Alfred Over Four Years

Introduction
Visiting Alfred in late August before my senior year of high school as new students were arriving, I was able to witness firsthand the level of energy and school spirit around me, and the diversity of fields of study and extracurricular interests on campus. That said, since beginning school here I've noticed the quality of academics and degree of school spirit have declined...somewhat of a bummer. But maybe we're primed for a renaissance?

Campus Life and Social Life
Alas, Greek life was abolished after an "incident" (about which i will diplomatically withold details here...I do want to graduate) four years ago, so the party scene isn't your typical Animal-House-esque funnel-drinking-fest. BUT on any given weekend if you're motivated to get wasted and freak some strangers, you can typically find a few parties off-campus.

As for sports: there are a number of quality Division III teams on campus, but it's not a rah-rah environment where all the students turn out to watch games. There is, however, tons of enthusiasm for clubs and organizations, and new ones pop up every five minutes on campus and host various social events as well as club activities. We have a director of student activities who's essentially the Party Informant...he/she sends out a schedule of all the events as the weekend approaches so obsessive-compulsives who plan their weekends well in advance can start penciling in their Beer Pong and their Random Hookups. Advertisement
Academics
Alfred is probably best known for its art and engineering programs. When it comes to Liberal Arts, the quality varies wildly from department to department, which means you have to be motivated and prepared to be assertive about the kind of teachers and classes that are right for you if you want the best education possible. And in other situations, you have to make the most of a situation: in my case, I major in a language for which there's only one specialist, which means I'm stuck with one professor. All I'm saying is: if you have an idea of what you want to study going into the college admissions process, keep it in mind when you visit Alfred and ask lots of questions to make sure we have the resources you need given your particular interests. Chances are, we do - but it's on you to do some research and make sure so you don't show up here at orientation week and discover there's no, say, Swahili department, become bitter and enraged that no one mentioned it to you, take your tuition money back, drop out, and go live on the streets of Zimbabwe in search of a "real education."

Assuming you listen to me and do your legwork to verify that you'll find the classes you're looking for here, I can promise you'll get a group of enthusiastic, accessible teachers. And by teachers I mean full professors: I only know what a "TA" is from hearing horror stories from friends at other colleges. I've met a number of my teachers and outside the classroom and they're always down to chat/meet/help if you ask. It's like the Swahili point I just made: it's up to you to make it happen, and if you don't even have enough motivation to do that...well, friend go back to that bong and good luck on midterms! Speaking of tests/homework, the amount of work hasn't been too strenuous for me, but I never see engineers outside the library or art students outside the studio.

I should also say here that the Performing Arts department at Alfred is respectable. Drama more than music, though, since there hasn't been much overall emphasis on building a communitywide interest in instrumental music. But BAND GEEKS PLEASE NOTE: check back later on this one, since we're expecting to hire a full-time band director for the first time in three years.

Student Body
Most students are from New York state and most of the out-of-state students are here for the art/engineering programs. Interests at Alfred are very diverse. You'll find sports fans, musicians, techies, gamers...a little bit of everything for whatever your fetish is. I mean, uh...

In Closing...
Yeah, I may as well bring up something bureaucratic that's relevant so you don't hear it from another source: The Alfred University administration has been under some scrutiny recently because while the New York State College of Ceramics is SUNY affiliated and operated, President Edmonson has been reluctant to give raises to NYSCC employees when the money has already been allocated by the state. This, in short, sucks of him. And annoys this conscientious student body.

In addition, I have to admit that I sometimes feel the best interests of the students are not given sufficient weight when it comes to the livability of the campus. Specifically, the on-campus vs. off-campus debate. There's a two-year minimum for on-campus housing and a bunch of new required classes for students planning to move off-campus, and in my opinion that's WAY too burdensome. It's all part of a greater problem I find here, that the administration cares more about recruiting new students than ensuring the quality of life of current students. The college website is a perfect example: four years ago it was informative and user-friendly by students on campus...now it's a maze of ads and promo information about the school designed to suck in fresh talent. Ideally, I'd like a little from Column A, little from Column B.