Gettysburg College

2012-13 Edition First Impressions: Gettysburg College

Educated Quest.com Background

Introduction to Gettysburg 1 College There are older American colleges than Gettysburg but few Background are so entwined with American history. Founded in 1832 as Pennsylvania College, a Lutheran-afﬁliated institution, Gettys- burg was built on land owned by abolitionist Thaddeus Ste- vens, later to be the author of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" including former slaves who had just been freed after the Civil War.

During the war Pennsylvania Hall, the college’s ﬁrst building, served as a hospital for Union and Confederate troops. Four months after Confederate soldiers were driven away, alumnus David Wills, class of 1851, prevailed upon President Abraham Lincoln to deliver what later became known as the Gettysburg Address. Nearly a century later, former President Dwight Eis- enhower retired to Gettysburg and became a Trustee of the College. He wrote his memoirs in what is now Gettysburg’s admissions building, now named Eisenhower House.

Before the start of the 20th century Gettysburg had established one of the ﬁrst college alumni associations in the country, admitted women and established a student newspaper. In 1958 the college established an Honor Code. During the 21st century, the college has not only modernized dining, recrea-

2 tion and science facilities, it has also become a greater part- half of the student body is involved in public service projects ner in the rebirth of Gettysburg as a historic site, conference during a school year. In 2013, Gettysburg was one of only ﬁve center, cultural center and tourist center. The college acquired colleges, and the only selective liberal arts college, named as and rebuilt the Gettysburg Hotel, an anchor of Lincoln Square a Presidential Awardee to the President’s Higher Education in the heart of the downtown as well as the Majestic Theatre, Community Service Honor Roll. The College is also one of originally built in 1925, now the College’s and the commu- the nation's top producers of Fulbright Scholars and Peace nity’s performing arts center. Corp Volunteers.

Today Gettysburg College offers Bachelor’s degrees in more Gettysburg has produced notable alumni on both sides of the than 60 ﬁelds. It has established institutes in community serv- political spectrum including Carol Bellamy, the ﬁrst Peace ice, leadership and public policy as well as Civil War studies. Corps volunteer to be named director of the organization and These are rare for a small liberal arts school. Gettysburg is former Libertarian presidential candidate and Republican Con- also one of only ten liberal arts colleges allied with a music gressman Ron Paul. The College has also produced a Nobel conservatory to offer a Bachelor of Music as well as a Bache- Laureate, J. Michael Bishop, who won the prize in Medicine lor of Music Education degree. for his work in cancer research as well as a fashion and style expert, Carson Kressley, host of Queer Eye for the Straight Gettysburg College has approximately 2,600 students and Guy. Gettysburg’s current president, Janet Morgan Riggs, is has become one of the more desired liberal arts colleges in also an alumnus. the country. Approximately 80 percent of a freshman class graduates within four years, better than most U.S. colleges and universities, while freshman retention has consistently exceeded 90 percent.

More than half of enrolled students are engaged in public service projects. More than half of each graduating class studies abroad at some point in their education while more than

3 Competition

What does it take to get in? What other schools do 2 applicants consider? More than half of Gettysburg students come from three states: Pennsyl- Competition vania, New Jersey and New York, while another ﬁfth come from New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. The College is also drawing contingents from the Chicago area and well as California. There are also students from 35 foreign countries.

In 2013 there were more than 5,400 applicants for approximately 700 seats in the current freshman class. Of these applications, just under 2,300, around 42 percent, were accepted. About 700 more were offered a place on the waiting list. The 30 percent yield rate, the percentage of accepted students who decide to attend, is about average for selective liberal arts colleges. Gettysburg is likely to rank equally among similar schools when the student has not applied to any school on their short list through Early Decision.

Gettysburg is test-optional, though test scores are used for placement into classes as well as consideration for merit scholarships. Among students who submitted SAT test results, the middle 50 percent scored between 1200 and 1370 (out of 1600) on the Critical Reading and Math sections. Less than a quarter of the admitted students scored below 600 on either section, but less than a quarter scored over 700. Students who apply to the conservatory may be offered “second choice” admission to the College and be prepared to re-audition.

