Allegheny College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Biology – On the Pre-Health track with the goal of going to Physician’s Assistant’s school
Minor: Global Health Studies
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Female

Summary

I’m a student-athlete and I was in a service fraternity that is only for sophomores during my sophomore year.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Sexual Orientation: Straight

High School Experience: Public high school outside of Pittsburgh, PA with a graduating class of 250 people. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Biology – On the Pre-Health track with the goal of going to Physician’s Assistant’s school
Minor: Global Health Studies

Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete and I was in a service fraternity that is only for sophomores during my sophomore year.
How has your sport impacted your experience?
I’m really glad I’m on the team. It brought me a lot of my closest friends and keeps me busy. I’ve played my whole life so I couldn’t imagine going to college and not continuing it.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
This past semester was tough because I took four Biology classes, so each class had exams. I’d have to read the book sections for each class. We didn’t have problem sets, we just had to read and then come to class prepared. The exams, lab reports, and research proposals were the big end of year assignments. My classes were heavy on exam-based grading.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
The small class sizes really allowed me to get close to my professors. That allows me to get help with my homework, exams, or whatever I need. [The average class size is 11 students.]
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think everybody works to build each other up. If you’re in a class with people you know, everyone is trying to help each other out because they know it’s tough here.
How accessible are your professors?
Very accessible. Anytime I email them I can go see them, or if they’re not in the office they’ll continue to email me back.
What was your favorite class in your major?
My junior seminar, which was called Disease Ecology.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I picked it because coming into school I thought I was going to attend medical school after. I then realized that wasn’t for me and had to make a change, but I’m happy I made the choice because I like all the professors in the field and I’ve made friends in the department as well.
How was managing both your sport and coursework?
It’s a lot different when I think about high school. I played two sports my whole life, but it’s a lot more. You have to travel for away games and miss some classes here and there. Our professors make it easy if you’re missing classes. They help you out you just have to be prepared to do a lot of work and not have as much time as other students that do it.

Reasons to Attend

1) The academics are worth it.
2) You can make a lot of connections. It’s good for networking.
3) It’s a place where if you don’t feel like something is here for you, it’s an easy place to start something you’re interested in.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you don’t like a small campus.
2) If you are a city person and feel like you can’t adjust.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Brooks Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Brooks Hall with one roommate
Junior: Allegheny Commons with two roommates
What was your favorite living situation?
This one now is nice because I get my own bedroom, a shared living room, and a kitchen area.
How was transitioning from Pittsburgh to Meadville, PA?
It’s pretty different, but also not too different. I live in a decent-sized suburb outside of Pittsburgh. Meadville is pretty small, but I like where it is. I didn’t have a problem transitioning, especially with the size of the school.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
There are public safety officers around. We recently had a pretty major incident on campus so they increased safety a lot. Any time I walk around campus I see a car or an officer driving or walking around.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
During the season it is tough, but we usually go out on Saturdays to our friend’s house and then to a bar downtown.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
The school always puts on stuff. During finals week they have activities to keep people busy. A couple of weekends ago they had bingo night and they have other little stuff like that.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
Greek life isn’t too big here because it’s a small school, but I know a lot of students are involved in it. It’s not taken as seriously and it’s more mellow. I’m friends with a lot of girls in sororities and they usually don’t go out with their sorority. [About 28% of students are involved in Greek life.]
What is the impact of sports teams on the nightlife?
A lot of the athletes hang out with the other athletes. When you go out, you see people on each team.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m happy with it. It’s fun and safe just hanging out with my friends.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
We came in freshman year, and it’s nice playing a sport because you’re automatically friends with all of them. Some of the older girls had friends, so you meet them. You meet people in classes or out on the weekends and become friends with them. The more you do, the more opportunities you have to become friends with people.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Allegheny?
Diversity is a big thing at Allegheny. There are people from different countries and backgrounds. We’re very open to different cultures coming to our school. I feel like we all mesh together well and there aren’t many issues that I know of.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I’d say half and half I guess. You see people hanging out with their own race, but a lot of people have different friend groups with different races. [The undergraduate population is 9% Hispanic, 8% Black, 68% White, and 4% Asian.]
How do you like the size of Allegheny in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 1,800] students?
I like it a lot. It’s easy to go out and meet new people because you’re not pressured by there being hundreds of people at the same place. It’s easy to go around and talk to different people.
How would you describe the student body?
There are very different personalities on campus and even very different personalities within each friend group. It keeps it different when not everybody is the same.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
A lot, especially the girls. There aren’t sorority houses on campus so they branch out a lot. I know a lot of the fraternity guys are also on sports teams, so it gives you an opportunity to meet new people.
Do people generally seem happy with Allegheny by senior year? Do people leave loving Allegheny?
I think so.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy is the office to work with?
Yes, I have. I’ve asked some questions and they’re all very nice and are easy to work with.