<p>I'm not gonna be able to visit far away colleges and I feel like research has only gotten me so far. Can any Drexel students tell me about
- the general atmosphere (academic + social life, and whether the pendulum sways more toward one or the other)
- surrounding life + whether the school feels really isolated or integrated
- research opportunities--are they hard to get or can anyone start researching right away if they seek out opportunities?
- what are the students like? Is the college diverse or is there a "typical" student?
- history, anthropology, other social science majors--generally, are they amazing, good, okay, or subpar?
- the quality of the premed program or advising/whether it has much success or not</p>
<p>Hi Jen123,
I’m a rising sophomore in Engineering at Drexel. I’ll do my best to answer your questions:</p>
<p>-General Atmosphere: Drexel has a 10-week academic quarter system (as opposed to the 16-week semester system at other schools). This makes the university a pretty fast-paced environment. Most students enjoy it I think. It really forces you to stay on top of your studies. At the same time, I also see a lot of “all work and no play brings a dull life” meaning that while you don’t have time to slack off in your studies, students here are definitely active and engaged in things outside of their academics. I’d say the pendulum sways more towards academics, but does swing back to having a social life as well. </p>
<p>-Surrounding Area: Drexel is in an area of Philadelphia known as University City. It’s an extremely safe part of the city and only a few minutes away from the hustle-bustle Manhattan-like Center City area. I personally like the campus and environment. On campus, everything around me is associated with Drexel or another university; but at the same time, I have access to an amazing city too. </p>
<p>-Research Opportunities: In engineering and the natural sciences (Physics, Chem, Bio), research is HUGE and opportunities are plentiful. I know that from experience (I work as a research assistant) but I’m sure there’s stuff online to support that as well. In other areas, like social sciences, I think research is pretty prominent as well. Drexel is a research institution, after all. It’s pretty easy to get involved as I have seen, and Drexel’s colleges seem to really encourage all students, even Freshmen, to participate in research. </p>
<p>-Typical student: There is no such thing as a typical student here. Just demographically, I think the school is like 20% international students or something. But there are so many different programs and majors here (Everything from Fashion Design to Materials Science to Culinary Arts to Marketing and Finance) that there’s no way you can really generalize the student body here. Combine the diversity of the academia with the fact that the school is also in Division-1 for sports, but also heavily into research, I think that there is no way to adequately describe the majority of the students with any adjective other than “motivated”.</p>
<ul>
<li>Social Sciences & Pre-Med: I don’t much about these. If you are thinking about pre-med, I would definitely look into the BS/MD program though. It’s an accelerated program that brings you straight from your BS to an MD through Drexel’s Medical School. </li>
</ul>