Founded in 1783, Dickinson College. is a Private college. Located in Pennsylvania, which is a city setting in Pennsylvania, the campus itself is Urban. The campus is home to 2,420 full time undergraduate students, and 0 full time graduate students.
The Dickinson College Academic calendar runs on a Semester basis. In the school year the student to faculty ratio was 9:1. There are 242 full time instructional teachers. Degrees awarded at Dickinson College include: Bachelor's Degree, Masters Degree, Post-master's certificate, Doctor's degree.
Quick Facts
Acceptance Rate
43%
Application Deadline
15-Nov
Application Fee
65
SAT Range
ACT Range
Admissions at are considered More Selective, with ,30% of all applicants being admitted.
In the school year, of the students who applied to the school, only 10 of those who were admitted eventually ended up enrolling.
96% of incoming freshmen are in the top half of their high school class. 78% were in the top quarter, and 48% were in the top tenth. You can apply online.
STUDENT LIFE Reviews
We asked, and students answered these important questions about student life at Dickinson College.
0%
“We”re apathetic”
4%
“We know about current events and vote”
83%
“We participate and encourage others to get involved”
13%
“There”s nothing we won”t protest”
0%
“We save it for the classroom”
4%
“Sometimes, but not often”
65%
“There”s usually intelligent conversation to be found”
30%
“All the time, including weekends”
0%
“I”m always terrified”
5%
“I only go out in groups”
50%
“I usually let someone know where I”m going”
45%
“I feel extremely safe”
57%
“We don”t play sports”
0%
“We play recreationally”
39%
“We bought the gear”
4%
“We live for the big game”
0%
“It”s not really our thing”
13%
“Occasinally we gallery crawl”
70%
“There are a variety of opportunities”
17%
“We”re a very artistic group”
0%
“Haven”t met them”
0%
“Available in class”
26%
“They keep regular office hours”
74%
“They”re always available”
0%
“No greek life, but other groups to join”
52%
“There is some involvement, but not a lot”
48%
“Plenty of people join a sorority or fraternity”
0%
“It”s everything. If you”re not greek, you”re a geek”
0%
“We”re not into drinking at all”
17%
“Maybe a little, but it”s not a big thing”
61%
“We only party on weekends”
22%
“There”s some drinking happening every night”
0%
“Never, we”re here to learn”
64%
“There might be people who do”
36%
“People are known to partake on weekends”
0%
“There”s a huge drug scene”
0%
“We”re apathetic”
4%
“We know about current events and vote”
83%
“We participate and encourage others to get involved”
13%
“There”s nothing we won”t protest”
0%
“We save it for the classroom”
4%
“Sometimes, but not often”
65%
“There”s usually intelligent conversation to be found”
30%
“All the time, including weekends”
0%
“I”m always terrified”
5%
“I only go out in groups”
50%
“I usually let someone know where I”m going”
45%
“I feel extremely safe”
57%
“We don”t play sports”
0%
“We play recreationally”
39%
“We bought the gear”
4%
“We live for the big game”
0%
“It”s not really our thing”
13%
“Occasinally we gallery crawl”
70%
“There are a variety of opportunities”
17%
“We”re a very artistic group”
0%
“Haven”t met them”
0%
“Available in class”
26%
“They keep regular office hours”
74%
“They”re always available”
0%
“No greek life, but other groups to join”
52%
“There is some involvement, but not a lot”
48%
“Plenty of people join a sorority or fraternity”
0%
“It”s everything. If you”re not greek, you”re a geek”
74 Students rated on-campus housing 3.9 stars. 18 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate off-campus housing?
50 Students rated off-campus housing 3 stars. 0 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate campus food?
74 Students rated campus food 3.5 stars. 20 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate campus facilities?
75 Students rated campus facilities 4.3 stars. 41 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate class size?
75 Students rated class size 4.7 stars. 69 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate school activities?
75 Students rated school activities 4.1 stars. 40 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate local services?
75 Students rated local services 3.7 stars. 24 % gave the school a 5.0.
How would you rate academics?
75 Students rated academics 3.7 stars. 24 % gave the school a 5.0.
Dickinson College REVIEWS
What's your overall opinion of Dickinson College?
26 Students rated Dickinson College
Sarah - 03/30/2025
Dickinson is a small college and is great for someone who wants a liberal arts education and doesn't prioritize parties or night life. Professors are excellent, the cafeteria food is good enough, the area is beautiful. It is a great school for someone who loves history or the outdoors.
