A Small Town College
Written: Oct 16 '06
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Safe, Small, Inexpensive in state.
Cons: Some Poor Teachers, No Social Activities, Very Rural Area.
The Bottom Line: This is a good college for locals and in-state students, but I wouldn't come from out of state to attend it.
|
|
|
| c3363's Full Review: Castleton State College |
Castleton State College is a small, public college located in Castleton, VT which is in the Southern portion of VT just West of Rutland. Tuition is about $7000 in state, $14,500 out of state, and $7000 for room and board.
I was a commuter student at Castleton for two years. Throughout my time there, I had several positive and negative experiences. Before getting to those, I will give an overall guide to the college.
Castleton is made up of several different buildings which tend to be seperated by department. There is a fine arts building which has seen better days. The lockers are absolutely in horrible condition, and the stage needs a lot of work as well. Most music majors and art majors will spend their time in this building. There is a tiny lounge with two couches and 5 computers (which hardly ever work). There are also practice rooms for music majors which are basically canvas rooms with a small window. There are also numerous art studios.
Across the street from the fine arts building is Woodruff Hall. This is an older building which is very well kept. Many business courses are held in this building. It also contains the offices of the deans, the president, and student services. This building is in fairly good shape, and in my opinion, it is the centerpiece of the college. I believe this building has 3 levels if you count the basement.
A few yards from Woodruff is Leavenworth Hall. This is reserved for English, history, social sciences and Spanish courses. This building is a little bit run down. It has 3 floors. The bottom floor is quite secluded. In your first year, you will spend a lot of time in this building for your basic English and literature courses. This building has a nice lounge with comfortable couches and a TV.
Across the lawn from Leavenworth is the Coffee Cottage. This is a small cafe style place to grab a coffee or a smoothie. The food is fairly good, and it is a good place for commuters. However, the prices are not very cheap, and you may be better off going down the street to get a snack if you have time. This building also holds meetings upstairs.
Down the sidewalk on the left is the Stafford Academic Center. This is a large building which holds the library and the education and nursing departments. This building is in good shape. The desks and chairs are fairly new, and there are many lounges and lecture halls which are all in excellent condition. This building also holds the largest computer labs which house both macs and pc's. The library is quite nice, but many of the books are older. The library is two floors with multiple computers, but I found the computer lab down the hall to be more comfortable than the library.
Across the path from the library is the Black Science Center. This building holds mainly the science courses and psychology. I'd say this building is in the worst shape. It smells like mold, and it is very cold and dark inside.
Across the street from black science is the Fireside Cafe, the dorms, and the gym. I commuted, so I rarely entered the gym and never entered the dorms. From what I've heard, students were not satisfied with their dorms. The fireside cafe is a small place to eat which also holds live entertainment. Most students prefer to eat at Huden hall which is a buffet style dining center. They choose Huden because it accepts the college meal plan. Fireside cafe is often deserted. In the same buiding as fireside are the student mailboxes, and a game room which holds a pool table. The bookstore and largest lounge are also in this building. I find that few students use this building except when purchasing books or checking their mail.
Safety:
The safety of the college is very good. While many places are deserted, the small-town atmosphere makes it a very safe choice in a college. There is limited security, but the only problems I've seen have been with underage drinking and partying on the dorm side of campus.
Academics:
The majority of Castleton's teachers are quite good. I especially liked the education department teachers and the english/humanities department. However, I have had many bad teachers who ruin the entire experience. Unfortunately, one of these was the head of my department. Research your department carefully before you enroll. Talk to people about the teachers within your department. If too many people give bad reviews, choose another college. This is not a difficult college to get into. Almost everyone who applies will be able to attend. The coursework is not extremely challenging. I would have preferred to have more of a challenge in some of my classes.
Class Sizes:
The class sizes are extremely small. I was never in a lecture style class, and I never had a class that was over 20 students. The teachers know you by name, and it is hard to slack off without being noticed. On the flipside, if you are a honors student, you will also be noticed and expected to do honors-level work.
Sports:
Castleton is not known for its sports teams. The college has a lot of different teams, but they are not considered extremely competitive.
Social Life:
Castleton students are pretty social, but people from out-of-state, may find the lack of activities in VT annoying. Many out-of-state students I knew transferred after their first semester. The closest mall is at least 20 minutes away, and it is very small compared to malls in other areas. The main activity for the area is snowboarding and skiing. There are very limited on-campus activities to participate in. If you don't have a car, you may be driven crazy by the lack of things to do.
Overall, Castleton is a good, safe college to earn your degree. I would recommend it to people who live close by and are able to commute. I would not commute from a long distance or come from out of state. It is not worth the expense for out of state tuition. I transferred because I did not like my department, and I could not continue to commute from the long distance I was coming from.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
c3363
|
|
Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.