Elon University vs Dickinson College

intparent
Fri, 12 Sep 2014 02:06:36 +0000

My D1 graduated from Dickinson a couple of years ago, so I can speak to that school. She chose Dickinson because it was strong in international relations and political science, they gave her good merit money, she found the students to be friendly when she visited (one of the few schools where she visited a class and the other students struck up a conversation with her), because it wasn’t close to home and is not far from DC, and because the library is beautiful when you drive or walk past at night. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and got a job she loves after graduating (via networking with a student who graduated ahead of her). She has done well professionally, currently managing a department of 25 people.

Pros: She had close connections with her professors (still in touch with several of them), had great experiences studying off campus (one semester abroad in an unusual country and one semester on the Washington Program where she interned at the Department of State), and had an internship in Carlisle at the Army War College during the school year. She made lots of good friends (she was not part of the Greek system). She had a very rigorous experience senior year writing a senior thesis (which was then nominated as one of the top 60 in her subject area in the country that year) – it was stressful, but I think she was happy she did it afterwards. It also gave her a taste of what grad school might be like if she decides to go. She was really active in different clubs on campus, and met a great significant other that she is still with.

Cons: Wow… honestly, I don’t remember hearing her say much of anything that wasn’t good. There are a fair number of “LAX Bros” on campus, but it was not overwhelming. It seems to rain a lot in Carlisle.