Student Profile
Eileen
- Class: Sophomore
- Major: English
- Gender: F
- High School: Sacred Heart Academy
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
The best thing about Colgate is the atmosphere. There's something about being far away from a city, surrounded by only hills and trees. It's beautiful in the fall as the leaves become vibrant, but even more breathtaking in the winter as the snow settles indefinitely. If I could change one thing about Colgate I'd make it a slightly larger school. With 2,800 students, you feel you know everyone.. and I mean everyone. It's still large enough so that you're always meeting new people, but you know everthing about everyone in certain circles. Still, it's very welcoming to see familiar faces around campus. Hamilton is an accomodating college town and caters to student's needs, with its pizza places, restaurants and bookstore. There is community feeling that resonates within the town and on the campus, and you get to know staff members pretty well. Students support local business, and in turn, townspeople support school activites by attending games and events. There's a lot of school pride, evidenced by Colgate gear on the student body (literally).
Academic Life
Colgate has an incredible academic setting. The student-faculty ratio is about 20-1, so you get to know your professors intimately. They are extremely available and willing to help, and most students take the initiative to see their profs outside the classroom. Profesors often hold dinners for their classes once a semester, sometimes at their houses in town. The dedication to studies is revealed by the business of the library and several study spaces. Students work hard for themselves and value their education, but there's no feeling of pressure or competition among students here. Students casually discuss academics. I'm a double major in English and Peace and Conflict Studies, and each department is unique in its requirements. In general, though, Colgate requires that students take courses in different departments to ensure a liberal education, something I love about the school. It's not geared towards a specific career; most students are unsure of what they want to do after college, and take the time while here to figure that out.
Student Body
The student body at Colgate is not as diverse as I had expected. The overwhelming majority of students are upper-middle class from the Northeast and are white and straight. The presence of the various racial and religious groups is certainly felt on campus and within the classroom, and all groups interact, but outside of academia, these groups tend to stick to themselves. Most people dress up for class and save sweats for the weekends or the gym, but there's no pressure felt to constantly look nice. In terms of politics, I would say there are more liberal students than conservative. They're not found solely within the hippie population, but in every group.
The Best Things
Sense of community
The Worst Things
Social structure
