<p>MY DD is applying to Gettysburg and its one of her top choices ( among Bucknell, Lafayette, Villanova, Syracuse ). We have visited the campus twice and am concerned over the lack of transportation and college scheduled activities. Other colleges provide shuttles to the malls, organize trips to the cities. Gettysburg does none of this. Gettysburg doesn't even have taxis!!!! At 34K tuition per year ( plus R&B)I felt that their shuttle to and from Harrisburg amtrak at $20 each way was alittle overpriced....Franklin and Marshall charges less and they are further away from Harrisburg. Don't mean to rant, my daughter honestly likes the feel of the school and hopefully could qualify for some merit$. Anyone have input out there????</p>
<p>Hi goingtobebroke, nice to see someone is interested in G-burg. As you may know from previous posts, I'm an alum.</p>
<p>The thing you have to consider about Gettysburg is a significant portion of the student body has a car at school. So, the question about how to get around is moot for most kids. Other than that, there aren't really any malls nearby (except for one small strip-type outlet mall)...I can't say for sure about now, but when I was there, we pretty much stayed on campus. The nearest mall would be in Harrisburg, about 1/2 hour a way or so. If you need to do some serious shopping, Washington DC is about 1 1/2 hours away. I live near Philly, and the King of Prussia mall is approximately 2 hours down the turnpike. I know there are plenty of other opportunities to get off campus now, like weekend bus trips to NY, Philly and Washington to take in sporting and cultural events, but I'm not sure these happen every week. Also, there's a club called GRAB that takes kids out on wilderness-type adventures that seems to be very big right now. Does you child like history? I myself loved taking my bike out on the battlefield just exploring. I also spent many afternoons jogging through the battlefield. In town there are plenty of historical sites to see. Personally, my D and I love to hit the antiques shops there...not only to buy, but just to look around. She lovest one of the coffee shops there, and there's this little vintage clothing store she never comes out of without buying something!</p>
<p>What's there to do on campus? Well, plenty. There's lots of clubs and intramural sports. There's a thriving Greek community. There's on-campus job opportunities. The Majestic Theatre has been open for a year now, giving the students many cultural performances. The academics are top notch, I was so busy with school work, my on-campus job, sorority and clubs that didn't have much "free" time. I did not have a car, but had access to one, but I can count on one hand the number of times we actually took road trips...we just didn't feel the need to. I loved just hanging out with my friends, and I had a ball doing just that. You have to remember that Gettysburg has always had a great sense of community (probably the thing I liked the best).</p>
<p>I was just there for a day last month, and my D spent Legacy weekend there. Feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.</p>
<p>BTW my brother is a Lafayette alum, and my nephew's a sophomore there now, so if you have any questions about Lafayette, I can probably get you an answer...</p>
<p>I too am a gettysburg alum who graduated very recently so perhaps I can give you my experience. The school actually does provide transportation to various nearby cities. They don't do this every weekend but the school is very good about making sure that the students have plenty of non-alcohol related activities to do on campus. We have a great organization on campus called CAB that plans all the on and off campus activities. You can visit there website to get a feel for what activities go on on campus The website is <a href="http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/offices/college_life/osa/cab/index.dot%5B/url%5D">http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/offices/college_life/osa/cab/index.dot</a>
Of course this is not the only group that plans activities on campus but this is the primary planning group.</p>
<p>Once a semester the school will provide transportation to New York City and the students have a choice of either spending the day exploring the city or seeing a show. The school also does various trips to DC and Baltimore throughout the year. I am not sure if the school still does this but during my freshman year in the begining of the fall semester the school used to provide a free shuttle to the local walmart and the outlets a couple weekends. </p>
<p>As for on campus activities, there is always something going on. We actually have an on campus "night club" called The Attic that hold various activities throughout the year. Some of their past events include bringing in comedians, dance parties and a super bowl party. CAB also plans various activities including movie nights where they will show a movie that is no longer in theaters but is not yet on Video. They also have the Snowball which is our yearly campus wide semi-formal. CAB also has an end of year celebration called Springfest where there are all sorts of activities, food and fun. Also, CAB will bring in popular bands to campus for a concert. While I was there we had Maroon 5, Guster and Good Charlotte come to campus to name a few. Every month there is also a Coffee House held in The Junction (a popular hangout spot on campus). A small band will come to perform and then after the performance it's open mic so students can showcase their recent works. </p>
<p>The various clubs on campus will also hold activities throughout the year that relate to their club. For example, the international club may have an international fashion show and food tasting, GECO (The environmental group on campus) may provide transportation to a aquarium in Baltimore. Also, as SpringfieldMom mentioned, the Majestic recently reopened bringing some culture to Gettysburg. I actually come from the suburb of a very large city and in general did not feel bored at Gettysburg. I mean I did sometimes but that happens at any college. To be honest, its hard to be bored when you are surrounded by your friends. PM me if you have any questions.</p>