<p>I have a Gettysburg class of 2016 student. I am very excited to be a Gettysburg parent! Would LOVE to see more activity here on the Gettysburg CC forum. Current students, alumni, parents etc... please share your thoughts & comments about some of the following (it would be super helpful for a new student and new parent):</p>
<ul>
<li>Favorite Class suggestions for freshman year</li>
<li>Best helpful hint for a great freshman year</li>
<li>Great restaurants to try when in Gettysburg, PA</li>
<li>An activity unique to Gettysburg College that everyone should try</li>
<li>Off the beaten path place or site that is worth visiting - on campus or around town</li>
</ul>
<p>Feel free to comment and/or add your own questions.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread, sportsmom2016. I’ll look forward to seeing what good info appears. Unfortunately, I don’t have any great insights to add.</p>
<p>Thanks, Doug/Betsy! I am hoping for some good information as well. Also, as I mentioned, I would love to see the Gettysburg section more active!</p>
<p>Thanks for the idea. I will do my part to add thoughts, suggestions, restaurants, etc.</p>
<p>My son will be starting at GU in August. We have been in Gettysburg two times and can give our opinion on 2 hotels, a few restaurants, etc.</p>
<p>I would be interested in hearing about suggestions of others. In particular, it would be good to hear from students already there, such as good freshman classes to take, good teachers, etc.</p>
<p>I will add some comments in the near future but it is time to go home from work!</p>
<p>We are also more “questionners” than “answerers” at this point… Gettysburg was the last school we added to our junior daughter’s PA college tour in February. We are from outside of Boston and G’burg is just not as well-known (or popular) here as are Dickinson and Muhlenburg. We were very much taken by the beauty and vibrancy of the campus. Our tour guide was excellent. This could be our D’s first choice!</p>
<p>I have read hundreds of student reviews, most of which are enthusiastic. My only concerns are about the diversity of the student body and whether the town offers anything beyond historic tourism. D is creative, but not “out there.” She is also smart, but more pragmatic than cerebral. She is very socially adept, but dislikes petty gossip or exclusionary behavior/tight cliques. Her high school is liberal and accepting. </p>
<p>Any comments/insights would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Following up Sportsmom’s suggestion that we start to have an active site regarding Gettysburg College, I thought that I would add some brief reflections on the Gettysburg Hotels that we have stayed at in our two visits to the college (leading to my son’s acceptance for the freshman year beginning this August):</p>
<ol>
<li><p>When we were in our college search process in April 2011, my son and I stayed at the 1863 Inn of Gettysburg at 516 Baltimore Street. I thought the hotel was fine, reasonably priced, clean and convenient to the town. On the negative side, it is fairly old and more of a “motel” than a “hotel”. It had a convenient continental breakfast in the lobby and I understand that it is “pet friendly” for those interested.</p></li>
<li><p>For Get Acquainted Day this April, my wife and I and my son stayed at the Comfort Suites at 945 Baltimore Pike, which at that time was rated #1 for Gettysburg Hotels (now #2). In comparison to the 1863 Inn of Gettysburg, it is newer, though it is further from the center of town, which is a negative in my opinion. The continental breakfast was fine.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think that either place is good, though you should not expect to have luxury accomodations, like you would at a Westin, Marriott, Hilton, etc., though with college expenses who could afford luxury!</p>
<p>We have visited the school twice. Stayed at the Country Inn & Suites once (far out in my opinion but nice) and the Hampton Inn once ( decent place - rooms have been renovated - there was a back way over to the school that we found to be easy & convenient). As far as restaurants - we did not have any memorable meals. We did like the Appalachian Brewing Co - enough to eat there twice!</p>
<p>@Mom55 - as a new parent I am not too much help but I will say that one of the things we liked about Gettysburg compared to other LAC’s was the size of the student body. At aprox 2700 students my son felt that this was large enough to have a good variety of people yet still small enough to be able to have small classes and get to know people & profs.
We started looking at schools when my son was a sophmore. We looked at schools up & down the east coast from Maine to Florida as well as in Ohio & Minnesota. One of the main things that my son liked about Gettysburg was that when he walked around the campus on his own he felt comfortable and like he belonged.
