Best things: education and the professors. The education system is highly flexible and you can basically design your own major in almost any way you'd like. It allows and encourages you to explore many realms of study, but if you don't want to, then that sucks at first, but you'll come to appreciate it later. For example, you must fulfill a math and a science (with lab) requirement in order to graduate, no matter what you major in. This may seem like a burden at first, but in reality it's better to have a basic knowledge of these things, since you will have many more doors of opportunity open to you once you begin hunting for jobs. You will have the choice of working in areas you never considered before you found the job, because the liberal arts education trains you to be a well-rounded person. I know it sounds cliche, and I didn't believe this at first either, but now I see how this is so. And naturally I am the last person to defend or say anything positive about Gettysburg, but I've begun to change my mind as of late.
Now, when it comes to social life, I've learned that there is LITTLE you can do here unless you've got a close group of fun, outgoing friends who are open-minded and are willing to do other things than going out to frats and drinking. Even with that, at times there is simply nothing to do (other than homework) and you end up wasting a precious night of the little free time you may have on a friday or saturday night. Which is really a shame. But what can you do? Everything in town closes at around 5pm except the restaurants, which close probably around 10pm the latest. Unless you go to the little bars, which open a bit later...or there's Lincoln Diner which opens 24 hours. But that's it. Small town, lots of tombstones and cemeteries, and mainly nothing but white people (and a small latino population). Oh, right, there's also a small group of international students and foreign nationals, and the school's trying to increase diversity, but it's still lacking in social life. I guess if you ACTUALLY want to go to a school in the city with bustling crowds and a good social life, then it's very hard to get used to Gettysburg's environment. That's my story, anyway. It grows on you, though (the close-knit community of Gburg and the quietness, that is). But then again, social life is totally dependent on the people you hang out with. Without my friends, I would get the hell out of here ASAP. Well, even with great friends I am still trying to get the hell out of here, although perhaps not ASAP as in my first semester. Shame, I was beginning to enjoy it too. So overall, great education but the crappy social life detracts too much from this one good quality.
My best advice to you: visit the school, and if it seems a bit boring and not you're thing, you are probably right and you won't be as happy here as you could be elsewhere. Think about it before you choose to come here solely because they offer you a shitload of money.