Allegheny College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Biology
Minor: Psychology
Student Self Identifies as: White Straight Male

Summary

I’m a student-athlete, I’m a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), I’m a member of the Bowling Club, and I’m an announcer for the basketball team.

Background

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

High School Experience: Public high school in Pittsburgh, PA with a graduating class of 160 people. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Biology
Minor: Psychology

Extracurricular Activities: I’m a student-athlete, I’m a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), I’m a member of the Bowling Club, and I’m an announcer for the basketball team.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
Yeah, they’ve all had a big impact. Being a student-athlete, you come in and have an automatic group of friends, so that was big for meeting and getting to know other people. We just started the Bowling Club, so next year we’re getting a bowling house through the school’s special interest housing. The announcing I do is a work-study, so it helps me pay for some things.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
This year I have two labs per week. It’s a lot of science classes, including chemistry, biology, physics, and psychology. I’ve written a few essays, but not too many. There are tests, mostly two or three per class per semester, not including the final.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
To graduate, you have to write a senior comprehensive project. With the Biology department, it’s nice because we have steps to get to your senior project. We have freshman seminars which help you give presentations and write papers. As a sophomore, you have sophomore seminars that are within your major field, helping you get your feet wet writing scientific papers. The junior seminars focus on what topic you want to write your senior project on. In the end, you have to write a research paper that is a pre-proposal for your senior project. That’s nice because then you have an idea of what you’re going to do, you’re not just thrown to the wolves when writing your senior project.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I’d say it’s both. You have a lot of group projects and labs. Everyone wants to do the best they can. I know a lot of people that are fighting for spots in medical schools, which makes it a little competitive. Students and professors are willing to help you. It’s a smaller school so they love to collaborate with you one-on-one.
How accessible are your professors?
From what I’ve experienced, they’re all very accessible. They have posted office hours for each professor.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I chose my major because I eventually want to go to physical therapy school. Biology is a recommended major for physical therapy school because a lot of the requirements for Biology degrees overlap. The reason I picked Psychology is that it’s a recommended minor for the Biology majors. The scheduling works out and they don’t overlap each other.
How was managing both your sport and coursework?
Since Allegheny is Division II, you’re a student first before you’re an athlete. But, at the same time, you work a lot for our sport with lifts, practices, and group stuff. There’s enough time to do both your sport and your schoolwork, you just have to know how to manage time. Your coaches are there to help you, and most professors are understanding if you have to miss class for games when you’re in season. As long as you get your work done, they’re okay with it.

Reasons to Attend

1) You can have a chance to play athletics without it hindering your schoolwork.
2) The small class sizes allow you to build personal relationships with professors. [The average class size is 11.]
3) There are plenty of clubs and organizations that no matter what you’re interested in, you’ll be able to find a group of people you’re like. If there isn’t a club you want to join you can easily start your own. You just need signatures from a few people that want to join it.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The location. It’s out of the town a little bit, and once you get down the hill into the town it’s kind of old fashion and outdated. The people down there are much different than the student’s socioeconomic status wise. Some of the people who live in Meadville tend to not take a liking toward students because they’re so different.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Crawford Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Walker Hall with one roommate
Junior: Caflisch Hall in a single with one roommate
How was transitioning from your hometown in Pittsburgh, PA to Meadville, PA?
It gets a little more snow than I’m used to at home, but it’s not that drastic of a difference. The temperatures are relatively the same throughout the year.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel pretty safe just about all the time.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Every now and then, I’ll go to a party with my friends. We pretty much just hang out in someone’s apartment. We go bowling just about every Friday with the Bowling Club. When it’s nice out we’ll go golfing on the weekends.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
We have a game room in Allegheny that’s open until 2 AM, and it has a pool table, ping pong, and mini basketball hoops. We go hang out there and play games sometimes.
What is the impact of sports teams on the nightlife at Allegheny College?
It’s a big factor. Being on a sports team, most of the players hang out with each other. If they’re not hanging out within their sports team, they’re usually with other athletes at the school. There’s pretty much a game you can go to on-campus just about every weekend year-round.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m happy enough. I don’t know what else there would be to do.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
Through my sport. When playing, you’re pretty much around them all day every day between practice, eating, and living with them.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Allegheny?
Athletes tend to hang out with athletes in their sport, fraternities tend to hang out with fraternities, and sororities tend to hang out with sororities. After a year or so, you find a group that you fit in with and just stick with them. I’d say it’s a little cliquey.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
There’s a good mix of races in different sports teams, but I’m not sure about sexual orientation. Overall, I believe they mix in pretty well. [The undergraduate population is 9% Hispanic, 8% Black, 68% White, and 4% Asian.]
To what extent do athletes mix with non-athletes?
There’s definitely not as good of a mix. A lot of times some people I know play the sport and then either quit or no longer play the sport, but they’ll still interact and hang out with athletes a lot. Compared to just coming in as a non-athlete, mixing with the athletes is much less common.
How would you describe the student body?
It’s a good mix of people who are very into their academics, and people who are more tied to having fun or hanging out. There’s a lot of people who do more things outside of school, rather than their main focus being school.
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 the size. I feel like it’s a pretty good size for my liking. It definitely helps keep you on track academically. Professors take attendance and grade you on how much you participate in class. It has helped when connecting with professors and getting to know people on a personal level, more than just academically. That helps with letters of recommendation and job opportunities.
Do people generally seem happy with Allegheny by senior year? Do people leave loving Allegheny?
I feel like with the small sense of community and how close-knit the whole school is in general, you become so close with your group of people that when you leave people are sad. They’re happy they chose Allegheny, but they’re sad to leave because they know they’re leaving such a close group of friends.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how accommodating was the office to your needs?
The office is pretty quick to respond and they’re there to help you.