The College does not require applicants to declare a major, although some academic programs including Chemistry and Music require a commitment during the freshman year. The college uses the Common Appli- cation and has two Early Decision periods, one ending November 15th, the other on January 15th. The deadline for Regular Decision is Febru-

5 ary 1st. Students who have applied for Regular Decision can convert One added point: Among the schools often cross-shopped against the their application to Early Decision until February 1. According to the Ad- College, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Oberlin, Richmond and Wake Forest missions Web site, in recent years, about 40 percent of Gettysburg's have a more ethnically diverse student body than Gettysburg and the first-year students have been admitted through Early Decision. Those other Pennsylvania colleges, according to College Results Online, a data- who cannot afford to attend after receiving their financial aid offer are ex- base managed by The Education Trust, a non-partisan, non-profit organi- cused from the Early Decision commitment. However, it would be advis- zation involved in education policy. Some of these schools often have able for students interested in Gettysburg to complete the CSS Profile partnerships with organizations such as QuestBridge (Bowdoin and Ober- using prior-year tax information and discuss their interests and concerns lin) or the Posse Foundation (Bucknell, Colby, Dickinson, Franklin and with the admissions and financial aid professionals before applying. The Marshall, Hamilton and Oberlin) that provide supplemental funding to at- College also has special requirements for home-schooled applicants: tract minority students. two SAT II Subject Tests (one in Math, the other in a subject of the applicant’s choice), a personal interview, a descriptive essay from the appli- Approximately 1 in 7 Gettysburg students is involved with the Sunder- cant’s primary teacher, and a graded paper. men Conservatory, which merged with the College in 2005. All students considering a Music or Music Education major are invited to audition, Students who consider Gettysburg also look at other liberal arts colleges though they must be admitted to Gettysburg first before they audition. including Bucknell, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall and Lafayette in Gettysburg’s association with Sundermen offers three degree options Pennsylvania; Colgate, Hamilton and Union in New York State; Bates, rarely found in liberal arts colleges: Bachelor of Music (Performance), Bowdoin and Colby in Maine as well as Wake Forest (NC) and Rich- Bachelor of Music Education and a Bachelor of Arts in Music (liberal arts mond (VA) in Southern states. Among national liberal arts colleges, Get- degree, usually with a second major or multiple minors). Students can tysburg is most similar to Oberlin (OH) which has approximately 300 also take private lessons for quarter or half-credits. Students who con- more students, operates a music conservatory and also has historical sider Gettysburg for admission to Sundermen also consider Oberlin, Ith- ties to the abolitionist movement. Oberlin could also be considered an aca, Lawrence (WI) and the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins. “aspirant” school for Gettysburg’s admissions office. In 2013 it received more than 7,400 applications for 780 seats in its current freshman class While Gettysburg is not located within a large city it is less than 90 min- and attained a yield rate of 35 percent. However, the student who would utes from the Baltimore-Washington Corridor by bus or car. Among the present credentials for the top of Gettysburg’s applicant pool would rank schools that are most often cross-shopped against Gettysburg, only the in the middle of Oberlin’s. Gettysburg is also a popular option among stu- Southern schools, Richmond and Wake Forest, are closer to a large dents who consider schools such as Muhlenberg College (PA), McDaniel (over 200,000 resident) city. For those considering the Conservatory, College (MD), Washington College (MD) and St. Mary’s College of Mary- only Peabody, affiliated with Johns Hopkins is closer to a large city. land.

6 Costs

Tuition and Fees Scholarships 3 Debt For the coming school year Gettysburg will charge approximately $47,500 Costs in tuition and fees. Room and board will be an additional $11,300. The college also adds $3,700 for books, transportation and personal expenses when calculating a student’s eligibility for financial aid. These costs, which combine to be the estimated Total Cost of Attendance, are high for a private college. However, approximately 80 percent of Gettysburg’s financial aid awards come in the form of scholarships and grants. The College has tried to meet the full need for approximately 90 percent of its student body that qualifies for financial aid. The College requires both the FAFSA and the CSS Profile of students who want to qualify for financial aid.

