Allegheny College — Local services in Meadville

Visited this summer in summer 2013 with my college-bound daughter. The school is lovely and the tour guide was a big hit with my girl, but in the middle of the summer it's really hard to tell what the student body is really like. Meadville is just as small-town and isolated as it appears. This is quaint, with brick paved streets and buildings from the late 19th century quite common. On the other hand, the town seems like a center of poverty and dashed hopes. Some of the residential areas we passed through were pretty run down. The ones nearest the college looked pretty good, but as we drove downtown to check out the rather dilapidated shopping district, we were struck by the disrepair of houses and automobiles. If you're looking for a tony school in a posh escape for the elite, you're probably not going to like this one.

Still, the campus itself is well maintained and has both fine architecture and some natural refuges that seem quite appetizing. There's a stream that flows in a small ravine through campus with bridges across the ravine and benches down on the banks. It's really lovely.

I know that none of this is going to help you figure out whether the academic program is strong, the social scene is constructive, or the careers open to graduates are broad and successful. Still, it was a nice spot to visit in a town that...

It's a small liberal arts college that is listed in the "100 colleges that change lives" book and it does indeed change lives. The culture is that everyone smiles at each other walking around the beautiful natural campus & it only has around 1,000 students total so you get to know everyone. Students have easy access to their professors and a personal relationship with their advisor. Allegheny is the 32nd oldest college in the United States and the oldest college in continuous existence under the same name west of the Allegheny Mountains.

These photos show some of the rhododendrons in bloom in the ravine on campus & the view from inside the crowd while someone took a group alumni photo during the 200th anniversary reunion...

Look if you are someone who likes to live in the city, and love everything about the city life. Do not come here! The college education is a great, at least in Mathematics and Economics department, but the town has nothing to offer. The college food will get boring very quickly and you will just get tired from it. It is also possible to get food poisoning here. Allegheny is great place to meet people and get your undergraduate degree but you most likely will not stay here after college.

Good luck in college...