<p>I’m curious about Centre College. I wish there was more chatter about it on CC. Anyone want to weigh in? What’s good about it? What’s not? My child feels confident I will help her find schools where she will get a good education. But she also wants a place where there are fun (not booze-dominated) traditions and things to do outside the campus. She’s also looking for a place where the dorms are nice. How does Centre fare according to any of these criteria?</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Centre in 2008. When we were looking for colleges Centre was NOT on her radar, a colleague of mine recommended we visit, and albeit grudgingly, my daughter set up a visit at my request.</p>
<p>First impressions, the campus is beautiful. Even in January when we first visited it was impressive. After talking to admissions, students, etc she was hooked. It was a good 4 years for her. Made great friends and got a top-notch education. She was particularly fond of her professors, who took great personal interest in the students and their lives. I can’t remember 2 professors from my college years but she still keeps in touch with some. </p>
<p>Socially, it’s a small school with a lot going on. Greek life is big but you don’t have to join a sorority/fraternity to be a part of the action. My daughter didn’t pledge but had many friends in sororities, they definitely weren’t “exclusive”. </p>
<p>The freshman dorms were old but after freshman year had some nice digs including the suites at Hillside. The newest dorm, Pearl, is beautiful. </p>
<p>I would say that if you daughter is looking for a small school environment with challenging academics (and only 40 min from Lexington) and an active student body, she should definitely consider Centre.</p>
<p>I applied because Forbes listed it as #14 in the nation (I’m sure financial aid inflated this result, though) and because application was free online… So I figured, “What’s there to lose?”</p>
<p>That was in mid-January. Now it’s April 2nd and I still haven’t gotten a decision letter yet. I’ve contacted them and they said that they accidentally mis-labeled my application status and never even considered my application, which is disappointing. I also sent them an e-mail updating my address recently, and never got a reply.</p>
<p>I am now seriously doubting Centre as a potential candidate for me: even if financial aid turns out to be superb, my experience with them has been awful–they respond to me every other time I try contacting them. Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a machine.</p>
<p>I hear that Centre has a great “Community Feeling” to it, but I don’t think it’s going to make the cut for me… I may be proven wrong–I’m not being adamant, I’m open to persuasion (fin. aid may be the key).</p>
<p>One reason I may not go is rather sentimental, but it says a lot about Centre as a whole: they sent me letter after letter bragging about their “Basketball as a Religion” and their “Art of Walking” courses–how humiliating is that?? What kind of students are they trying to attract to Centre?? It definitely reflects poorly on Centre as an academic body. I definitely won’t be taking any marketing courses from Centre!!!</p>
<p>Oh, and another thing… I seem to be ranting about the negatives with my Centre experience–unfortunately, that’s about all I’ve encountered so far. But then again, living in Washington State, I haven’t actually seen the place yet, so I can’t judge yet… But Centre, to me, seems like one of those annoying private liberal arts colleges that won’t stop sending you junk mail… If you’re going to send advertisements to students who’ve already applied to you, I would suggest varying the letter size, color scheme, etc. so that they don’t all seem the same.</p>
<p>If I were in charge of Centre’s marketing, I would hire myself a few DeVry graduates and get myself a major overhaul of the advertising strategy… Their dismal marketing tactics probably scare more prospectives off than they invite in.</p>