Gettysburg College Admission
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The Facts

Gettysburg College is a rather moderately sized school located in the historic town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where the bloodiest battle of the Civil War took place. The college is home to over 3,000 undergraduate students who get a chance to experience a well-rounded liberal arts education along with a terrific array of focused majors. The college offers its students over 30 undergraduate majors, as well as the option of creating their own interdisciplinary major along with a minor; some of the most popular choices include management, psychology, political science, history, and English.

Admission to Gettysburg College is quite competitive, and the school is a popular draw for Civil War buffs and aspiring historians from all over the world. Last year, over 5,500 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 2,300 of those students were accepted; of those, about 700 matriculated. The admitted students had an average combined SAT score ranging from 1200 to 1340, and an average comprehensive ACT score ranging from 24 to 30. Additionally, over 62% of those admitted were ranked in the top 25% of their high school graduating class with an average high school GPA of about 3.7.

The college has a very manageable student to faculty ratio of 11:1, and students rave about friendliness and accessibility of their professors, who tend to be extremely passionate about the subject they teach. It is rare to find a class over 18 students, and even many of the required courses are intimate and discussion-based. The school also boasts a terrific internship program, which often helps students secure jobs once they graduate.

The Social Scene

The town of Gettysburg is extremely historic, and is hallowed ground for American history buffs. The town itself is quite small, but it is filled with colonial buildings and quaint shops, restaurants, and pubs that are usually quite affordable, but often packed with tourists. Many students do own cars, and often take weekend road trips to the nearby cities of Baltimore and Washington D.C.

There are quite a few fraternities and sororities on campus, and the Greeks are definitely a felt presence on campus. They throw some great parties, and are obvious leaders of the school. The administration has recently been trying to crack down on drinking, but so far, the effort hasn't been terribly successful.

The campus itself is quite beautiful, and is located right next to the Gettysburg National Park, so students feel like they are living in the middle of history. The campus has plenty of green spaces and trees, and the old buildings have recently been renovated much to the student's delight.

The dating scene is what you make of it; we hear there are some hotties around, and perhaps they'll take you on a Civil War battle reenactment... romantic, no?

What’s Good

“There is an awesome party scene here, and the campus is anything but dead on the weekends.”

“Being near such incredible history is amazing, and you really feel like you are a part of something.”

“The school does a great job of brining amazing guest speakers to campus. We have several each week!”

What’s Bad

“The Greeks are really obnoxious, and there are just way too many of them. It's like a monopoly.”

“There are a lot of students here that think they're still in high school. It's really cliquey, and people just don't know how to be mature.”

“There are so many annoying tourists in the town. It's hard to push your way through the crowds to get to the grocery store.”

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