<p>I’m a graduating senior at Dickinson. One of the biggest quality of life reasons to choose Dickinson is its location within a town. Many liberal arts colleges are very secluded from the communities they inhabit, but from most places on the Dickinson campus you can actually see Carlisle and feel a part of it. At Dickinson you can walk off campus and go to any one of 10+ good restaurants, as well as shop at some cool local places and visit the Carlisle Theatre ([Carlisle</a> Theatre and Performing Arts Center, Carlisle, PA](<a href=“http://www.carlisletheatre.org/]Carlisle”>http://www.carlisletheatre.org/)). </p>
<p>I agree with the parent about that much of the social life is on campus. A student who comes from a big city and does not want a different experience may not find Carlisle the right place for them. That being said, I find plenty of things to do and there’s tons of academic and social programming on campus. Even though your child might not have a car, there are usually trips hosted by clubs or student life to Baltimore/Philly/New York/DC a few times a semester on the weekends so that’s definitely an option for getting off campus. </p>
<p>My academic experience has been fantastic. The professors are so accessible and really want to chat with students about what they think. Students pick their advisor when they pick a major and there’s also an office of academic advising where students can get additional advice. I find that when I’ve reached out to people they’ve been more than happy to talk to me and help me. A huge part of the intellectual experience, which is usually ignored by people looking at colleges, is that so much of learning at the college level is horizontal. My friends have encouraged me to expand my mind and consider things in different ways. They are responsible for much of my growth.</p>
<p>The social scene, like I said, is mostly on campus. I’m not in a sorority and it hasn’t really affected my social life, but I think it is a little bit harder for men, though there are clubs that are almost as social as Greek organizations. It seems that there are few lingering effects of a Greek/non-Greek division after sophomore year, though, with many people going abroad as juniors and coming back to campus being 21.</p>
<p>I would say that you can find people from all over the place, politically. I actually think students are less liberal here than at other LACs. The average is more moderate, I would say, and there are people on both extremes. I know the Republicans had 14 or so members go to CPAC this year, so there are definitely more than a handful of them. </p>
<p>As for diversity, I have to say that my group of friends is not really that diverse. Groups don’t mix as much here as they could. That’s really all I can say about diversity. I imagine the college is trying to increase diversity, though. </p>
<p>Sports teams don’t really draw a ton of fans, but they have a fair amount of social capital, at least the men’s teams. I went to a few soccer games and a few football games this year, and have been to one lacrosse game. It’s certainly not the Big 10 but it’s always nice to sit outside on a warm day and watch some DIII sports. </p>
<p>To howtofind–public service (Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, TFA type things) is really popular among students and your daughter would certainly find a lot of people who shared her interests. There’s even a social justice special interest house that she could live in after her freshman year. Also, your daughter could choose to go abroad for a year in a city and get her fix of city life that way, if she were to choose Dickinson.</p>
<p>If you have more questions, feel free to ask. I’ll check back here.</p>