Sarah - 03/28/2025
Dickinson College has all of the benefits of a small school, while having many of the resources and opportunities of a larger institution. There are countless clubs, faculty are excellent, and while the cafeteria food is...cafeteria food, the local restaurants are wonderful. The small town of Carlisle feels safe and is walkable. Students live on campus so they are able to form better relationships with one another. Residential halls could use some new carpets and fresh paint, but are generally on par with what is expected in college. Students are hardworking and, although they complain about the lack of parties and the quiet nature of the area, they seem to enjoy their experience and at the very least reflect on it fondly.
Madeleine - 04/26/2024
Dickinson College has a very lovely campus and everyone was quite friendly. The facilities are all very nice and the surrounding area is cute. There seem to be some great resources and programs available on campus for kids. The professors seem to truly care about their students and how they achieve
Anon - 04/07/2023
I think the most crucial thing all prospective students and parents should know about Dickinson College is to generally not listen to admissions or the marketing side of the school. Instead, reflect on online reviews from the last year or two, and their rankings which have dropped tremendously over the last year. They have sold every student here a false bag of goods that ends up building the only community on campus, tied together by mutual complaints of everything but academics. It's actually depressing sitting in the cafeteria and hearing multiple conversations happening at once of students complaining about the same thing: forced meal plans and housing that are mediocre on their best days, activities that are hard to find, a nonexistent community that leads to boring weekends with nothing to do other than sit in dorms, and a pretty strong distaste towards the administration.
Let me give you a good perspective of what Dickinson tells you on tours and in packets: They're a small liberal arts school with all the amenities of a bigger school, excellent career services, mental and physical health services available to all students, great campus community, and activities constantly. The school is, to be frank, anything but that, and as a current student on campus, if I had known the reality of this place instead of the complete opposite depiction I got on tours, I would have never come here.
Mental health services are a joke. They are basically nonexistent and dismissive of students. I have yet to hear of anyone who scheduled a consultation and walked out with a future appointment, only of people turned away with no additional resources given to them. I actively hear of juniors and seniors struggling to find jobs because career services cancels appointments with students frequently, and are not able to merge the gap between a school very few people have heard of and big employers who look at name and reputation on a degree. There is nothing to do on weekends, and the student-run group MOB has such limited resources that they are never fully able to supply the campus with enough to do. Typically, the events on campus will start and be completely done within 15-30 minutes on Friday and Saturday nights because of a lack of supplies or too many people. The administration could care less about the students and has only gotten involved when those providing the school with funds, AKA parents and alumni, publicly complain about things on campus like the food. An email was sent out now six months ago claiming they were going to fix the food after raw meat and bugs in the food came to the forefront of parents' minds and Facebook pages, and nothing has been fixed since. In fact, just in the last couple weeks or so, Dickinson has reallocated funds so our D3 sports, which are remarkably not good, get more funding, while academic funding was cut.
Dickinson is truly a money-grab school at its finest. They lock you in on a meal plan and housing every year with no way to get off. To give you a perspective, you'll end up paying about $9,000/yr for housing that has problems. Just in the last week, a roof fell off a dorm and an entire special interest house had to be evacuated due to asbestos. The meal plan isn't much better, paying about $8,500 for food that at least two days out of seven a week isn't edible because students don't like it. The dietary options that are supposed to appeal to students with restrictions, such as the KOVE, are open half of the time if you're lucky. And again, no way out of housing or a meal plan, so that's already over $16,000 you're paying for services that don't serve.
My take is that generally liberal arts schools are meant to take your money and run, Dickinson just happens to be that but much worse. The fact they put the large majority of their funding into admissions, marketing, and sports but pay their student workers a wage of $7.50/hr, plus can't even guarantee a roof over their heads (literally) is the epitome of why you shouldn't choose Dickinson. I'm being serious when I ask you not to listen to the spiel you'll get from tours, brochures, and their website. Walk on campus and ask any student if they're happy, 9 times out of 10 they will tell you how much they dislike this school, and how everyone else feels the same way. The only thing saving this school and that prompted me to add one more star to this review are the professors and academics. Classes are great, and professors are amazing, but there are so many schools out there with similar academic rigor levels that, to be honest, it doesn't save Dickinson.
