Thank you. Really good advice.
Parent of a Dickinson senior here. My son has been very happy at Dson, even through the covid-affected years. It does not require study abroad, but has very high participation rates. As a parent and a college professor myself, I have been impressed with the faculty and the quality of the academic programs. The campus is lovely, Carlisle is a very nice small town that has everything students need/want, and the new president is a very committed alum who has done great things in just his first year or two. I would not hesitate to recommend that any student take a look and give Dson serious consideration.
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Good to hear. It is at the top of my seniorās list. Weāve visited twice; it seems like a perfect fit.
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Please use link here to discuss Dickinson Decisions for the Class of 2027.
9 posts were split to a new thread: Dickinson College Decisions Class of 2027
In most cases agree with Niche rankings as being inconsequential. However, in this case, they are accurate or at least telling. I attended Dickinson in the 1990s. My son is a freshman at Dickinson this year. Academicās at Dickinson have stayed the same or perhaps gotten better in the past 20 years. However many things have gotten so bad that you might want to pause before sending your child to Dickinson. The food and food system is terrible now. Students are using Uber eats constantly instead of eating barely edible food in the dining hall and waiting in long lines to get it. Second the social life at Dickinson is not existent. Frats are gone- certainly none have houses. Any party gets broken up by school safety or police by midnight. There is truly nothing to do. 4 years of this lack of student life is tough. Also living off campus was beneficial to me to transition from dorm to āreal lifeā. Learning to pay rent, bills, etc. Off campus is no longer an option. I was hoping President Jones was going to address these issues. I have heard talk of new dining hall/student center in fairness but as of now student life is a real negative at Dickinson which is represented in the Niche ratings.
Does the college sponsor fun activities on the weekends like skiing and hiking? Are there groups that might have evening/weekend activities like intramural sports or a capella singing? My kid is not a partier but it would be a shame if there truly is nothing to do. Dson is in the top three for my kid and this post makes me nervous.
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Was wondering the same. The no party/frats thing is actually a positive for my kid. Same with on-campus housing - so many other schools are in housing crises in areas where we canāt afford decent housing. The food is another story, but my college soph son is having that issue at his college and hearing it from others in college now as well - food costs are affecting college offerings.
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Maybe itās the kids that have changed since the 90s 
Donāt all 50+ adults say dining hall food was terrible? My kids certainly ate out more as a child and had more exposure to different foods than I did as a child.
I will say that at all the small schools we looked at, the number of places to eat was limited (vs a huge unis with multiple dining halls, food courts, etc) and the kids can get tired of it. My DC and their friends did start cooking more in their dorms/houses.
(I looked at things like the number of dining options when we toured schools - kid did not.)
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Iād like to know what the specific problems are with the food and food system. What does the list of complaints include?
I think you want @Gregoppenheimer - he made the comment about the food.
Thanks. Looking for anything specific from anyone, honestlyā¦
There are few students in the college specific forums, apart from some of the household name colleges. Your child is much better off looking at Dickinsonās social media pages, the college website, or using Niche or Unigo to see what students have to say about their school.
Dickinson is a fine school with a gorgeous campus in a small town. If I were weighing this decision right now with my student, Iād make them do the work to find out what they like or donāt like, and Iād visit if possible. And Iād ask the kid to put in a few calls to people at the college or use social media and ask a few questions. I wouldnāt listen to a parent who complains about the food here on CC. Food is, btw, a popular complaint about most colleges.
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I get all of that, but Iād still like to hear from parents who might be able to provide additional data points about the food issues at Dickinson. Thatās what these boards are for, right?
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