Gettysburg College Top Questions

My school does not currently have a strong intellectual atmosphere among its students. The conversations that center around ideas and free speech and intellectual ideas are few and far between. It is difficult for someone who enjoys talking about hard and interesting and new topics to fit into such a dull college group.

The worst thing about this school is probably the lack of interesting and fun things to do when one is bored. Other than on special occasions, there isn't very much for one to do on the weekends. While it is neat to be a part of a small town, it doesn't have much to do in it either -- there are only so many times you can tour the battlefield! The weather is can also be rather unfortunate because rain often results in flooding and, because it is so flat, there is a lot of wind.

Gettysburg College is simply in the middle of no where. There are no city sky lines to look at or any plays, sporting events, or grand public places to conviene at such as in New York city or even other small town areas. The lack of intense public gatherings is a change from where I come from and was definitely an adjustment I had to make.

Every Saturday night, my friends and I sit in one of the dorm rooms and wonder what we should do with ourselves. It seems like going to parties is the only thing to do. College partying can be fun, but not when it is the only choice for a weekend activity. I feel like the pressure of partying and drinking is amplified because Gettysburg is a rural town with very little for college students to do. Boredom is a huge factor of my life at Gettysburg.

Because Gettysburg is a small town, there aren't very many things to do off campus

If I had to choose "the worst thing," it would probably be the location. It's a little island of Civil War tourism in the middle of no where (Southern Central Pennsylvania)! It's a lot better if you have a car with you, and I probably have a bias from having grown up in New Jersey, where everything is extremely close (city, farms, malls, nature, everything)!

There is a whole lot of classism here, with many students of the upper middle class to upper class here. You have to be able to hold your own against those who would dismiss you for your finances. There is also very little diversity. This is very much a WASP college. They are trying to bring in more diversity, and have increased the diversity populations a lot in the last few years, but they've still got a long way to go. We need more people of other races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, gender Identities, etc.

Students form cliques early in their college careers and it can be hard to penetrate the group.

The worst thing about this school is the class and culture divide. There is a clear divide between upper middle class conservatives and middle class liberals. Being a middle class conservative, I fall in both tiers. Our school would definitely benefit from having conversation and ideas bounced around from both sides.

The attitude students have: not many students are on a quest to gain knowledge, but rather are here to party and get a degree. Also, cliques are a major issue here. Even though we're in college, it's still feels like high school.

It is in a small town, so there tends to be not much to do off-campus, especially if you don't have a car. Even if you do, the closest malls and movie theaters are outside town.

Lack of diversity among student body. Too much dependency on fraternities for social scene.