Academics Are Good, But The Rest...

Introduction
When I chose to come to SLC, I was choosing between it and UVM. These schools are worlds apart, and so I will focus on the good of SLC, rather than the bad of UVM. First Impressions: the campus is beautiful. I was immediately drawn to the Tudor architecture, Visual Arts Center, and Music building. Visiting in Spring, the trees were in full bloom and the campus was at all times lit with a golden glow from the sun over Yonkers. The Music program seemed large and wonderful for a school this size.

Things To Consider: the Female/Male Ratio is roughly 75%/25%, which is great if you're a straight guy, but for women, things can get ugly real fast. Also, Bronxville is NOT a college town. They don't like you there. Going to the city is relatively easy, but the $11.50 roundtrip train fare quickly adds up. Another drawback: some of the housing is really awesome - but a lot of isn't. The triples in the New Dorms will quickly tax your temper, and your living space. Lastly, 1,200 people doesn't sound like a lot, and it's not...and in reality, it feels even smaller. Don't expect to keep any secrets for long here.

Campus Life and Social Life
The party scene is virtually non-existent, but don't blame the students. The administration has lately been cracking down on ANY unregistered parties anywhere. Basically, you have an hour to get shitfaced, and then once security comes, you're on your own. As for athletics, there are more sports than you would expect for a school this size, but they're not exactly competitive. Girls have more options, with Equestrian, Softball, Water Polo, Swimming, and more, while guys basically have Basketball and that's it.

Clubs are plentiful but sparsely attended. The spread is too great to really have concentrations in any particular group. Oh, and social/political Conservatives? You're decidedly not welcome here. But if you want to know why, you're out of luck - people will gladly give you their opinion, but they themselves often don't know why they have it.

With Sarah Lawrence's close proximity to New York City, it can be a drag on the weekends - many people will have apartments there, leave on Thursday night, and not return until Sunday afternoon. While the city is of course tons of fun, there really is nothing there to do but spend money, which is great if you're one of the many trust fund babies who populate the school. Academics
The academics, while demanding, are well worth it. You take three classes a semester, generally meeting twice a week, and while this may not seem like a lot, the courses plus conference makes for a full workload. The professors are as helpful as possible and do everything to make themselves accessible.

This is, of course, in addition to the conference system: in addition to your twice-weekly main seminar courses (of only 15 or less people), there is a biweekly conference - a one-on-one meeting with the professor in which you discuss topics pertaining to the class and other such fun. Your conference work, while not necessarily pertaining directly to the class, is related, but something you want to go more in depth about. Case in point: "Introduction to African-American History." While we are primarily addressing the social movements brought about during the 20th century, I preferred to focus on the power of jazz as a social tool. A friend of mine is focusing on blacks in the military, and so forth. The system is demanding, but it's what YOU want to learn, and so it is more "fun" than anything.

The Music program here is fantastic. Like other "Thirds" courses, in lieu of one twice-a-week plus conference seminar, you take a "Music third," in which you have components. For example, I am taking A-A History, Beginning Russian, and am a music Third. Within the Music requirement, though, I have a Bass lesson and Jazz Colloquium on Mondays, Musicianship (Theory) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, an optional Sound and Music For the Theatre course on Wednesdays...and all that's in addition to the concert attendance requirement. The Theatre and Dance programs work much the same way - all three are very strong programs.

There are no TAs at Sarah Lawrence.

Student Body
The students here hail from all over: in my first-year apartment, we had two from Massachusetts and one each from New Jersey, New York, Copenhagen, and Puerto Rico. I have friends from Oregon, Texas, Illinois, etc. - most of the states are represented. Diversity is another issue, though. There are not many students of color (I believe the official figure is 5%), and the few identity groups (i.e. Harambe, Unidad, etc.) seem to hit a wall when it comes to the administration.

In interests, diversity is more prevalant. There was only one course in that apartment of six that more than one person was taking (Economics), and there were Russian, Film, Theatre, Math, Etymology, Biology, and many more represented.

In Closing...
The administration is downright hostile to students - they simply don't care. The advisory boards, including the new Presidential Search Committee board, only have a token one or two students at best. Our input is not valued, and regardless of whether or not one gets the response of "we'll look into it," no real change is ever present.

It is easy to compare the administration to a Totalitarian society as opposed to a Democracy. In a Democracy, what the politicians fear most is the voters - but in the sense that they must be kept happy. They are beholden to their constituents, which is why they vote in the voters' interest. A Totalitarian goverment also lives in fear of its citizens, but for an entirely different reason. They are afraid that these constituents will reveal 'the man behind the curtain,' so to speak, and therefore do everything possible to quash dissent.

The school is operating with a multi-million dollar deficit, and being the highest-priced private college in the entire United States ($40,000+ a year), the tuition is obviously one of the few things keeping them afloat. One would think that, stemming from this vulnerability, they would be responsive, but that is not the case.

Nit-picky and up-in-arms about the slightest thing, posing mountains of bureaucracy for you to climb just to see your transcript, the administration is the strongest reason to not attend SLC.