Franklin & Marshall College
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Business
Minor: I’m not really sure yet, but I think I’m going to be a French minor.
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Male
Summary
I’m a varsity athlete and I’m in a fraternity.
Background
Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: Public school in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with a graduating class of about 450 students.
Major: Business
Minor: I’m not really sure yet, but I think I’m going to be a French minor.
Extracurricular Activities: I’m a varsity athlete and I’m in a fraternity.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
A lot of readings and homework that you do on your own that isn’t graded, but you need to do it so you don’t fall behind. Occasionally you’ll have a project or assignment, but a lot of the time it’s not a lot of stuff due during the week.
Is there anything you feel the Business department does especially well or especially poorly?
I think that some of the teachers in the Business department are too smart sometimes. They don’t understand that you need to explain stuff a lot because we’re not as proficient in the major as they are. They kind of lackadaisically teach it sometimes thinking that we know more than we actually do.
Can you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s competitive or collaborative?
I wouldn’t say that it’s extremely competitive, but it’s definitely like you want to stay ahead of your work because if you don’t you’ll get left behind.
What has been your favorite class in your major?
Accounting
What has been your least favorite class in your major?
Finance
What is a fun class you’ve taken outside of your major?
Caribbean Literature
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your major choice?
I’m very happy with my choice. I was in the investment club and entrepreneurial club in high school. One of my favorite teachers in high school was in charge of the investment club so he got me interested in all that stuff.
How is managing your sport and your coursework?
For me, it’s pretty easy just because my workload in high school was absurd. I don’t really know how that is for other people.
Reasons to Attend
1) You get friends who you’re really close to. You’re going to be friends with them forever. You make such good friends at F&M because it’s a pretty small school so you’re kind of forced to hang out with your best friends.
2) Sports. Our sports teams are very good in our conference.
3) Lancaster is cool.
4) Traveling home is really easy because there’s an Amtrak station right there. If you’re traveling home you can just hop on the train.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) Social life, just because this past year sucked and if I was a freshman this past year I probably would have transferred.
2) If you aren’t able to bunker down and get work done and actually put time and effort into school, don’t go to F&M because that’s the fastest way to fail out. It’s not a school where you can just skate by.
3) The on-campus food is pretty bad. I’ve only had a meal plan for one year so I haven’t really had to deal with that.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: Bonchek house, which is all two-person rooms. It’s usually for freshmen but the basement floor is for non-freshmen. My freshman year hall was awesome.
Sophomore: Thomas, which is all suite style dorms. You have four or five suites. If you live in a five-person suite, you have three singles and one double. I lived in the double, which was a lot cheaper. If you live in a four-person suite, it’s two singles and one double. The common rooms are big enough to have a couch and TV and stuff.
Junior: Off-campus house
What was your favorite living situation?
My favorite place to live was my house junior year.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
I can’t really name one because Lancaster as a ridiculous amount of good food. If I had to choose one, my favorite place would be Lancaster Brewing Company if I’m going with my friends. For a quick bite, I would say Chop Sushi.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
Probably to go to the lofts and hang out with upperclassmen.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Usually, we’ll go to fraternities, bars, or the Lofts. But this year we had an administrator who was in charge of all the Greek life stuff, and she made everything so strict. We ended up just going to bars because Lancaster has really good bars. Loft parties still happen, but fraternity parties are on the downfall. The lady that did that left and we have a new director and she seems pretty cool so it has yet to be determined what next semester is going to look like.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
Outside of my season, I’ll go out Wednesday through Saturday, and then during the season I only can go out Saturday nights, and occasionally to this Mexican place that has really good margaritas on Wednesdays.
What have been your favorite days and nights at F&M?
My favorite day was the fall of my junior year, so the most recent fall. We had homecoming for our football team, and it was the first game in our new stadium. There were huge tailgates everywhere. It was a ton of fun.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
Greek life is a huge part of F&M for sure. I maybe wouldn’t say it has a “huge impact,” but it makes it a lot more fun and you don’t spend nearly as much money, which is nice. [About 39% of students at F&M are involved in Greek life.]
How happy are you with the nightlife? Is there anything you would change if you could?
Honestly, until this past year our nightlife was a lot of fun. We had parties every week. We didn’t really have to go to bars, but this most recent semester is when people started going to bars just because fraternity parties were non-existent. In the past, bars had never been a huge thing.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met my closest friends through my team.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I think they mix well. I don’t think there are any problems.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
A lot of the time, athletes and people who are in Greek life stick together. It’s a big group. Outside of that, people who aren’t in fraternities or not on a sports team I don’t really hang out with them. Realistically, I don’t have any place to hang out with them in a social setting.
How would you describe the student body?
I think the student body as a whole is pretty good. I’d say the majority of students are athletes. [About 30% of the student body are athletes.] But, no one hates each other because they aren’t on a sports team.
Do you think people are happy with their choice of F&M by the time they graduate?
Every class that I’ve experienced has been extremely happy with F&M by their senior year, except for the most recent one [because of the restrictions on social life]. My hopes are up for next year because a lot of the administration changed. I can’t really give a perfect analysis of what will happen because I have no idea.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
The alumni network is actually huge at F&M. I think they do a really good job of linking people up. For me personally, I didn’t use it just because I don’t want to work up North, so I used a lot of people from home.
Have you used the career office much?
Yeah, our head of postgraduate recruiting is unreal. She is the coolest lady ever.
Have you learned any computer programs that will help you professionally?
All the classes I’m taking are big on Excel. You use a lot of Excel.