Dickinson and Clark

[Roadrunner]

Does anybody know what those schools are like? It’s for a super outgoing kid who wants to major in business and is very sporty. 

[Farrar]

I know both of these well. My son is at Clark. I have lots of students apply to Dickinson and my kid actually just got in as well.

Neither would be my first thought for business... but both have a bit of options in business. SLAC's in general don't have lots of business majors. So it's more like if a kid wants a LAC experience before heading to an MBA program, IMHO.

Clark seems to have a strong athletic culture for an SLAC. But so is the gamer culture, the techie culture, and there's actually a lot of design and artsy kids, plus theater is relatively good there. I would describe Clark as pretty laid back overall, slightly nerdy but more in a cultural way and less in an intense academics way. Don't get me wrong -- the academics are really great, it's just not a Reed sort of culture, ya know? It's in the middle of Worcester, which is a midsize New England city. It's less than an hour to Boston if there's no traffic. Lots of buses too. New England cities tend to be sort of industrial, gritty, lots of immigrant communities. Worcester has a redone downtown area and there are some cool spots and some good food, but the area Clark is in is not at all picturesque. There's no cute college student strip of shops and restaurants. It's not in a scary area or anything, but also, it's not a cute suburb and there is some crime. Coming from DC, my kid has felt fine, but it's urban. The campus is nice with some historic buildings and decent dorms but also teeny. Everything is within a five minute walk. No joke. My kid can wake up and be in class ten minutes later. Terrible food (supposedly it got baaaad over the pandemic but is improving slowly). They enrolled a bumper crop of kids last year. It's a growing school.

Dickinson also has a sort of sporty culture. It's way more preppy than nerdy. A little bit Greek, though not the way a big university would be. I'd say it has a more traditional feel than Clark, which has more of an alternative feel. It has a very quaint small college town vibe. It's isolated. They're not far from other things, but nor are they close to much of anything. It does have a nice stereotypical college strip of shops and so forth. The campus is pretty - old buildings, lots of updated buildings. It's bigger - a couple of big fields. Plus they have a farm! It's like a fifteen minute drive away and it's teeny, but still, fun for some kids. Nice dorms - upperclassmen live mostly in apartment style housing all around the edges of campus. Good food. Science, sustainability, arts, dance are all big in addition to your typical other LAC subjects. They have a good relationship with the town in general. They're one of these schools with cute legends and traditions - like a weird mermaid unofficial mascot. 

[Roadrunner]

@Farrar🙏🙏🙏 I was hoping you would chime in! So very helpful! This kid is a lot preppier than nerdy. It sounds to me that Dickinson would be a better fit. Do you know much about their economics departments? That would be the alternative to business I am guessing. I don’t know anything about these schools at all other than Dickinson looks shamelessly beautiful. 

[Farrar]

I don’t know the economics departments, though my kid is actually taking Econ now. Both seem good, but he should do a deep dive on the course offerings. Clark has a big internship focus. Dickinson does a better job with study abroad.

[cuckoomamma]

We attended accepted students at Clark and we have one who already graduated as a business major and a second who is deciding for fall now. Neither would describe Clark as the typical business/sporty vibe. It definitely has a grittier feel and less of a campus community vibe than some campuses. 

Edited April 3, 2023 by cuckoomamma

[threedogfarm]

I wanted to chime in since we visited (fall/winter 2021), I thought it was a friendly campus, and the students were so polite! If a student was going through the door when I was coming through as well, every time someone held the door. Every time!  I never experienced that on another campus. And over the past two years (two kids going through the application process one after the other), I have visited a lot of colleges!

I do agree that it is grittier than other campuses. A lot of people describe it that way. 

And you can't beat Clark's offer of a free master's in select programs if they continue on right after their senior year (some classes are incorporated into their senior year, and then the bulk of the coursework is done the following year). I have a feeling business isn't one of those "free" masters programs, but it's worth looking into.

Our tour guide was a swimmer and brought us through the gym. She was enthusiastic about her sport and the gym facilities. But I wouldn't call it a sporty school based on my visits and comparisons with other schools we visited.  And other places had nicer gym facilities. Neither of my kids is sportier, but one likes to work out regularly, so we paid very close attention to the facilities and what was available to non-athletes.

 

[*LC]

12 minutes ago, threedogfarm said:

 

And you can't beat Clark's offer of a free master's in select programs if they continue on right after their senior year (some classes are incorporated into their senior year, and then the bulk of the coursework is done the following year). I have a feeling business isn't one of those "free" masters programs, but it's worth looking into.

 

The MBA is included in the “free” masters program. A master’s in finance, accounting and some others are 50% off. I have no affiliation with Clark; I just looked it up after reading previous posts. It looks like a MBA would cost about $2,000 plus books for the 1-year program.

 

https://catalog.clarku.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=29&poid=5624&returnto=2504