Onemorebard

Haven't Yet Seen a Beaver. Not Surprised.

Because I'm relatively sure that beavers, given their lack of fiscal restraints, have already moved out of Beaver Falls. It's not as if it's horrible, but it's not "nice" either. It has a few nice points, but the "area attractions" pretty much amount to Sheetz, a Korean restaurant (which is admittedly excellent), pizza, and a rather nice campus. The campus is definitely a winning point. Given that its near Pittsburgh, it's not hard to go out and soak up some cultural experience if you want to--the college will even facilitate a few. The town, however, is a product of the depressed steel industry, and since the 60s its population size has decreased to about a sixth of its former glory. This is evident in the shoddy storefronts and unkempt houses. If you're a girl who doesn't live on campus, you'll probably feel more secure with a guy to walk you the few blocks to your house or the Geneva apartments after twilight. If you're a guy, this is a great chance to meet girls.

Not Challenging, but Hardly Shabby.

I'm an honours student with a 3.96 GPA. I take 19 credits a semester because I'm a double major with a minor, work at least seven hours a week, and still have time for Bible studies and a movie. I won't lie--with that kind of workload, I don't really sleep. But my first semester I took 17 credits without working, and I never touched my homework on weekends. The academic situation will not knock your socks off with cutting-edge ideas and a stunningly original classroom environment, and if you're a focused worker you can make straight As without putting your brain into overdrive, but it's solid. The core curriculum needs a major overhaul--Bible, communications, English 101, SCS 110, and Learning and Transition are all "pass without thinking," "learn because we gotta teach," "no undue scholarship going on here" sorts of things. Mindless and lifeless, really. If they would do a few revamps, however, I would give the core courses a high rating for well-roundedness.

The professors are the selling point for the university, and the main reason that I'm going to give this a decent rating. They don't grade hard or teach revolutionary things, but they're wonderful people, and many of them are extremely brilliant in their fields. They're always willing to talk to you, and your advisors generally have their heads on straight. They are models of Christian life and thought, and will change your life at least twice per year.

Most of the classes within my fields of study--all liberal arts--have been wonderful. Can't speak for the sciences, but I've heard largely good things.

Bottom line: great professors, average to slightly sub-average scholarship, good learning experience! If you want to be challenged, pile on the credits, be a perfectionist about your GPA, and have fun!

Wavers Between Pretty Good and Great

It would be an A if I felt there was a bigger scholarly presence among my majors, which are History, Writing, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). There are several excellent professors in History and Writing who are obviously quite steeped in their field and could hold their own in much more challenging arenas, but for the most part they're kind of content to enjoy teaching and impart the knowledge they have. Which is great--that's probably what I would do as a professor--but it's not the absolute best there could be.

The Writing program is decent: there are creative and informational focuses you can take, the classes are useful and interesting, the professors all have interesting personalities and good teaching styles, and if you're a driven type of person, you could make something of yourself. However, the opportunities for publication are limited to on-campus, it lacks a very forceful purpose towards crafting you as a professional writer, and is definitely a lot more liberal arts than pre-professional. However, I think it's still worth taking, as it WILL teach you how to write, and that is a skill that will take you a good way. However, I'm not confident that it will get me a job, which is why I'm also a History and TESOL major.

The History department I would rate just a bit higher. It has some shining professors, a few average professors, and one or two that will make you groan a bit. The American history department is probably the best; the non-western follows. The European history department could stand a good bit of improvement. I enjoy most of my classes--there are very few I have disliked so far--and I feel like, coupled with a writing major, this will get me somewhere in life. Dr Eric Miller can help you out with history grad programs quite nicely--he's a brilliant fellow who will get you far if you trust him.

Workload isn't bad at all. It varies, and of course there's a lot of writing in these majors, but if you don't overload yourself you'll be fine.

The curriculum they use has been quite decent so far--Dr Hanna in the English department tends not to use outside curriculum, which is a great money-saver on textbooks.

Internships and jobs are pretty dismal in these fields. Pretty much, get your own or make your own up.

The TESOL field is hard to define, as it doesn't have its own department, but I really appreciate the people who work in it. Doesn't beat real experience, which isn't hard to find on your own, but it's a good time, and it'll look good on your transcript.