Rhodes College

Introduction
I chose my school based on many factors. Rhodes gave me a really good scholarship: one of the better ones I recieved from the 6 schools I was acceptes to. Rhodes also has an unique atmosphere- it's small enough to really know your professors and people in your classes and get involved on campus, but large enough to blend in and be somewhat anonymous if you so choose.

Campus Life and Social Life
Students who aren't overachievers or willing to put in a lot of extra work for their classes should think long and hard before choosing Rhodes, since almost all of the professors here have high expectations of their students both inside and outside the classroom. This sounds ridiculous, but students who want to slide through school by cheating, stealing, and "borrowing" need to think twice before coming here because Rhodes has a stringent honor code. One strike and you're out.

The best part about campus life is that everything happens on campus, so you don't have to walk very far to get to where the action is. Even off-campus life is accessible: parties are either within walking distance or offer buses to and from to prevent drunk driving and save you gas money.

There is some Greek Life here, which accounts for much of the party scene. Typically, at least one of the fraternity houses on campus will have something going on during the weekend, as do other student organizations. During the week, there are always lectures and events to attend.

Sports aren't a big deal at Rhodes- as a Division III school, they're put on the back burner. Sometimes, though, campus can get over-programmed and the calendar will be clogged with so many different events in the span of a single weekend you'll have trouble choosing among all of them! The school's organizations need to work on communicating with one another so events are better spread out during the semesters.
Rhodes' academics, on a whole, are HARD. The best departments at Rhodes are Biology, Modern Languages, Fine Arts, Religious Studies, and Social Sciences. International Studies used to be really fantastic, but a lot of professors left the department and they're in the process of rebuilding. Professors are exceptionally good at Rhodes. The only mediocre professors I've encountered are the ones that are new to Rhodes and still getting their feet wet in teaching. Advertisement
Academics
It's very personalized: since Rhodes isn't a university and doesn't have grad students, TAs are actually just undergrads who are paid to help out professors. For example, one of my TAs in Biology Lab is a sophomore who took the course last year. The only TA positions I've seen on campus have been in the science lab courses- all other classes are taught by certified professors.

The Modern Languages department is especially tough on the workload- think massive amounts of reading, writing, workbook exercises, and listening comprehension for every class 4 times a week. Rhodes also requires 4 semesters of either Search (proper title: The Search for Values in the Light of Western History and Religion, a humanities credit) or Life (an in-depth Bible study class, a religious studies credit) in order to graduate. Both classes are unique to Rhodes and can't be taken at other institutions over the summer- which locks you into the Rhodes system if you decide to transfer.

As far as course offerings go, Rhodes has a pretty wide selection, but since the registering system is slightly confusing, you may not get the classes you want the first time around. Remember that drop/add is your best friend if you hate your classes.

Rhodes is also really picky about transferring credits from summer classes at other universities- be sure to meet with an advisor early to get approval for these types of credits.

Student Body
The "typical" student at Rhodes could be described as a kid from an upper middle class family who worked hard in (usually) a private high school and wants to continue that level of education. There are a lot of kids from the Mid-South (think Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia), Texas, and the Northeast, but I've met kids here from all over the country. There are a couple of international students, but not as many as you'd find at a larger public university.

In Closing...
Greek life is big on campus- even if you're not part of a Greek organization, you can hang out at the houses on the weekends and participate in some Greek-sponsored events. Also, either have an excuse handy for not drinking or be prepared to become a full-blown alcoholic: a lot of people drink on the weekends to let off steam from classes during the week.