Ursinus College Snapshot

Written by Bart Brooks

Bart Brooks

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Students love this school, despite its drawbacks. It is not big or in a nice cultural area; the town offers little to do; and the food on campus definitely could use improvement. But Ursinus' strength lies in its excellent academic program, and the students and professors are a tight-knit group. There are no graduate students that teach classes here. Instead, almost all courses are taught by someone with a doctorate or the highest degree in their field. The professors have a passion for what they teach, and this bleeds into the passion students get when they learn new material. Of course, this doesn't mean that the professors are perfect. Some hold themselves in very high regard because of their degrees, others forget that students aren't quite at their level, and several assign insane amounts of work with brutal deadlines. But that's college—students are forced to manage their time and push themselves academically to new levels, and professors do their best to ensure that students successfully make the leap from high school to college.

The town of Collegeville is picturesque in parts, but it doesn't have much for college students to do. Ursinus is a secure campus with not-so-wonderful campus food, but there are lots of off-campus options. Philadelphia is close but still far enough away for Ursinus to be removed from a large-city setting. In general, this is a small school in a small town. Most students will graduate having met almost everyone who goes here, while also receiving an excellent education. Ursinus is becoming increasingly recognized in the world of colleges. Harvard, for example, has cited Ursinus as an inspiration for its own programs in academics and study abroad. The College has a lot of wonderful aspects, and it has a lot of potential to become one of the finest schools on the East Coast—that is, if students can still tolerate the food by then.