Gettysburg offers merit-based scholarships that run between $7,000 and $25,000 annually. Freshman must earn at least a 2.75 GPA to maintain their award for sophomore year, and a minimum 3.0 GPA in the years after- wards. Students in the Sundermen Conservatory are eligible for $10,000 talent-based renewable scholarships; standardized test results are not re- quired.

The college competes in a market where there are schools that offer combi- nations of merit-based and need-based aid, as well as schools that offer only need-based aid. It’s quite possible for an applicant to receive merit- based aid from Gettysburg while receiving little or no scholarship assis- tance from competing schools, as shown in the table on the facing page. Among competing schools that offer merit-based aid, Dickinson also offers awards that could go further into a class ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 per year, renewed with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. However, Gettysburg is the more generous school. The University of Richmond offers full-tuition scholarships to its strongest applicants who do not qualify for need-based aid. The students who would qualify for these awards would likely be at the top of Gettysburg’s applicant pool as well.

8 Merit-Based Average Average Indebtedness @ Percentage of 2012 Need-Based Indebtedness/Parent College Scholarship College Graduation/Student Graduates with Scholarship Aid? PLUS Borrower, Aid ? Borrower 2012 Student Loan Debt 2011 Gettysburg Yes Yes Gettysburg $25,530 58 $18,343 Bucknell Yes Yes Bucknell $21,163 55 $21,519 Dickinson Yes Yes Dickinson $25,574 53 $20,932

Franklin and Marshall No Yes Franklin and $33,200 49 $23,130 Marshall Colgate Yes (very limited) Yes Colgate $20,751 34 $23,597 Hamilton No Yes Hamilton $18,568 39 $19,591 Union Yes (very limited) Yes Union $27,911 (2011) N/A $17,621 Bates No Yes Bates $24,515 40 $20,811 Bowdoin No Yes Bowdoin $22,755 35 $20,953 Colby No Yes Colby $24,453 34 $22,063 Oberlin Yes (talent-based) Yes Oberlin N/A N/A $18,581 Richmond Yes Yes Richmond $21,825 43 $17,649 Wake Forest Yes (very limited) Yes Wake Forest $33,262 38 $21,583 The next table on the right compares student and parent debt from Gettys- burg versus the schools most shopped against the College. The student It can be seen that a higher percentage of Gettysburg graduates had to borrower data comes from The Project on Student Debt, while the parent take out student loans to ﬁnance their education versus other similar col- borrower data comes from The Chronicle of Higher Education. leges, and that the average indebtedness was higher as well.

However, through its ﬁnancial aid practices, Gettysburg was able to hold the average borrower below $27,000, the maximum that s/he could borrow under the Federal Stafford Student Loan program and keep parents from borrowing too much under the Parents PLUS loan program, where loans carry higher (7.9 percent) interest rates, with no interest subsidy. Other

9 schools, notably Hamilton and Richmond, may have simply enrolled a College Endowment higher percentage of students who did not need to borrow because they Gettysburg $229 million had the resources to pay for their education or the school was able to meet their full need without forcing them to take out loans. This illustrates what Bucknell $599 million has happened as Gettysburg’s proﬁle has risen among students interested Dickinson $336 million in a selective liberal arts college, it still competes against schools that have more resources to help needier students. Franklin and Marshall $285 million Colgate $687 million One of those resources is the college’s endowment. The table on the right compares the market values of the endowments at Gettysburg and the Hamilton $635 million cross-shopped schools as of June, 2013. The data comes from the Na- Union $317 million tional Association of College and University Business Ofﬁcers. It can be Bates $216 million seen from this table that Gettysburg has the second-lowest endowment (after Bates) among schools in this considered set. Some of the better- Bowdoin $902 million endowed schools, most notably Bowdoin and Hamilton, also have fewer un- Colby $600 million dergraduate students than Gettysburg. Oberlin $675 million

