<p>Everything about Haverford sounds absolutely incredible for me except for possibly its size and honor code. Now, I know that these are two distinctive factors why students choose the school, so don't jump on me just yet. I come from a highschool of 2000 kids. I am a senior now and I have yet to meet everyone in my class of 500; so I am not opposed to attending a small school, but I don't know if I want to go as small as 1100 kids. I enjoy passing through the halls between each class and saying hi to 5 or 6 people that I know. But I have made new friends each year of highschool. I fear that the social scene will be new and exciting for the first 2 or so years, and then get old? Maybe same with the party scene? As a male, the 3:1 male/female ratio including Bryn Mawr sounds appealing on the one hand, but also like I'll feel like a minority (male attendants please respond). The honor code sounds like a great idea in many respects: fostering a sense of community, promoting respect and honesty...but I sense that it could get on people's nerves at times; always keeping a genuine stance and fearing not to overcross certain boundaries. I am definitely a person that lives by such an honor code out of my own volition, but I have several friends who certainly do not qualify. I fear that I would no longer have friends unlike me in that regard (I'm not talking about friends who cheat on tests, etc. just those that are not always on their best behavior). Maybe Haverford is for me, maybe it isn't, but if someone could outline the +s and -s of both school size and honor code I would greatly appreciate it.</p>
<p>if no one feels like writing a response, I'm sure this topic has been covered over and over again, could someone point me in the direction of a good past post or discussion thread?</p>
<p>There’s a search function you can use on the main HC thread. You can either search the HC site in specific or CC at large. I’ve personally written essays on the honor code here.</p>
<p>1) Size: Yes, there are 1168 kids at HC but each year, there's an influx of 320 new kids. I don’t know of anyone who can really “know” 320 new people in one year. There is also BMC next door and Philly. In addition, there are also summer internships and junior year study away where you can meet new people… and when you come back, well, you can meet the 320 new frosh and 310 sophomores at HC who you didn’t meet the year prior cause you were away.</p>
<p>In addition, unlike at many larger colleges or LACs without HC's campus culture, you can (and should) reach out to the faculty, administration and staff at HC to know them as well… ask a professor out to lunch… not a big deal. Invite the president to come to an event you're sponsoring and don't be surprised if he shows up. There's also the staff who are a great life resource to have as well.</p>
<p>So, with 1168 students, 320 of them new each year, 120 faculty and many administrators and staff members, and busy summers away from HC, size was not a big issue for me.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, HC is very small. A lot of this depends on what you mean by “get to know”. If you mean recognizing a face and being able to say “hey, what’s up?” in passing, then HC’s size will probably be exhausted for you by the end of your sophomore year. If you mean, “GETTING TO KNOW” people, then well, HC is pretty big then. I consider myself very outgoing and I am still meeting new interesting HC alums from around my time. In addition, I was just at a good friend’s wedding and I am still learning important things about college friends and having discussions that I feel I should have had 10 years ago but never did.</p>
<p>The biggest issue with size has to do with minority students. When I was there, % was an abysmal 22% unlike the 30-32% it is currently. There’s something called critical mass, so despite, let’s say Asian students making up 15% of the HC population, that is 15% of 1168… and if you’re a politically active and confident Asian person and are looking for the same, finding "enough" students who 1) are politically active 2) interested in your issue and 3) have the time away from academics to join your group (or whatever) can be a challenge. While most relevant to minority students, this applies to some degree to any “group” of students formed around a particular interest. While at times this can feel somewhat “restrictive”, it does stimulate you to get to REALLY know people who you may have not taken the time to befriend if you were at a bigger school with a good sized community of people with identical interests and backgrounds. </p>
<p>In addition, one thing that I only learned my senior year in college (thanks to HC's Quaker values) was that all the kids @ HC, even the ones who you know you don't like (and there were several for me) still have something really cool to share or a valuable skill set to emulate if you have an open mind. For example, I was never a fan of the Drinker House/pseudo-frat scene but you know, in the real world, that's how most of your colleagues (even at top medical, law and especially business schools) will socialize... rather than the traditional LAC intellectual mental mastication/masturbation... and learning to "cut loose", hold a normal conversation and not be socially awkward is a skill set as well which is often lost on really smart kids consumed by intellectual pursuits and scoring well on the MCATs, LSATS...</p>
<p>so, it's not HC's size that is the issue, but rather how outgoing you are and how truly open you are to appreciating other people... and despite what some students think (me included at one point), HC does promote students to be a little more open, respectful and appreciative of other people. Most times this happens during college (me during my senior year) or sometimes only after... but hey, that's fine.</p>
<p>For applicants who are unclear as to what makes HC unique among colleges. <a href="http://go.haverford.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://go.haverford.edu/</a> is the student calendar and black board page. I think they recently started putting up candid quotes about the honor code from students... a few are negative-neutral but most are overwhelmingly positive. If you refresh the page, you can read a new quote. Just looking at it briefly, I found this one, which reflects my time at the college as well. </p>
<p>"I appreciate the Honor Code in its entirety, but recently I have begun to especially observe the acts of Confrontation and the living by Community Standards by several members of the college. I completely abide by and respect the Academic portions of the Code, but since we all live, eat, sleep, and shower together; I believe that the social section of the Honor Code deserves praise as well. Recently, there was a party in the basement of Gummere. There were many beverages served and, as at most parties, the floor ended up covered in a thick layer of beer and plastic cups by the end of the night. The next morning I had my window open to let in fresh air and happened to hear the conversation among two members of the staff who were talking about the awful mess that we had left for them. I believe this to be unacceptable, for it is not their job to clean up our ridiculous messes, and told several of my floor mates. We all concluded that we should apologize to the two staff members and offer to help clean the basement. It is the fact that we confront our problems and take community issues into our hands with the hope to resolve them that I love our Honor Code and hope to see if continue to grown and improve."</p>