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Why I Chose Dickinson

Nick Stender ’15

Nick stenderFull Story:

I would say that my college search was slightly anomalous in that I knew exactly what I wanted to study in college and I had a very specific vision of what I thought a college should be. I wanted to go to a school with a strong sense of purpose and direction. A place where tradition matters. A place with a progressive founding vision that informs the current decisions taken by students and the administration. Dickinson satisfies all of those criteria and more.

Academic Rigor and Engaging Professors

In an attempt to gain a greater perspective into academic life at Dickinson, I asked the admissions department if I could sit in on some classes. They were accommodating and helped construct a visit that catered to my interests. After getting to experience a college class, I had the opportunity to speak to some professors in a really informal capacity. The fact that busy college professors would give up an hour of their time to talk with me, a mere prospective student, made quite an impression on me. That single gesture made a significant impact on decision to apply to Dickinson Early Decision. It said to me that in addition to being extremely intelligent and professional, the professors cared deeply about the students that they teach and remained committed to undergraduate advancement.

The Pillars of a Dickinson Education

Another big part of my draw to Dickinson was the commitment that Dickinson still keeps to its founding ideology. The ethos of the college can be summed up in three pillars: a commitment to sustainable education (both in a metaphorical and literal sense), a commitment to a global education (in the classroom and around the world), and a commitment to a useful education (for now and for the future). These ideals form a solid base upon which the school is established and it is only after a sturdy foundation is in place that a great institution can rise. When I visited other schools, I had a hard time encapsulating what they stood for. Dickinson was the complete opposite of that. I could really connect with what the school stood for and that is one of the primary reasons for applying Early Decision.