However, these schools are also more “selective” than Gettysburg. A stu- Richmond $1.9 billion dent who ranks in the middle of the pool, or even slightly below at these Wake Forest $1.0 billion other schools might qualify for a larger combination of merit and need- based aid from Gettysburg. The student who ranks at the top of Gettys- The College advertises on its Web site that it has been regarded as a “best burg’s pool and in the upper half of the pool for these schools will need to value.” To some extent that’s true. Gettysburg has been able to help keep qualify for aid based on need. One caution is that more of the highly- student and parent debts below the levels of graduates at less expensive selective private colleges are becoming “need aware.” Students who qualify public institutions, including Delaware, Maryland and Penn State, the ones for admission, but rank in the lower half of the applicant pool can be denied closest to campus. Gettysburg also has more options for merit awards than admission if they have also have a tremendous amount of demonstrated other selective liberal arts colleges in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. need. Gettysburg considers itself to be “need blind,” meaning that students In addition, the school’s four-year graduation rate is excellent, which lowers are admitted before their ﬁnancial need is considered. costs. But other selective liberal arts schools are better at using their resources and relationships to attract the needier students.

10 Comforts

On-Campus Housing 4 Local Housing Market More than 90 percent of Gettysburg students live on campus. Comforts First-year students live in residence halls on one of two freshman quads. All rooms are equipped with a “micro-fridge,” a combination of a compact refrigerator and small microwave oven and are air conditioned. All residence halls are Wi-Fi enabled. Incoming freshmen are advised to carefully select their First- Year Seminar class. The selection of a seminar, limited to 16 students, determines freshman housing assignments. The college also allows gender-neutral living in residence halls as well as substance-free living.

According to the College’s Web site, an online housing lottery system, based on class year and grade point average, determines housing options for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Liv- ing options for upper-class students--ﬁrst-year students live in double rooms or a limited number of triples in traditional corridor-style halls-- include apartments, suites, singles, and College Houses. Gettysburg offers two types of College Houses. Spark Houses. Thirteen Spark Houses are based around academic or intellectual interests while eight Theme Houses, clustered around social interests, accommodate primar- ily sophomores in three residence halls. The college also has an Honors House.

The College acquired several motels across Carlisle Avenue, the road leads into downtown Gettysburg and its Lincoln Square, and converted them into student housing. One conven- 12 ience for students who live in these buildings: off-street parking offers discounts in Dining Dollars at Ike's, Bullet Hole, the Dive, is close by. Approximately 40 percent of the upper-class men and the Commons to encourage everyone to purchase one of are members of fraternities on campus, while a third of the the four meal plans. The College offers a 7-meal plan to on- upper-class women are in sororities. The College requires all campus apartment residents as well as students who choose to fraternity members--sororities do not have on-campus housing-- live off-campus along with Unlimited, Servo-Plus and 12-meal to live in their houses, unless the house is full. options. This is one school where every student would be advised to carry a meal plan as opposed to carrying cash for food. It does not pay for students to live off campus at Gettysburg unless they are hired for summer research projects or want to work within the tourist economy outside of the school year. The College hosts summer workshops as well as conferences, but offers no summer classes for undergraduates. Students are advised to take summer courses at either Dickinson or Franklin & Marshall instead. Gettysburg is a member of a Central Pennsyl- vania Consortium with these schools, ensuring transfer of credits earned during the summer.

Walk around campus and you will regularly hear Gettysburg students praise the food at “Servo,” the College’s main dining hall. The College treats all students to a Thanksgiving dinner at Servo before they go home to spend the holiday with their fami- lies. Student votes submitted to The Princeton Review last year named Gettysburg one of the Top 20 colleges in the country for campus food. The College was similarly recognized in 2010. Servo has also been well recognized by peer professionals who manage college dining halls. The College does not force ﬁrst- year students to take the most expensive meal plan, though it

13 Community

Campus Environs 5 School Spirit Gettysburg’s 200-acre campus has been redeveloped and devel- Community oped since the college’s founding. The mix of architecture ranging from Pennsylvania Hall, the original college building erected during the 1830s to the 21st century-designed science center and recrea- tion center could be considered eclectic. Unlike schools such as Bucknell, the College chose not to design buildings around a common architectural theme. This means that the campus has several landmarks, and that they are easier to find. It is extremely difficult to get lost on the clean, well-manicured Gettysburg campus which can be walked end to end in ten to fifteen minutes. The college has no “fraternity row.” Fraternity houses are scattered on campus or across streets from campus buildings. Student parking is near the school’s football stadium. Only freshmen are not allowed to have cars.

