Colby College Top Questions

Pretty much, yeah.

No! By all means, no! While many students like to engage in physical activities, only 33{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students participate on a varsity sports team. Colby is certainly not homogeneous. The administration made a concerted effort last year to increase the amount of diversity on campus, and they have certainly succeeded. The amount of diversity nearly doubled since last year, and Colby is now only 69{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} Caucasian, which rivals for the most diverse NESCAC. Also, in terms of personality, there is a little bit of everything at Colby and no group dominates social life. There are the jocks, geeks, lax bros, lax girls, theater kids, green freaks, and everything in between. But what ties everyone together is an undeniable intellectual pursuit and general friendliness.

Yes and no. There are so many different facets of the student body at Colby. You have the option to join whatever group you want. I would say that about half of the student body is made of upper middle class white kids from the suburbs of New England(which is also the case at Bowdoin, Middlebury, Dartmouth, etc.), however this has been slowing changing over the years and the student has become very international. In the four years I was there I began to see a noticeable integration between the "old boy" students and the minority and international population. For the most part everyone gets along very well and has a deep respect for one another. If anything I think some of the international students have a harder time understanding the preppy culture than vice versa. The professors are wonderful yet very demanding.

very much so..but not applicable to every single colby student, because obviously not EVERYONE is the same....just around 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}.

not really

The Colby classroom education is one of the best in the country - This is absolutely not true. The Colby education is very over priced and honestly many of the professors especially in the economics, government and chemistry are particularly arrogant men and women who think that they know it all when it comes to education. Unfortunately, I wish this was the case. Instead of being better teachers in class (i.e. helping students understand the course material better) the professors once they are tenured just don't care if their teaching styles are outdated or not or if the students are understanding the material. So much for a small liberal arts college with good profs eh! It is a predominatly jock and white school - Yeah this stereotype is absolutely true most students do fit the mould of being a jock and at times a very obnoxious with their hauttiness which unfortunately most students decide to pick up in order to fit into the campus lifestyle. Most kids are from 20 mins outside of Boston - Although, on paper this may look different with Colby's emphasis on diversity but it has not perculated in terms of the social life. Most kids who are dominant are from 20mins outside of Boston like many of my friends were. The majority of kids who attend colby are rich and spoilt - This is true for the majority of the student body who come from this privileged backgrounds.

yes. some kids are smart. many are just athletes or very preppy and have little personality or care about anything.

Not at all. The majority may be rich, but there is a certain humility and a willingness to hear and learn.

Not at all! I have many friends on sports teams who I still get to hang out with, and I have a lot of friends who don't do anything athletic at all. I know a fair number of people who are also not "preppy," or ones that don't fall into a specific category. Colby is a place where everyone is tolerant, and everyone has activities across the board. The only stereotype with any credibility is that a lot of people are "20 minutes outside of Boston."

Yes, but there's so much more to them. While there definitely are groups of people, Colby kids are much more than the social labels inevitably acuqired at a small school. People between groups definitely mingle, and it's small enough that you can create friendships across boundaries based on whom you live near or what classes you take.

The first five are accurate. I feel like upper-class is accuarte in terms of stats, but they don't act snobby or superior for the most part. My first impression of Colby was that students weren't as preppy as I was afraid they'd be, but I have begun to question that. I often feel like the oddball in the group because I'm anti-preppy and maybe even partially emo. In terms of acceptance, I feel like the school is tolerant of different kinds of people, but there really isn't much diversity on campus.

They definitely exist, and I might even say they predominate, but there is a surprising amount of diversity here that people never mention.

This is not completely true. There are many other things to do in Maine, many including outdoor activities with the Outing Club, and Colby will also provide transportation to many places in Maine on the weekend for sightseeing or shopping. Some students do drink a lot, but they would anywhere else.

Yes. errr No. uh, it depends. From my experience there are many Colbys. Of course there are the pearled and plad weekend warriors (the last rallying cry from our no-longer existent fraternities) but there is also a huge eco-activist/outdoors population (Read: cult) and small but vibrant international population.

To a certain extent the stereotypes aren't true. There are international students and kids from things like POSSE but on the whole you are going to find a bunch of preppy, rich, white kids from just outside of Boston who study all week and party until they pass out in their dorm rooms on the weekends.

