Allegheny College
Reviews

Drugs

Even though the school pushes these things under the rug , prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Adderall are widely abused on campus as is cocaine. So, if you get caught with drugs at school, don't worry, the school is too embarrassed by it to actually punish you or admit it.

Wireless Sometimes Fails

Since the campus only became wireless THIS YEAR, there are still a few kinks in the system. A few times last semester the entire system crashed causing nobody to get on the internet at all. This causes problems when students need to study.

More to Be Desired

Allegheny is an expensive school, and during my process of financial aid, it was hard to really get what I needed despite having a hard time making tuition. However, some students recieve large scholarships to attend.

Just Enough

Allegheny is Strict enough to keep things from getting dangerous, but they are so strict as to seriously impede anyone's fun.

Scheduling

Allegheny College offers a required Freshman Seminar (FS) to all incoming students whose purpose is to reinforce writing skills so that all students are writing at the college level. The professor of that class is the student's adviser for two years and changes later depending on the major you wish to pursue. All scheduling is done with the help of that adviser. If you have any questions or concerns, your adviser is there to help!

Small and Private

Allegheny college is a small liberal arts college emphasis on academic development. Students who study here maintain very close relationship with the faculty, and the professors are very helpful both for academic and non-academic.There are a lot of opportunities in allegheny. Like, the CPP (center for political participation) is a national recognized political research institution, which creates numerous opportunities for students who are interested in pursuing future career in politics.

Not Strict

Campus security is super lax about drinking and stuff, if you do get in trouble our disciplinarian is a 5 foot 4 chubby dude that doesnt do a whole lot. and in general they arent strict about much.

Geology

The geology department is small, but notable. You really know the professors on a personal level, and often get the opportunity to travel and research with them. The field work is crucial job prep, and the available internships provide great networking opportunities.

It's a Click

If you're not Greek, well then, you're not Greek. It's not a big deal if you're not. The party scene is not dominated by Greek life.

Allegheny Experience

Allegheny is a great academic school but if you want to party hard this is not the school for you. Allegheny is a school you can go out on friday and saturdays but every other day there is no parties going on and school is the number one priority. Great school for the future. For parties not the best.

Small but Good

Meadville is small, there's no getting around that. But all the same it has quite a few good cafes and shops that are fun to go to with some friends. You don't need a car to get to them either. The college is also great about sponsoring events on campus. There's usually too much to do not too little.

Senior Comp

Allegheny College really stands out compared to other schools. Student volunteerism is incredibly huge, most campus groups are super-active, ACCEL (Allegheny College Center for Experiential Learning) hosts great study abroad programs and will help fund various student projects and trips, and our profs are generally brilliant and helpful. What really sets us apart, though, is the Senior Comprehensive Project, also known as the Senior Project or Comp for short. In order to graduate, all students are required to do serious research in their field of study, give an oral defense of it, and pray of passing. (The last bit isn't a requirement; it's simply done.) There are plenty of resources available on campus, plus most professors will go out of their way to assist you the best they can. It isn't unheard of for some students to actually publish their work in some journal or other publication when they're done. The whole experience is incredibly hard, but very valuable and looks great on graduate school applications and resumes.

Ugh...

If you don't have a car, you're kinda stuck. There is the CATA Bus, but it only comes every hour or so and isn't incredibly loyal to its schedule. It's free for students, though. If you want to get out of town, there is the Greyhound, but it only departs once a day, I believe. The college does provide shuttle buses to both the Pittsburgh and Cleveland airports, which is helpful for students who live out-of-state.

If you can find a ride from someone else, do so. Otherwise, you better love either walking or waiting.

Access to Computers!

The access to computers is excellent, but they close to early. The library has access to computers till late at night, but there are rarely open computers.

Lots of Clubs...No Members...

We have an entire diversity suite, with a lounge and many offices, including: Association of Caribbean Students, Association for the Advancement of Black Culture, Queers'n'Allies, Union Latina, Association for Asian and Asian American Awareness, and International Club. However, the actual number of students on campus that are of diverse backgrounds is tiny. Most of the members of these clubs are Diversity advocates and supporters. But there is certainly an attitude of acceptance on campus of the diversity students that are there.

Parking Nightmare

Parking on campus is a night mare. Students of all classes are allowed to bring their cars to campus, but good luck finding a parking spot. It costs students $150.00 to buy a parking ticket. You are given a color coded pass, and you can only park in lots labled with that color. If you park in another lot, you are ticketed. Professors and staff park for free, in special gold lots. There are more gold lots on campus than any other lot, and, despite this, professors, with their special gold passes, like to park anywhere - taking up spots in student lots. We recently took out three lots to build a new residence hall (which is super nice), but did not replace those lots. Security does not have a quota on passes they give out, so they might give out 100 pink passes, even though there are only 50 spots available, hence, you have to fight for your spot. Or, dare to park on the streets, and the city police ticket even more rigorously than Allegheny Security does.

Not Great but Not Bad

Frat parties are the best, but there are also a number of really good house parties. Considering how small the school is, the nightlife is pretty good. And it's even better when you know a lot of people :)

I'm Lovin' It!

My overall experience at Allegheny College has been a positive one; I really enjoyed the personal interaction with professors, and although you have to work really hard, there are plenty of resources to help you succeed. I really broke the bank coming here, but I feel it'll be worth it.

Poor Public Transport,

but if you have a car, you are allowed to have it on campus from freshman year. Allegheny provides the Loop, which runs every ten minutes, but only two days a week. There is also the local bus system, but I have never used that. Downtown Meadville is a ten minute walk from campus, so it isn't really necessary to do anything but walk there.

Allegheny Greek Isn't a Necesssity...

...but it is there if you want to take advantage of it. Greek life is something I never wanted ot get involved in, so when touring colleges, I always made sure Greek life didn't dominate the social scene, and that's what I found at Allegheny. Frat parties are still open to me, and they are sometimes a good time. Sororities aren't allowed to have housing on-campus, instead they are given suites in Brooks (one of our main dorms). I never joined a Sorority, but I have a good friend who is a member and while it is a big commitment for her, it doesn't dominate her life, and we are still good friends.

Happy at Alllegheny

Our campus is really beautiful; it's one of the reasons I chose to come to Allegheny. It has lots of old brick buildings and brick walkways. Our library was renovated in 2007 and our gym is also pretty new. I really love our campus center: it incorporates the post office, a dining hall, a coffee shop, a game room, an art gallery, music practice rooms, and a performance auditorium.

Although Allegheny is located in a relatively boring place, Meadville, I have never found the campus lacking in things to do. There are always school and club-sponsored events going on around campus, and there are planty of cute locally-owned eateries and cafes in Meadville.

Totally Unpredictable

Allegheny has a "no snow days EVER" policy, which considering how much snow there can be, can be brutal. Aside from the snowy months, miserable cold and rainy days can end up back to back with 75+ degrees and perfect sunshine.

No Big Deal

The only drug people do at Allegheny is generally pot. People are pretty chill at this campus, and there I've only heard about other drugs being used once. Security doesn't seem to intent on busting people for it either; they take a long time to show up to people's rooms if the RA's report drug use.

Basically Safe

I generally feel very safe on campus. However, there has been a bunch of strange things happening to students because of people who live in the community. Security has been pretty much on top of things, though.

Liberal Arts, Literally Liberal

Gays and lesbians definately find a comfort and home in this community along with blacks. Although there may not be such a huge diversity, it is certainly greater than many schools and continues to grow every year, especially international students. The college is heavily dominated by liberals and democrats with little room for republicans to voice their opinions.