Introducing Dickinson College

Dickinson College is a private liberal arts school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar to cultivate civic action, international responsibility, sustainability and to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. The college has 2,345 full-time students from 38 states and 49 foreign countries. The incredible variety of classes and activities available to this diverse group of degree-seeking students is impressive.

Some of the most surprising areas of study for me include a degree in Humanitarian Aid and Peace Studies. This unassuming liberal arts college is also the host for the U Penn Law School. A premier ballet program has entered into a partnership with Dickinson and the university has a farm eight miles from camps where coursework is offered involving farming.

Dickinson is big on sustainability, protecting and improving our environment – using the Center for Sustainability Education to charge all their students with the responsibility of carrying out their sustainability initiative. The college has reached their goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2020.

Undergraduate research alongside faculty members is encouraged for all students at Dickinson. That goal is not as hard to reach as one might imagine because the student to faculty ration is 9:1. Another popular activity outside the classroom is the study abroad program. More than two thirds of the students graduating from Dickinson enjoy that experience. There are also 12 men’s and 13 women’s varsity sports, plus club and intramural sports available to keep students active.

A few of the majors that are popular among aspiring professionals include Pre-Business Management, Pre-Engineering, a Pre-Health program that has a 95% acceptance rate to medical school and the Pre-Law program that has a 94% acceptance rate to law school. There is an incredibly wide array of languages for those who have the gift of gab or want to develop it. Students who major in Film & Media Studies are encouraged to spend their junior year in England at the University of East Anglia, which has one of the richest and most highly regarded film studies programs in Europe; and in Theatre & Dance there are four preapproved clusters —acting/directing, dance, design/technology and dramatic literature. If none of the clusters is just the right fit, students may, with faculty approval, create their own cluster.

If any of what you read above sounds interesting to you, contact Caroline Smiegal, Admissions Counselor at smiegalc@dickinson.edu. She can get you the any additional information you need to make an informed decision about whether Dickinson College is a good fit for you.