Just to let you know a little about my son so you have an idea of the type of student who picks Gettysburg -he is a super friendly person who has a wide group of friends with all sorts of interests (he has always been able to enter into a group of strangers and quickly come out with friends), he is a dedicated athlete, very involved in community service (with many hours spent with an organization that works with developmentally delayed children & adults), involved in student government, had leadership roles in several organizations. He loves history so the location of the school is, for him, a big draw!</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Gettysburg College last year and my son currently attends Muhlenberg College. Gettysburg, the town, is strictly tourist and history. Gettysburg College has a strong greek scene. If you aren’t into greek life, I understand social activities are rather limited. It is not a liberal college in any way. The student body leans way right. Muhlenberg has a very nice campus but Allentown is not a very vibrant town. Muhlenberg has a very small greek scene and a much more diverse student body. Muhlenberg has an excellent theatre department and is stronger in the sciences then Gettysburg. Both schools are a similar size and both schools offer students a chance to get to know professors both in and out of the classroom. Muhlenberg leans slightly right and offers a more accepting community. Both are great schools but slightly different. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>I hope everyone had a successful move in yesterday. We did. </p>
<p>After saying goodbye, we hunted for a restaurant in town. We ended up at Mamma Ventura’s, about a half block off the circle. </p>
<p>It was good, not great. The menu was extensive. But, we kept it simple: cheese fries appetizer (for S), an antipasta caprese, and white pizza. No real complaints, although the service was erratic.</p>
<p>Been There and Done:
Can you expand a little more about the differences between Gettysburg and Muhlenberg? DD is looking at and likes) both schools. Surprised to hear that Gettysburg skews more conservative though that’s not necessarily a factor for her. DD undecided re: majors but leaning toward business possibly. Not a science kid. Does your son feel like there are a lot more girls than guys (our impression is that both schools skew female but even more so at Muhl b/c of theater program and larger LGBT population). Both schools seemed pretty homogeneous on our visit (white and preppyish) and not all that geographically diverse either. Any additional insights very much appreciated.</p>
<p>Hi,
I have a son at Gettysburg. Hes in his junior year. Hes a Heath Science major getting his BS and a business minor
My favorite restaurant is The Dobbin House. Ask to sit in the main dining room. The gift shop at the Dobbin house is my fav as well. If your going parent weekend you must book in advance. I book all my restaurants wayyy in advance for that weekend.
I usually stay at the Gettysburg Hotel if I can get a good rate.
Travelodge is nice because the restaurants and shops are all in walking distance and they accept pets!
I was just in Gettysburg on Sunday thru Thursday helping my son move in for the 3rd time. The campus housing gets better every year. This year he has a kitchen and a large common room in an apt he shares with 5 other boys…and 2 bathrooms. Has air conditioning!!
My daughter interviewed on Tuesday. She loves it there and now I have to go through the whole applying to college process yet again!
Good luck to all your kids this year! I love Gettysburg. Visiting is great.</p>
<p>In our case, I wouldn’t agree that the housing necessarily gets better. On paper, it would appear so. My daughter is in an apt. with three other girls. The floor plan shows that one of the two double bedrooms is smaller than the other one, but it does not give dimensions. We assumed it was at least dorm room size. I wish she had gone and knocked on the door last year to actually SEE the place. The bedrooom she ended up with is TINY-far, far smaller than her dorm room was last year. The other bedroom is huge—far bigger than her dorm room was. She originally was scheduled to get the larger bedroom because it was an upperclassman she was going to room with who pulled the girls into the apt. with her. The other girl dropped out of school at the last minute, so my daughter’s other roommates took the larger room since my daughter “did not have a roommate.” That lasted less than a week before she was assigned a roommate. In any case, it really doesn’t matter who; two of the girls would have ended up in this miniscule room regardless. Yes, they do have a common room and kitchen. Is it worth more than a thousand dollars more a year? (Actually 4 grand total because all the girls are paying the highest plan rate). Heck, no! My daughter agrees. That’s one of the reasons I’m peeved that Gburg does not give dimensions for their floor plans. How hard would that be, really? They already have the floorplans available online; just add the measuremnts, for crying out loud.</p>
<p>Then there are other of her friends who had to settle for housing much further away from the central campus than they wanted to be. They’re not entirely happy with their situation, either, but it was slim pickings by the time their # came up.</p>
<p>It’s going to be interesting both in the spring and during the housing selection process this year. My daughter said that last spring, there was a very noticeable increase in the student population when the students returning from studying abroad returned to campus. Since housing is already strained, I wonder where they plan to put them all this year? I believe fewer students leave campus to study abroad in the spring than in the summer, so it won’t be an equal number leaving as returning. D also says she sees a noticeable impact in the dining hall even now just from the larger first year class. </p>
<p>Just curious, Gburgmom—where has two bathrooms? My daughter said that she thought even the 7 person places only had one bathroom, but she could be mistaken. PM me if you don’t want to share publicly.</p>
<p>As one of the moms stated above yes there is a strong Greek life.
