<p>What's the difference between Gettysburg and Dickinson Colleges?</p>
<p>Dickinson has a writing program specialty wile Gettysburg specializes in Civil War/Political Science/etc programs</p>
<p>there is very little difference between these colleges, mostly
upper middle class white suburban kids at both. G is a little
larger, D in the middle of a small town, but basically two sides
of the same coin.</p>
<p>Dickinson has a lot more diversity than Gettysburg.</p>
<p>Dickinson has ROTC on campus; Gburg kids have to commute to there to participate.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>What about in terms of the science programs, study abroad, extracurriculars, housing?</p>
<p>And Greek life?</p>
<p>Collegegrl09,</p>
<p>Greek life is very big at GBurg…more than they let on. First years do not pledge but of the sophs, jrs and srs a large percentage (60%) is involved. That can make it uncomfortable if you choose not to pledge and all your friends do. I don’t know about Dickinson.</p>
<p>I suggest that as far as the majors you visit on each school’s accepted students’ day and see the departments you want to see. Go with questions. If you can’t attend I would e-mail or call admissions and get contacts in the departments that interest you. Talking to people in those academic areas may help, but getting back on campus is your best bet.</p>
<p>CollegeGrl09,</p>
<p>Actually, according to the Gettysburg web site, 43% of eligible (i.e., upper-class) students are Greek. And the total percentage of ALL students (including freshman) who are Greek is 38% of men and 26% of women. So although it may not feel that way, the majority of the campus is not Greek.</p>
<p>At Dickinson, the Greek numbers are 21% for men and 24% for women.</p>
<p>I got the above numbers from the Common Data Sets posted on the colleges’ web sites.</p>
<p>The study abroad programs at both schools are very strong. About 50% participate at Gettysburg and over 80% participate at Dickinson. A daughter of a friend of mine attended Dickinson and had two successful stays in Africa. My daughter, who’s at Gettysburg now, will be studying abroad this coming fall, and most of her friends will be as well, but in different countries. I know that for her program, there will be no additional costs (above what we pay for each Gettysburg semester). Even airfare is included. To me, this was very important and it was a selling point for Gettysburb. At some of the other colleges where my daughter was accepted, the study abroad terms were anywhere from 7 to 12 thousand dollars extra.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>horsfeathers, </p>
<p>where on the Gettysburg website did you find this information about greek life. I’ve been looking and I can’t seem to find anything.</p>
<p>Pancake7,</p>
<p>In case my copy-link doesn’t work, go to gettysburg.edu, type in “common data set” in the search box, and click on the third link in the list that comes up. The greek info is on the Student Life page (tab CDS-F).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/offices/ees/institutional_analysis/cds/CDS08-09-finalGettysburgCollege.xls[/url]”>http://www.gettysburg.edu/about/offices/ees/institutional_analysis/cds/CDS08-09-finalGettysburgCollege.xls</a></p>
<p>Your link does work! Thanks!</p>
<p>Just to be clear…I looked at the common data set…and it does list 0% freshmen involved in Greek life, but the total of 38%/26% is listed under “Undergraduates” That means all undergraduates–including freshmen who are ineligible were included in the calculation. Excluding freshmen, the number for men would then be around 50% and women closer to 40%. It is a huge part of life at GBurg and shapes the student body’s perception of itself. Keep in mind that set groups will not go Greek in as large a number as the random student body and almost can’t be counted…very few students involved in the music/theater programs will join…they have their own group, but many don’t really mingle with the student body at large. Girls on sports have their team as a support system, so they tend to go Greek in smaller numbers. Anytime there is an existing group it limits the chance for social interaction and thus limits the ability to make friends.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, if a college…any college, not just Gettysburg…feels the need to crunch numbers to make it look like there are fewer Greeks on campus than there actually are, they know people consider it a problem.</p>
<p>librarymom,</p>
<p>I don’t understand why you think Gettysburg is trying to “crunch” the numbers. The CDS is a form that many colleges fill out, Gettysburg just doesn’t change it to fit there own needs. The form asks them how many undergrads are in the greek system; it doesn’t say how many, excluding freshmen. Even on the Gettysburg website they say that “43% of the eligible upper-class students are Greek” so its not like they are trying to hide it.</p>
<p>They are not trying to hide but neither are they trying hard to show with an * what these number mean. Same goes for all other CDS schools.</p>
<p>To each his or her own, I suppose, but I think this Greek life “thing” – for lack of a better word – has really been blown out of proportion. I graduated in '04, and I can honestly say that the Greek life situation on campus had zero impact on my social life. Most of my best friends from college were in sororities and fraternities and it didn’t make one bit of difference to them or me that I was independent (and didn’t drink). Yeah, pledging takes a lot of time out of people’s schedules, but aside from that, going Greek is just like joining a club or playing on a varsity team. Of course, there are those people who feel the need to live the stereotype and go all “Animal House” once they reach campus, but, from my experience, they were in the vast minority.</p>
<p>i go to dickinson and love it</p>