<p>I recently was admitted off the waitlist for Colgate's class of 2017. I was wondering if anyone could tell me anything about student life at Colgate and what they like about it. thanks!</p>
<p>Getting off the waitlist to go to Colgate is God’s way of telling you to go there! Rare indeed!</p>
<p>olsonc,</p>
<p>OK, you applied and possibly did not have a chance to visit the campus. But you have reviewed colgate.edu, gocolgateraiders.com, various Colgate publications that accompanied various mailings and CC threads here, and so I imagine you have some more specific questions? </p>
<p>Over to you.</p>
<p>Good luck with your college selection! And do let us know the “where and why” of your final choice.</p>
<p>When should we waitlisted students start getting letters? Did you get yours yesterday?</p>
<p>olsonc,</p>
<p>I owe you an apology since I overlooked your last few and key words: “… and what you like about it.” Sorry for jumping the gun as I did!</p>
<p>I hope that some current students do respond in the next week or so but am not especially hopeful since they may be preoccupied. Classes have ended and final exams and papers are upon them!</p>
<p>The next best thing is connecting with some recent alumni through cc. Or maybe you might contact the Office of Admissions for some ideas as to how you can get a dialogue underway with some students?</p>
<p>As an alumnus from another decade I wish you the best of luck with your choice. I would love to be enrolling again!</p>
<p>Go 'gate! (shameless plug)</p>
<p>niestpe- I got a call Friday around 1130 west coast time saying they are starting to go to the waitlist. I would definitely call them and ask to see what’s up because they said they want demonstrated interest.</p>
<p>How’s the FA, or is that a consideration? Have you made a decision?</p>
<p>start drinking copiously in your spare time - when you’re home alone, to and from work, after you family’s gone to sleep, etc - preferably straight from a $15 plastic handle of vodka. You want to get to the point where you’re able to take 4-5 real pulls without puking all over your and everyone else’s shoes. I just fully prepared you for your freshman year at Colgate. Enjoy the snow.</p>
<p>Student life at Colgate is what you make of it. You’ll be in a very small town on a beautiful college campus with about 3,000 other students. Many will be bright, many will be athletes, many will be both, some will be neither. There’s lots of people to get to know and some will become your good friends for life. That’s worth thinking about.</p>
<p>As for what to do, you decide. Are you an athlete? Are you an actor, a journalist, interested in music, movies, what? You can get involved in politics, sports, clubs, go heavy on academics, travel off campus (if you have a car or access to a friend with one), stay in and listen to music, goof off, talk, read, get into the campus radio station, learn to paint, run, walk, swim, work out in the new fitness center, go to a basketball or hockey or football game, sleep in. It’s a quiet little down, but there’s a good deal to do and you aren’t going to feel like you’re on the moon. </p>
<p>There are some fraternities and sororities with all the goods and bads they have. Join if you’d like and if you get invited. They provide instant companionship. I did, then kind of quit because it got tiresome. My daughter was invited to, but decided she wasn’t interested. </p>
<p>One of the best things you can do is to pick one thing you really like and get wholly involved in it. My daughter was a decent athlete but no athletic scholarship kid, by any means. She went out for Women’s Rugby (a club sport, not a team) which welcomes everybody, and she absolutely LOVED It for the entire four years she was at Colgate. Instant friends in all four classes, instant social life, instant exercise and fitness training. Where are the negatives? I can’t think of any. Oh, some games in the rain, I guess. But, kind of cool to get all muddy, too. Do something like that! </p>
<p>Yes, many students do drink a lot at Colgate, but that pretty much describes the world of 18-22 year olds at college campuses everywhere. I wouldn’t give it a second thought. As a Colgate alum from the Dark Ages, I didn’t drink at all (don’t like alcohol) but kind of nursed a single glass of beer at many a party. Much more fun that way, I found. And there are lots of parties on the weekends (fairly isolated school and all) but no one’s making you go to any of them. So, read a book, watch a movie, have a long talk, go out for coffee, whatever you want. The great thing is that you are all going to be in it together so you get to know people really well. </p>
<p>It is just about the most beautiful college you will ever see, and it has an enthusiasm that many much more sophisticated schools shun which makes it fun to be at. You’ll see. Good luck. Have fun.</p>
<p>Colgate is looking like one of my top choices next year! I haven’t gotten the chance to see it in person yet, but I am just nervous that it is “in the middle of nowhere”. Any Colgate student out there that can give me some input? Also, I’m from New Jersey, and Colgate would be 6 hours away from me, so it would really have to be perfect for me to go that far away from home!</p>
<p>Six hours? I went to Colgate decades ago from Westchester County which was 4.5 hours away from Colgate on a good day, and it was a bit of a drive but I got used to it for every vacation. And a few times I “car-pooled” with a friend which made it easier. There’s a couple of diners and other rest spots on the way that made it easier to do. Except in a blizzard, but that only happened once! Lousy VW Beetle!</p>
<p>Still, your six hours away kind of makes me smile because my daughter who graduated from Colgate just this May ('13) had to travel to Colgate from Southern California. Try about 10-12 hours of travel time with one plane change followed by taking either a cab or the Colgate shuttle from Syracuse to Hamilton, N.Y. Did she regret it? A few times the travel got to her, I have to admit, but she only had a single problem in four years where she missed a flight connection and had to spend a night at an airport hotel (not unpleasant, just frustrating) and catch another flight the next day. In four years, that was reasonably good, I thought.</p>
<p>Her feelings about Colgate were extremely positive, bordering on sentimental when she graduated and she says that she never regretted for a minute her entire day of travel time four times a year in each direction (8x total each year). So your six hours should be put into perspective perhaps. Do you really want to limit yourself to only the colleges close to where you live? I wouldn’t. Time to see the world a little – even if it’s little ol’ Hamilton, New York.</p>
<p>current student; it’s hard to describe ‘student life’ because everyones experiences are so varied however i would consider myself to be fairly typical so the best way i can help you out is to describe my average week: class (most people take 4, expect A LOT of reading and class discussions; also office hours are AMAZING), the gym (very active campus and most people go to the gym 3-5 times a week, play varsity sports or intermural sports) , lunch at the coop or frank (highly recommend their chicken strips or custom salads), student job and then 3-4 hours worth of homework (for me, usually done in the libs, the coop or the common room). if its a monday or wednesday night i might go to dt to nichols and/or the jug, thursday isn’t as big as it used to be. friday and saturdays usually pregrame in the dorms or upperclassmen apartments, and then downtown. weekends theres are a lot of art shows and lectures and things, or you can take a weekend trip the city. as far as groceries, most people shop at price chopper, but there’s also a drug store and a dollar general or something. you can take the cruiser there (i never have so i’m not really sure how that works out) but most people just get rides with their friends. that’s just my experience, there are a lot of great clubs and volunteer organizations you can join, acapella groups are a big thing, greek life for sophomores and up.</p>