My son is NOT in a FRAT. He has a campus job and plays a club sport.
My daughter if accepted will want to join Greek life. So it depends on the child.</p>
<p>Thanks for starting this thread
We have stayed in Gburg 3 times - at 3 different places!
Gettysburg Hotel - My favorite lovely room, right on the Square close to everything in town and campus. Stayd here while tourng for 1st time last summer. Can be a bit pricey and fills up fast. Parking is in a garage behind the hotel which you have to pay for. A little annoying and not the most convenient.</p>
<p>Comfort Inn Rt30/York Road. Awful. Stayed here for GA Day in April. Small room, bad temperature controls, little staff help. The smell of chlorine from the pool permeated the entire 1st floor. Found doors propped open in the evening and staff not too concerned. Won’t stay here again.</p>
<p>Comfort Suites Baltimore Pike. Great, clean , new. Excellent staff, breakfast great on Move In Day when it looked like every guest was moving someone in to GC! A little far from town, had to drive in to the Square and a bit far to walk a night from Stienwher Ave. Note that it abuts Evergreen Cemetary so views out the windows on the back side are of it. Litlle bit disconcerting at first! Would stay here again.</p>
<p>Quality Inn at General Lee’s HQ is up next for Family Weekend. An older motel syle place which is across the street from Seminary Ridge. Appalachian Brewing Co Restaurant on premises. Has anyone stayed here?</p>
<p>I will add our hotel experiences around the Gettysburg area. At this point we have been to the area 5 times and have stayed in the following hotels:</p>
<p>Country Inn & Suites: Stayed here twice. It is a decent place to stay. It is on the outskirts of town - in the same area as the outlet mall. Rooms are clean & comfortable. Breakfast is included. The price is reasonable.</p>
<p>Hampton Inn: Stayed here once. Rooms have been updated. The lobby & breakfast area was in the midst of renovation back in April. Another decent, reasonable place to stay. </p>
<p>Americas Best Value Inn: Stayed here twice. Very inexpensive place to stay. After the first visit we thought we had found a little gem (a clean, decent, and basic room at a very reasonable price and a good location). On the first visit we had a very clean and spacious room - the furniture was non-descript & older. No flat screen TV or anything “fancy” in the room but the price was right. Beds were comfortable. Liked it enough to stay a second time and reserve a room for parents weekend . Second stay - UGH! Very different room - gross carpet, lumpy bed - was not a happy guest of the ABVI. Currently looking around for another room for parents weekend - many places are already booked.</p>
<p>Both Gettysburg and Muhlenberg have slightly more females then males in the student population. Muhlenberg has larger LGBT, Jewish, and disabled student populations. In my opinion their campus is more accepting of differences. Gettysburg has a fanatastic new physical education center. Muhlenberg has the nicest dining facilities of any school we looked at… and we probably looked at at least 20 schools. Business schools are comparable although you might have easier access to Philadelphia and New York for internships and externships from Allentown as opposed to Gettysburg. The schools get similar students, both have great employees, both have strong Presidents. I don’t think you could go wrong with either school it is more a matter of which one feels “right” for your daughter. Best of luck with it all!</p>
<p>We tried the Wyndham and Marriot out near the movie theaters many times. The Wyndham is fairly new and very nice. They have a ballroom which frequently gets used for weddings, proms, etc. and that can get a large, noisy crowd on occaison. The Marriot became our go-to hotel as it was nice and clean, newer, great people and nice amenities like a pool and a breakfast area. If you join the Marriot rewards club you can get upgrades and earn free room stays. The staff remembered us and was always very nice. They don’t have a ballroom and it cut down on the noise. They are not far from campus, have two restaurants across the parking lot and the movie theater within an easy walk.</p>
<p>Beenthereanddone:
Many thanks for the response. I think D now less enthusiastic about Gettysburg b/c is so popular with students from our area. Her concern about Muhlenberg is that with 40% males and a significant LGBT population, the % of “eligible” males (from her perspective) is even lower than that 40%. Agree that both are great schools and couldn’t go wrong at either one.</p>
<p>I am not sure that the numbers are so far skewed that your daughter would find herself without suitable suitors. Also the LGBT population isn’t huge. It exists. My advice would be for her to visit. Maybe even do an overnight visit and get a look at how the campus community gets along. Best of luck to you and your daughter in the search process. BTAD</p>
<p>PS. Should your Daughter consider applying to Muhlenberg her odds for acceptance are MUCH better should she decide to apply Early Decision. Muhlenberg takes a very large percentage of it’s Freshman class from the ED pool. Again, good luck!</p>