Haverford: The Big Picture
I think my favorite thing about Haverford is that I feel at home there. I got that vibe from the college when I visited, and my Freshman year confirmed it. Everyone just sort of knows everyone else. Haverford's pretty small, so there are a lot of times and places where the entire student body gathers. We all meet at "Plenary" twice a year where the student body gets together and decides how things will be run, and we all eat (well, most of us) at the one and only dining center (aka "The DC"). Also, most people tend to be involved in a lot of different things, so the student body isn't segmented into exclusive groups. A Haverford community exists, and I enjoy being part of it. All the faces are familiar.
Haverford Academic Life
Professors definitely know everyone's names. Class sizes range from small (~30) to extremely small (~8). This past year I took the best, most intense, and smallest class I've ever taken. It was a sociology course over two semesters, about 12 students first semester and 7 second semester. Each semester the class bonded very closely, and by the end you really felt like a family. One thing I can say about Haverford classes is that you bond with your classmates. I've made a lot of friends (including my best) just by being in the same class as them.
Haverford's Student Body
What kind of student would feel out of place at Haverford? That's a good question to ask, and it's actually one of the most hotly debated issues at Haverford. I think the most alienated group at Haverford is the political conservatives. As people, they fit in just fine. I'm pretty good friends with three and a fourth is definitely a "Havercelebrity" (...Haverford has its own vocabulary). But in political debates they are usually shot down and they're dissatisfied with that. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Haverford Student Activities + Social Life
A capella is huge at Haverford. Haverford has the most a capella groups per capita of any college. With barely 1100 students, we have twelve a-capella groups (counting bi-co groups, which are a-capella groups that both Haverford and Bryn Mawr students are part of). So about 1 in 9 Haverford students is in an a capella group, and it gets a little ridiculous sometimes. Since most a capella groups do skits and parodies in addition to singing, you get a lot of a capella groups parodying other a capella groups. One less-established group drew big crowds by titling its show "Not Another A Capella Show" and having each of its members dress up as singers from different a capella groups. And I have to admit, I really enjoyed the performance.
Apart from a capella, Haverford students do a lot of other stuff.
Haverford Naked Truth
One of more the interesting things about Haverford is the guy/girl ratio. Although Haverford guys are only slightly outnumbered by Haverford girls, when you factor in Bryn Mawr (an all-girls school, five minutes away, buses run to and from there every ten minutes, any Bryn Mawr student can take classes at Haverford and vice-versa, etc), the ratio becomes about 4 girls to 1 guy. For straight men, this is good news. A disproportionate number of my straight male friends have girlfriends. For gay men and straight women, the dating environment is less hospitable. A couple of my gay male friends are really dissatisfied with the dating environment at Haverford. Because Haverford is such a small school and guys are so few, there's usually only around 15 out gay men at Haverford each year. And while there are many more straight men, many of them have girlfriends, so there's usually a bit of unfriendly competition between Haverford girls and Bryn Mawr girls over the remaining guys.
