Colby: The Big Picture
I like Colby's size a lot because I like the idea of knowing almost everyone in my class. Some people might find the small size suffocating, but I'm halfway through my sophomore year and am still meeting new people.
Colby Academic Life
The academics are better than I expected- I went to a private high school where a lot of kids went to ivy league or similar institutions and had friends who used Colby as a "safety school," so before I came here I felt like Colby might just be an average college. I found, though, that the academics were challenging and kids are really intelligent and curious about what they are learning. Professors here generally really like it when students come in to meet with them, which is nice and definitely one of the best things about going to such a small school.
Colby's Student Body
Most Colby kids are from Massachusetts or somewhere in New England; surprisingly there is a pretty large contingent from the Washington, DC area as well. Most kids are pretty normal college students- kind of preppy, but will also wear sweatpants to class, and there are a number of more eccentric kids too. Colby is less preppy than my high school, but I went to a prep school in Massachusetts and my friends from public school and from other parts of the country felt the opposite.
There are small groups of people who are very outspoken at Colby and they are very visible, but I think the average Colby kid is pretty apathetic. That's not to say that people don't know about world issues because many kids read the newspaper (just look around at breakfast), but when it comes to taking action there aren't tons of people. There is a lot of dialogue on campus about environmental issues, though, as one might expect.
Colby Student Activities + Social Life
The dating scene at Colby is kind of weird because it seems like couples will either date for a really long time and essentially be "married," or they're just hooking up. There's not really a middle ground. I don't really know what you would do at Colby if you didn't drink- I always wonder what chem free kids do on weekends because the social life revolves so much around alcohol. You can usually find kids who are taking the night or weekend off from drinking, but there aren't tons of kids who abstain from alcohol in general, and the ones who do generally isolate themselves. You can find kids drinking literally every night of the week, which means you have to learn to balance fun with work. A lot of the bigger traditions revolve around alcohol too, like Doghead and Champagne on the Steps.
