Brandeis University

They may complain a lot, but Brandeis students on the whole seem to be more than happy at Brandeis. More than half of the students seem to be bitter when they first get to Brandeis because they are either here because it made financial sense—Brandeis is quite generous when it comes to financial aid allotment—or because Brandeis was their 3rd or 4th option and they got rejected from the Ivies or NESCAC schools. After a little time freshman year to get adjusted, that bitterness soon turns to happiness. More so than a lot of colleges, Brandeis is truly what you make of it. There are so many opportunities out there, but you need to be willing to put forth the effort to get the most out of them. If you sit in your room and do nothing, you will get nothing out of your experience at Brandeis. Freshman year, I was quite content just being social and not doing many extracurricular activities.

Big Ten schools can claim to have a huge social life, which Brandeis may lack at times. The administration and faculty here sometimes seem to have the position that the cheapest way to do it is the best way. Parking, weather, and a shortage of “hot” students may be the other things that people complain about, but there are many ways to get around these blemishes and have a good time. And more often than not, Brandeis students find a way to do just that. Many students come in and have no clue what to expect, and many of them leave with memories that will last them a lifetime. Brandeis gets a bad reputation because of the homogenous population, but the students at Brandeis are some of the nicest you will meet anyplace. And the academics are starting to reach the level of the top schools in the country—Brandeis continues to be ranked among the top 30 schools in the nation in many academic poles. I look back on my decision to go to Brandeis and I realize that I definitely made the right decision—and I didn’t even have an awesome College Prowler book to help guide me through my selection!