Comments on sites such as Unigo and StudentsReview mention that Greek life dominates the social scene when there are few events on campus. However, the percentage of students involved in Greek life has diminished over the past 30 years from over 80 percent to around a third of the student body today. Part of this may be due to an academically stronger student body; freshman retention rates have hovered, and usually exceeded 90 percent for the past eight years. Part of this may be due to the construction of the apartment-style and suite-style living options and the acquisition of nearby motel properties; all have helped increased the supply of on- campus housing since 1999.

15 Like most colleges, the most reported crimes at Gettysburg are drug presidency and commanded Camp Colt, an outpost in Gettysburg, and alcohol-related according to the College’s most recent Clery Re- during World War I) John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard port. There were 34 liquor-related arrests in 2012, impressive for a Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush. George Washington 2,600-student school, although there had been only 16 two years was the ﬁrst president to come to Gettysburg before the Civil War; before. There were 12 drug-related arrests in 2012, again impres- he visited on route to New York for his inauguration. Between Presi- sive, although there had been only 4 two years before. There were dential visits, an active historic preservation community, and Civil more than 200 disciplinary referrals related to alcohol each year War memories, it could be safely argued that Gettysburg is the most from 2010 through 2012, as well as more than 50 drug-related refer- famous small town (just over 7,600 residents) in America. rals in 2010 and 2012. Reported incidents of burglary trended down- Gettysburg is better located than most selective liberal arts col- ward during these three years (from 12 to 5) as have the numbers leges, which tend to be in isolated places (Bucknell, for example) or of forcible sex offenses (from 6 to 3). The campus is fairly easy to in communities involved in an economic rebirth (Franklin and Mar- police while students are expected to uphold an Honor Code. shall, Union). The Pennsylvania Turnpike is within a half-hour of It’s an easy walk into downtown Gettysburg though the retail mix of- campus on Route 15 and the Maryland border, including the Mason- fers few dining and shopping options for college students after walk- Dixon Line, the dividing line between North and South during the ing up Carlisle Street. This street has the Lincoln Diner, a 24-hour Civil War, is close by. Baltimore is just over an hour away by car and operation as well as the Majestic Theatre, the college’s performing Washington D.C. 90 minutes away. While the College attracts promi- arts center (though no longer the downtown cinema). A car is neces- nent speakers, it is too small to attract noted entertainers who would sary to reach outlet shopping along York Street (Route 30) at the be attracted to larger performing arts venues than Gettysburg has to Gettysburg Mall as well as the nearest multiplex cinema. offer. It is much easier to get a ride to a larger city.

The community is a paradise not only for Civil War buffs, but also Gettysburg competes in the Centennial Conference in 24 sports budding historians interested in the American Presidency. There (more than most larger schools) along with ten other schools includ- have been 23 U.S presidents who have visited Gettysburg aside ing Bryn Mawr (women’s sports), Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, from Abraham Lincoln. They include Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Haverford, Johns Hopkins, McDaniel, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore, B. Hayes, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Ursinus and Washington (MD). Gettysburg has achieved the best Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding ,Calvin Coolidge, Herbert won-loss record in the conference in all sports over the past 12 Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisen- years. The College’s women’s lacrosse team was NCAA Division III hower (who lived in Gettysburg in retirement before and after his National Champions in 2011. 16 Curriculum

Academics Honors Programs 6 Experiential Learning The Gettysburg curriculum has general education requirements around four Curriculum goals: Multiple Inquiries, Integrative Thinking, Effective Communication and Informed Citizenship. All students take a four-course load and may work around these goals to choose multiple majors or minors. The College offers four Bachelor’s degree options, depending on the chosen major: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Music Edu- cation.

The Multiple Inquiries requirements are similar to distribution requirements at most liberal arts colleges. They include:

• One course in the arts

• One course in the humanities

• One course in the social sciences

• Two courses in natural sciences, at least one of which must have a labo- ratory component (Bachelor of Music. and B.S.Music Education students complete one science course with lab)

• One course in quantitative, inductive, and deductive reasoning (exam- ples: Computer Science, Mathematics, Philosophy, Statistics.

