Dickinson College - Ratings, Reviews & Ranking

" Dickinson is made for a select group of people: kids who loved high school and went to small boarding schools somewhere on the east coast, introverted students who need handholding in academics, and people from small towns. If this doesn't fit you (like it didn't fit me) you're bound to not like Dickinson and find it to be a bland experience. The overall greatest problem is the social scene and the administration. The social scene is essentially nonexistent unless you're on a sports team and/or in Greek life. This becomes a serious problem very quickly as Carlisle is cute, but has minimal things to do on weekends for expensive prices. The administration has been shady for years and continues to dig it's own grave with little to no regard for students and faculty. Mandatory food and housing are one of the most ridiculous things at Dickinson, considering food has been a problem for years and deteriorated to basically ashes after Covid, which they continue to blame for the lack of quality food and people working. They constantly have limited hours at the singular dining hall and singular grab-and-go option because they don't pay workers enough to have them come in. On top of that, the meal plan is over $8k a year. Housing has been falling apart, and the school refuses to fix it unless something physically happens that is an immediate threat to students (asbestos seems to be a common one). However, I have to at least applaud the professors I had. Despite the fact that not all of them were great, most of them were good or at least above average. I also have Dickinson to thank for the friends I made and the fact I now am going to a much better school with an amazing reputation that will propel me further in life, and if it weren't for the grades I go and the clubs I was apart of I'm not sure I would've gotten in there. Overall, though, Dickinson is generally a sad school with a lot of kids who find themselves bonding over a general dislike for being there and actively counting down the days until their next break. Just not somewhere I would suggest anywhere go. "

" The school was very small, and although I loved it my Freshman and Sophomore year, it went extremely downhill during COVID. I don’t know if it will ever be able to recover. But many of the dining options were taken away and the food in general is not good. The social life is not good. There is really nothing to do on campus. There are no social events and really nothing to do on weekends. It’s not a great school if you’re looking to do anything other than study. Academics are good but everything else is not. "