To some extent

Often enough for the stereotypes to be unsurprising. We have more students from Mass. than from Maine, it's true, and between us and our sister schools (Bowdoin and Bates), we have the biggest international population. It's also true that many Colby teams hold beer dear, but no more so than at any other college. And yeah, pretty much every day on the General Announcement e-mails, someone's lost a Nalgene or a North Face. But I, at least, own neither. Some people are preppy, some people are crunchy, some fall in between, but a decent chunk fall outside the box, too. All of which is to say that the stereotypes work from a distance, but as with anything else, the truth is a little more complicated and a lot more interesting.

for the most part, they are. i'd be hesitant to say that all colby students are environmentally aware, although a large percentage of the campus is attuned to 'green' issues. colby as an institution is pretty green. the majority is indifferent.

In a way. I have visited schools that were far less homogeneous than this one, so i guess by comparison, then yes, we are. But then some of my best friends are from different countries and extremely different parts of the US.

no. although many students here come from affluent families, many of us aren't. when i walk through the waterville walmart with my colby sweatshirt on, i just want to yell out, "I'm from a tiny poor town in Maine just like you guys!" also, of those students here who DO have a lot of money, many of them are still grounded, because they know what it's like not to (their parents started out with nothing, etc.) but...i do see where those stereotypes come from. upon coming here, i was jealous of all of the nice cars in the parking lot, and could imagine the beautiful suburban house that a large percentage of the student body comes from. i heard people talking about designer brands, most of which I had never heard of.

I believe that in some cases, these stereoptypes are true; however, there are a lot of Colby students who do not fit this mold. Many love the outdoors and are far from rich or spoiled; many take care of themselves and also have the pressure of making the grades in order to get the financial aid that they need.

for the most part, with some exceptions as always

Quite frankly they are, for most of the campus flows into these types of stereotypes. Yet, there are a few that deviate from the "Colby norm," but for the most part these stereotypes are quite accurate in portraying Colby students.

I would be lying if I didn't admit that rich, preppy WASPS from New England comprise a large percentage of our student body, but once on the hill, a lot of these differences fade into the background. Just because I'm on tons of financial aid and my roommate isn't doesn't mean that we aren't good friends or have nothing in common. Extracurriculars, majors, and housing are more likely to determine who you hang out with than where you're from.

somewhat, but there are a lot more "weird" kids than i expected- artsy kids and kids who are into things like theater

yeah

There is a lot of drinking, but the students also work very hard on there classes. Also while in general the campus wants to help the environment, it defiantly does not define most of the students.

To a certain degree, otherwise they wouldn't exist. We definitely have a strong population of environmentally-conscious, outdoorsy types on campus, most noticeably our Woodsman team or the inhabitants of our Green dorm. The Outing Club, which rents out equipment like tents and snowshoes, is the biggest club on campus. I think the outdoorsy end of the spectrum is more of what the school tries to play up and promote through events like Colby Outdoor Orientation Trips (COOT) for freshmen, and it's historically been Colby's image. That being said, the New England prep school, country club stereotype also holds some truth. While the student body is comprised of people from almost every state and countries all over the world, it seems the more often than not you're talking to someone who is from "right outside Boston" and who knows half of the people here through their private high school's sports rivalries. I've only been here for a year and a half, but from looking at the older to the younger grades there definitely seems to be a transition taking place where this preppy culture is coming out more to the forefront of the overall "Colby Image." Obviously that doesn't speak to the entire student body, or even the majority of it, but if you're painting with broad brushstrokes I'd say those two stereotypes are certainly the most noticeable and fitting.

Most of the stereotypes are exaggerated or incomplete. First of all, there is a large population of private school students, but no more than 40 percent (off the top of my head). At the same time, although Colby has historically been predominantly white, we also received an award this year for being progressively diverse. We have students from an incredible number of countries. Colby was also ranked high for most money given to students as scholarships or grants. The only cliques that exist at Colby are among sports teams when in season, but this can be found at most schools. And as far as the social life, there are events planned both nights of the weekend by our Student Planning Board that are substance free, and there are a significant amount of students attending all of these events. There is no pressure to consume alcohol here. However, the students here do work hard, and are high achieving. The only reason we seem so busy is because people love being involved in many activities.

not so much. Colby students love to party, but they also see grades and other involvements as their primary concern. Partying is viewed as a reward for working so hard. As a Liberal Arts school, there are most definitely hippies, and being in the North East, there are definitely preppy people, but there is also a wide range of people in between who just live life the way they are most comfortable. Everyone at Colby is very comfortable with themselves.