Integrative Thinking requirements include two designated interdisciplinary courses or a two-course cluster that emphasizes interdisciplinary or multidis- ciplinary approaches to a common theme. These are typically taken during the sophomore year, although a freshman-sophomore or junior-senior par- ing of courses is permitted. In addition, Integrated Thinking includes the senior capstone experience: a research project, scholarly paper, off-campus internship or other approved experiences,

18 Effective Communication requirements include courses in oral and writ- The extra efforts through the Burgs help freshman to set an academic direc- ten communication. This includes a First-Year Writing Requirement as well tion as well as plan their courses around their interests and degree require- as a writing-intensive course in the student’s major. ments. Other liberal arts colleges have practices similar to Burgs (for example, Franklin and Marshall and Union College (NY) organize first-year stu- Informed Citizenship requirements include one year of study in a foreign dents into “houses” around seminars and events outside of their residence language, either continuation of the language(s) taken in high school or the hall). The Burgs stand out by being tied to a credit-bearing course. In effect, start of a new language (four semesters for students pursuing a Bachelor of the First-Year Seminar, though the Burgs, is used to create living-learning Music degree.) The requirements also include two courses centered communities. around cultural diversity and globalization as well as a course in science, technology and society. The most popular majors at Gettysburg are: Organization & Management Studies, Political Science, History, English, Health Sciences, Psychology, Taken in total the liberal arts requirements at Gettysburg appear more de- Economics, Environmental Studies, and Biology. The College has a large manding than at similar schools. However, it is quite possible to use the re- selection of foreign language options for a small school: ancient Greek, Ara- quirements to earn a degree with a double major or multiple minors if a stu- bic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Spanish and dent plans early. This starts with the careful choice of a First-Year Seminar, offers the option to learn other languages through study abroad. Classes since the seminar instructor will be the student’s academic advisor until s/ here are small; an average class has 18 students. According to the Col- he chooses a major. This past year 20 of the 41 First-Year Seminars were lege’s most recent Common Data Set, only 16 of nearly 600 class sections part of three “Burgs.” Located in three freshman residence halls the Burgs have more than 40 students, while none have more than 100. were organized around broad questions: In addition, the College offers some degree programs students are not • Which World Next? likely to find at other liberal arts schools, including new majors in Judaic Studies and Mathematical Economics (which may attract investment banks • Body, Mind and Self: Who Am I? and management consulting firms to add Gettysburg to their target • Circumstances, Choices, Challenges and the Human Experience: Why schools). And, given the community’s importance to American history, the are we here? College offers a degree in Civil War Studies. There is also an “early assur- ance” program towards a doctorate in Physical Therapy at Drexel Univer- Nearly half (45 percent) of this year’s freshman class was in a Burg, with sity (PA), accelerated admissions programs towards a Bachelors in Nursing each Burg led by a professor and a college administrator.In addition to be- at Johns Hopkins and a joint degree program towards a Doctorate in Op- ing enrolled in a First-Year Seminar, students in a Burg were also treated to tometry from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salas University. five Maximizing Gettysburg presentations, to encourage maximum use of Gettysburg also offers dual-degree engineering programs in conjunction the College’s resources as well as Burg Gatherings which included three with Columbia University in New York City, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute larger (90-130 people) dinners per Burg as well as smaller gatherings. in Troy, N.Y., and Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. The quality of the

19 university partners says a great deal for the level of pre-engineering prepa- RateMyProfessors.com Rating ration at the College. College (out of 5)

