Franklin and Marshall College

Ah, college! You get what out of it what you put into it. Franklin & Marshall seems to be a college that allows you to pave your own way.
I am not a student, but a parent of one currently at F&M. I am a firm believer of letting my children figure out what they want to do and where they want to go. My oldest knew it would be F&M.
I dropped her off her 1^st year and was very impressed. They check in to the dorm (New College House) was painless. The orientation for parents was fast. There was a nice ceremony welcoming the class and a weekend full of activities to get them comfortable to their new life.
I came back again to bring up the second child for a tour and interview. The admissions office is very gracious. They made sure to make us feel welcome. The students helping out there were also great to speak with. It is so interesting to see how F&M makes all their students feel like they are important. It is because they are important! There are so many opportunities for the students. My student host that kept me company while my child had an interview, Charlie, gave me the run down of his study abroad. He also gave me insight on how F&M has supported him. Charlie is in the same class as my oldest, so it was nice to see how his experiences are just as great as my oldest at the college.
The college is a beautiful one. Lots of red bricks, columns, and history in the buildings. Squirrels and bunnies make the campus cute. The adjacent dog park give the students a chance to unwind with the neighborhood animals.
The academics seem rigorous and challenging. From what I hear, the professors are very encouraging and love to talk to their students. I have met Dean Richter (New College House) and she is so much like a mom to her dorm kids. That is something I can definitely appreciate being a mom so far away from her child!
From a parent’s point of view, I am so glad that my child decided to come here! This was definitely the right choice for our family!

F&M is a small college, while although it is a liberal arts school, it is a very conservative school. For instance, on policies regarding assaults, their policy regarding investigating the assault is a slow and painful process.
You may read more on how Franklin and Marshall college handles its sexual assault cases, etc at the link below.

Had to drive out to Lancaster for a conference for work this week. From what I saw, it looked like a nice little campus in a pretty good location. Could have used a few more signs directing me to the conference. Also didn’t realize it was gonna take me 10 – 15 minutes to get from the parking lot to the building that the conference was in, so by the time I found my way, I was a bit late. Probably more my fault though, cause I suck with directions. Anyway, kudos to their dining services department — lunch was really good. Overall, had a great experience at Franklin & Marshall, and it was nice to get out into the sticks for a little while.

Alex hit it on the head!
I took a few classes here part-​time when I lived in Lancaster before enrolling at Penn as a freshman.
The professors were average-​to-​good. The coursework was fairly difficult in the classes I took (sciences). The students ranged from low-​intelligence (but high bank account) to hard working, above average intelligence. I didn’t meet a single student I felt was exceptional.
Many of the programs are, as Alex said, a joke. There are a few strong ones but, overall, the school is just a top 50 Liberal Arts College (ranking near 50). No one outside of Lancaster will know what F&M is (except the NY and NJ families that fork over truckloads of cash to send their underqualified kids to this school).
Overall, it wasn’t a bad school. I just didn’t like the overly WASP-​y nature of the student body. But I also didn’t stay here for four years, so I am not the most qualified to speak to the overall experience.

Im not a college student, so I cant comment on student life, but I do live in the neighborhood around F&M. So I can address some of the other issues. The new president has addressed the crime and dorm issues by increasing security (the F&M security will actually have police power in the near future), and building new dorms along Harrisburg pike. The story is that 99% of the students will be on campus to try to get rid of the frat issues of years past. As well as keep any problems from spilling out into the city. There are also security poles every couple of blocks. You push a button to alert security to a situation and they know where you are. My neighbors are also teachers at the college and are nice people, living in a nice area.

This is a small liberal arts college in the mediocre-​to-​good range. It wins on quality of the education and loses on the student culture, although there may be some people for whom the educational offerings are inadequate, depending on what they want to study.
I attended the college part-​time for a full year, but I grew up nearby and have an intimate familiarity with the college, including the campus, faculty, staff, and many students.
Pros:
The professors here really care about helping the students, and are very generous with their time. Add to this the fact that the majority of students here are not very smart, and you will find that if you have even half a brain, you will get lots of attention here.
Some programs here are outstanding. Geology is considered among the best in the nation, the pre-​med program is solid (it’s one of the school’s selling points), and in general the sciences are pretty good, and there is a very new but very exciting international studies program. The Economics program has a Marxist bent, but is good. The math department has excellent teachers, but the course offerings are not advanced and not adequate to prepare students for grad school. The Computer Science department is tiny and not a full department.
There is a small but very good music program here, with a lot of good opportunities available, including opportunities for performance as well as music composition and conducting. This school is good for people with a serious side-​interest in music.
The campus is also in a nice location. It is located on the edge of Lancaster city, in a pleasant neighborhood. It is very easy to live on or near campus without a car: the downtown is only a moderate walk from campus and there is decent bus service. Lancaster offers some of the benefits of a larger city, more than one would expect from its small size. The farmer’s market is outstanding, and there are many good restaurants.
Cons:
Some of the programs here are weak. There are a few majors (which I do not need to name) which are a complete joke, and which are often a fall-​back for students who aren’t really intelligent enough to make it in a real major, and who probably shouldn’t be granted college degrees but have rich daddies who can pay to send them to this place.
Also, the dorms are rather sketchy, and I would not want to live in them. Many of them have low ceilings, are generally cramped, and are in very poor condition, partly because of how the students trash them.
The biggest con though is the lack of interesting student culture here. Student life is dominated by fraternities and sororities, and many of the fraternities are absolute animal houses. Incidents of alcohol poisoning are commonplace. In the past, there have been incidents of racist vandalism as well as one fraternity that was fire-​bombed. Some fraternities have been closed due to health violations. I’d say that a little over half the students are rich, superficial, not very smart or creative, and in my opinion, not very likeable. But there’s a substantial portion of nice, decent students too; if you search hard enough you will find some very interesting and intelligent people here. The interesting culture centers around a few communities on campus – international students, the music department, and the women’s center, to name a few. A good student can find her way here, but with difficulty. The dominant culture here can be a bit frustrating.
Bottom line: you can get a great education at this school, but make sure you know what you’re getting into. If you’re at all like me, you may not be able to stand the student culture. You’ll encounter quite a few spoiled rich kids, and in general, you may not find enough interesting stuff to do on campus. There are some interesting students out there but you have to search to find them.

Best four years of my life. Yes, I walked out with friends (and a boyfriend) I’ll have for life but the quality of education can’t be beat. Low student to teacher ratio, professors who actually care about their students academic experience and an administration who actually supports its student. Seriously, if I’d known how much I loved it at the time, I would have stayed for a 5^th year.