of pre-med and pre-law students, as irvinemom notes. The high acceptance rates have some correlation to the numbers who are “washed out” during freshman and sophomore year. The kids I have known who have graduated from Dickinson have gone into the diplomatic corps, as might be expected from a school that stresses study abroad, the law and museology. F&M is more connected to the urban east coast – located in a much larger city and only an hour from Philly via Amtrak’s Keystone Service. On the other hand Dickinson is only a couple blocks from downtown Carlisle, while F&M is on the outskirts of Lancaster. I didn’t get the sense that the students differed all that much from one another politically. Maybe a bit more of a social atmosphere at Dickinson. Also, F&M selects 70% of their students through ED, which might indicate a slightly wealthier student body.