Gettysburg supports some of its undergraduate programs through on- Gettysburg 3.68 campus institutes. Offerings abroad through the Center for Public Service, for example, complement the college’s major in Globalization Studies. Stu- Bucknell 3.83 dents may apply to this major after completing introductory courses in Mac- Dickinson 3.80 roeconomics, International Relations, Cultural Anthropology and Globaliza- Franklin and Marshall 3.82 tion. Students then choose a region of specialization through academic courses as well as language study and study abroad. They may also attend Colgate 3.79 conferences and receive funding for travel. Gettysburg’s Eisenhower Insti- Hamilton 3.77 tute offers undergraduate fellowships organized around a theme; this year’s is space policy. While the institute’s programming and events are focused Union 3.81 around politics and public policy, the fellowships are open to any major. Eis- Bates 3.83 enhower Fellows represent the institute at public events, serve as student advisors and attend programming on campus as well as in Washington Bowdoin 3.81 D.C. The Garthwait Leadership Center offers a semester-long leadership Colby 3.86 course focused around civil rights as well as the opportunity for students to become mentors to advise student organizations on campus. The College Oberlin 3.85 also offers a Mellon Summer Scholars program for students in the humani- Richmond 3.79 ties, arts, social sciences, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and to those Wake Forest 3.87 that are interdisciplinary in nature. Students from science departments which do not have endowed funds for summer research are also eligible. While Gettysburg’s faculty rating is lower when compared to a set of more Gettysburg students gave their faculty a rating of 3.68 (out of 5) on selective schools, it is also fair to mention that the outcomes in terms of RateMyProfessors.com. The table on the right shows how Gettysburg com- graduates and their success are quite similar. The exception might be in pares with other selective liberal arts schools of interest to those who ap- terms of students ﬁnding coveted positions (analysts in investment banking plied to the College. It can be seen from this table that students who might or management consulting) that are exceptionally hard to get. But Gettys- have considered Gettysburg equally versus one or more of these schools, burg’s star should rise as more graduates succeed. and chose Gettysburg, gave lower ratings to their faculty than peers who chose one of these other schools.

20 Connections

Alumni Relations 7 Career Services Gettysburg proudly advertises on its Web site that 93 percent of the graduates Connections in the class of 2012 found employment or were attending graduate school within a year after they graduated. More recently, about two thirds of 2013 graduates served in a leadership role/roles (e.g., residence life staff, campus organization ofﬁcer, team captain, program coordinator, tour guide, etc) during their undergraduate career at the College while 80 percent participated in community service. Approximately 67 percent of 2013 graduates completed an internship (paid or unpaid, for academic credit or non-credit) during their undergraduate program. More than 55 percent studied abroad and an equal percentage participated in research with faculty.

During 2011-12 85 employers recruited graduating seniors on the Gettysburg campus, a large number for a school with a senior class of around only 600 students. Over 1,300 full-time and internship positions were posted through GettysburgWorks, the College’s online job board. Gettysburg’s Linked In Pro- fessional Network has more than 6,700 members, impressive for a school of this size, especially considering the alumni base. The table on the right shows how it compares with networks of other selective Pennsylvania liberal arts colleges. It can be seen that Gettysburg students and alumni have the opportunity to interact with a larger network than graduates of any of the other schools, excluding Bucknell, which also has nearly 1,000 more undergraduates, grants graduate degrees and offers a larger selection of majors, especially in business and engineering. This is noteworthy, since, according to the Gettysburg Center for Career Development, 41 percent of the members of the Class of 2012, used alumni contacts to help them ﬁnd employment. The number is signiﬁcant because it came through data collection that involved nearly 90 percent of the class.

Gettysburg’s Center for Career Development is well-staffed (eight professionals) for a school of its size and offers the usual set of programs, including on- campus interviewing, resume and interview reviews and workshops, job shad-

22 owing (one day on the job) and networking events expected of a selective lib- Gettysburg has one of the oldest college alumni associations in the U.S. with eral arts college. One additional program is the Career Clothing Bank; stu- over 25,000 members. It has 30 regional alumni clubs across the country, with dents are lent professional clothing for occasions that require business attire. 18 in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Sadly, the westernmost clubs are Students who need to work on campus beginning freshman year become ac- in the Dallas and Denver areas; there are no clubs in Arizona, California or the quainted with the Center early; it manages the student employment programs Seattle metropolitan area. There is, however, an alumni club in London. for the College. Alumni who live in or frequently visit the New York area can become afﬁliate members of the Penn Club in Manhattan. There are also afﬁliate relationships with similar clubs in 40 other cities. Gettysburg hosts a fall Homecoming that College Size of LinkedIn Alumni Network also includes a Legacy Weekend to encourage children of alumni to apply to

Gettysburg 6,715 the College. While the Legacy program is similar to an Open House, alumni children are also guests of Gettysburg students who will take them to class, 3,701 (also a bi-college group with Haverford with Bryn Mawr over 3,000 members) host them in the residence halls, and eat with them at Servo.

