Dickinson College Admission
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The Facts

Dickinson College is a moderately sized, private liberal arts college located in the town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and is home to over 2,230 undergraduate students. The school is perhaps best known for its focus on international relations and foreign languages, and the college has an extensive study abroad program in countries as varied as Japan, Cameroon, Germany, Spain, and Korea . The school has also has a huge number of students who major in foreign languages such as Chinese, Hebrew, Latin, and Portuguese. Dickinson offers its students over 37 majors, and some of the most popular choices include English, political science, international studies, biological sciences, and international sciences.

Admission to Dickinson College is somewhat competitive, and students who apply are generally extremely motivated and very academically qualified. Last year, over 4,630 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 2,400 students were accepted; of those, 624 matriculated. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1180 to 1360, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 25 to 30. Additionally, over 83% of those admitted were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about 3.7.

Dickinson College has a very manageable student to faculty ratio of 13:1, and most classes are no larger than fifteen students. Most professors are extremely accessible, and make sure that students know that they are available for asisstance during their office hours and beyond. Many teachers are willing to give students frequent one-on-one coaching to make sure that their students are on the right track.

The Social Scene

The town of Carlisle, Pennsylvania is rather small, and it doesn't really offer students anything beside some historical bragging rights. The town hasn't embraced it's college-town status at all, and the residents aren't generally friendly to students. Thankfully, the campus is pretty good at being a provider of some social activities, and there are tons of fraternities and sororities, particularly for such a small school. Drinking is most definitely a popular activity--even though the campus does have a fairly strict dry policy, most students figure out how to get around it.

The school also has a massive amount of student-run clubs and activities, over 120 in fact, and they are popular with students who want to be more actively involved in campus life. Sports are also quite popular, but not nearly as popular as partying!

The dating scene is pretty lively, we hear--although the only place you can really go is to a frat party.

What’s Good

“The international programs here are incredible! You really get a great world-view, even though the campus is in the middle of nowhere.”

“The campus is beautiful, and it has some amazing buildings from the eighteenth century!”

“The teachers here are fabulous, and they challenge you while encouraging you.”

What’s Bad

“People here are just way too conservative; it's kind of a surprise because of all the focus on international issues.”

“The town is terrible, and the residents can be really cold and mean.”

“The Greeks are really obnoxious, and they think they own the school. It's annoying.”

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