I have visited campus before but it was hard to tell the vibe at Dickinson over a break and I can’t make it back before I need to commit. Based on current anecdotes, does the student body lean more “hipster” or “preppy”? I would identify as a moderately “preppy”, conservative but open-minded, athletic student from the Northeast… will the College be a good fit? Are students generally friendly? How much greek life is there left, and does it fit the “Animal House” stereotype or is it more laid-back?
I’d say you are a fit. Probably a bit more preppy than hipster overall. Greek life is definitely mellow (certainly compared to Animal House!). I know openly gay students who were happily Greek, non-drinkers who were in service fraternities, etc. And plenty of students don’t participate in Greek life at all. My kid picked it partly because students were so friendly on her two visits.
My D is a conservative, public school graduate and college athlete at Dickinson and seems very happy about how nice and friendly the students are. There do seem to be a lot of private school kids at Dickinson, so in that sense it guess it’s preppy, but I don’t get the impression the vibe is pretentious or materialistic. D didn’t rush a sorority–never even mentioned the topic to me–and I don’t think many of her teammates did either. The campus lectures and seminars are definitely left-leaning. The LGBTQ?+ community seems pretty active. D gets a little sick of hearing about white privilege and similar PC topics, but I would imagine you’re not going to escape that on the vast majority of campuses today. Be prepared for an environmental emphasis to the point you will be asked to recycle dryer lint. That stuff doesn’t bother her, though.
What sport does your D participate in and what does she study?
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I think it is called “College Confidential” for a reason. 