Bucknell 11.531 Since 2010, alumni have posted over 3,000 employment opportunities for Get- tysburg students. The alumni relations and career development ofﬁces want to Dickinson 5,586 jointly increase this to 5,000 by the end of 2015. Alumni also produce an an- Franklin and Marshall 4,837 nual series of webinars to help students and alumni in the job search. Another unique way that alumni help students is by sponsoring dinners and Immersion 3,359 (also a bi-college group with Bryn Mawr with Haverford over 3,000 members) Programs. These three-day programs, which take place in major metropolitan areas give students in-depth insight into a particular career ﬁeld. Alumni can Lafayette 3,388 get involved as panelist, site visit hosts, providing meeting space or by hosting

Muhlenberg 3,686 meals or receptions.

Swarthmore 3,657 Through the alumni network and the Career Development Center’s programs and services, Gettyburg’s recent graduates have landed full-time jobs at em- The Center also selects undergraduate students as Siegfried Fellows. Named ployers such as The Advisory Board, AT&T and JP Morgan Chase. Public and for a Gettysburg alumnus, the Siegfried Fellows program involves ten students non-proﬁt employers have included AmeriCorps, Teach for America and the annually in internships that have actual projects including developing intranets, U.S. House of Representatives, among many others. writing code for computer programs, developing a risk assessment tracker, cre- ating newsletter articles, and preparing client presentations. The Center will also assist students in ﬁnding hosts for externships, and in some cases will pay for housing.

23 Conclusions 8 Summing up Students interested in a liberal arts education as well as a col- Conclusions lege in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic states should place Gettys- burg on their lists, especially if they are interested in programs such as global studies, history, music, or politics and public policy. Gettysburg may not be labeled as an “elite” school as other liberal arts colleges such as Bowdoin and Hamilton, but the end result for a diligent student should be the same. Gettysburg’s four-year graduation rate has actually been higher than schools such as Oberlin, Richmond and Union.

The College’s career services and alumni networks are very well developed and it’s LinkedIn network is larger than those of any selective liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, excluding Bucknell. The College, through its curriculum design, also makes it quite easy for students to pursue more than one major interest. The merit aid programs are generous compared to other private liberal arts colleges in the Northeast and Mid- Atlantic states. Gettysburg has also made major investments in the sciences and has a successful track record of helping its students receive prestigious scholarships and fellowships. It is also one of the rare colleges where dining hall food is highly regarded.

Gettysburg’s star is rising among selective liberal arts colleges, though it does not have the funds nor the brand recognition to go head-to-head with many of them to get the students, including those from under-represented minority groups, at the top of 25 their applicant pools. Take away financial need and a prospec- tive student might consider Gettysburg vs. other Pennsylvania selective liberal arts colleges or New England schools based on Ed Quest’s Report Card fit, academics, even location. But when finances are a factor Gettysburg College the student who can qualify for the larger merit awards will get an excellent liberal arts education at Gettysburg for a more rea- Four-Year/ Freshman Six-Year Costs Comforts Community Curriculum Connections Retention sonable cost. Grad Rates

American History buffs, classical musicians, budding diplomats, A/A A B+ A B+ A A non-proﬁt leaders, politicians, among many others, will ﬁnd few Strengths Weaknesses better places to pursue a bachelor’s degree than the College in Comprehensive selection of academic programs for a liberal arts school, especially in social sciences and High sticker price, though aid is possible America’s Town. global studies

If you want a school less dominated by Greek life, Proximity to Baltimore-Washington Corridor look elsewhere

College has been an active partner in community Downtown more of a tourist center than a college service and local economic development town

More generous with merit-based ﬁnancial aid than Other selective liberal arts colleges have more similarly competitive schools diverse student bodies

Ties to music conservatory unique among selective If you want a more intensive business program and liberal arts colleges, allows for popular music liberal arts, go to Bucknell or Muhlenberg education program as well as double majors.

Gettysburg is not a member of the Liberal Arts Career Institutes in leadership, community service, public Network to share jobs, though the College has policy, Civil War excellent networks of its own

Impressive alumni network and career services for a small school

Students love the food at “Servo,” the dining hall

26 The End

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