Ella - 07/30/2022
I’m screaming to be an ice cream flavor- Mint chocolate chip, cookie dough, cookies ‘n’ cream…? Final decision: vanilla. Yep, you heard it right. I’m ‘one of those’ individuals who enjoys the delicate taste of sweet vanilla bean with a dash of cinnamon sprinkled on top. No extra flavors, toppings, or cherries, just a plain ol’ scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Scooping the tiniest amount possible into a mug, my pale hand quivers and shakes beneath the weight. Eyes glancing away, cool, and washy, I shuffle to my seat and sink lower and lower into my chair. The cream-colored melted ice cream reaches my lips, I take a bite, and what follows feels like glass shards coursing my throat. Another one follows. “That’s enough,” I say to myself firmly. The only thing I like about ice cream with conviction is to refuse it.
“The brain functioning just isn’t there.”
Being a vanilla ice cream flavor allowed me to do things I hadn’t accepted that I could do. A night out with friends was no longer a dreaded fear, a quick ice cream run became a great time to talk with teammates. I could finally be free from the demons with vanilla ice cream.
“Sometimes it hurts to know you can do it. It’s an intimidating thing to realize because it means that the only person who can really define your growth and happiness is yourself. There is no shortcut to becoming your best self. The responsibility is on you.”
-Alexi Pappas
Jezzelle - 06/23/2022
I think Dickinson College is an excellent school and I am genuinely grateful that I chose to continue my education there. Academically, I feel that my classes are challenging enough to push for growth, but not too challenging that I feel lost. My professors are all pleasant people and they seem genuinely interested in their students and our education. I am close to most of my professors and they are always open to speak with me about my assignments and career goals. They also, often, speak to me about the opportunities available to me inside and outside of campus. Students at Dickinson are also overall very pleasant, most seem to care about their education and are friendly towards each other. The only complaints I have heard is that there is not much of a social scene. It is a small college so there is a limit to the social events available. However, there are still events and they are fun if you allow yourself to join. Overall, I really enjoy going to Dickinson College.
Dickinson has been such a great choice for me. I was between Dickinson and a couple other Centennial League schools and I am so glad I chose Dickinson. My classes have been awesome - small and intimate with really great engagement from other students, the study abroad programs are endless (I went to London), and I just feel at home with the culture here on campus. The housing, the dining hall, library, and resources are all so nice and the campus is really into sustainability - we are carbon neutral as of 2020 - and I\'m really enjoying the college garden and the farm to table emphasis. I love that I can talk to professors after class and they are always willing to meet for questions or to help guide a lab or give feedback on a paper. Weekends are fun, frat parties are great yet no one cares if you choose to drink or not, and there\'s plenty to do in Carlisle - movies and cute restaurants line the street.
Jake - 12/11/2020
Honestly, I'd be hard pressed to say anything negative about my experience at Dickinson so far. The campus is a beautiful limestone setting with historical buildings and open green spaces. My classes have been challenging and students work hard to do well, but professors are available and care and are happy to stay after class to answer questions or give guidance. I'm a scholar-athlete and there is definite school spirit on campus come game day. Carlisle is a cool college town and there are several great nearby restaurants. Our housing and facilities are really nice and the food service is pretty great too. My favorite thing about the school is the down to earth kids - they are friendly and welcoming and it was easy to make friends and feel like I'm part of the school. We work hard in class but really have fun and kick back on weekends. It was my first choice school when I applied and it was definitely the right choice.
Kate - 12/11/2020
I was so happy with my time at Dickinson. I quickly made friends and found a like-minded group of friends - honestly, kids were friendly and warm from day 1 and the general vibe was just welcoming. Professors were accessible and engaging and I was able to work in a lab beginning my freshman year. The facilities and housing were really great, especially the science facilities and art gallery. The community is just that, a community where people care about each other. Loved the farm to table food and garden. My friends from Dickinson are still among my closest friends!
Jane - 02/17/2020
I hated it. There were signs everywhere to “divest Dickinson” because of their investments in fossil fuels and their apathy towards sexual assault reports. The entire school gave a very depressing vibe. Everyone there looked miserable. Many of the facilities needed to be renovated. The athletic facility was beautiful but other than that, extremely underwhelming.
Bryan - 05/01/2019
Dickinson College is an extremely beautiful campus that has preserved the architecture and style from when it was originally founded. Along with these history-preserving buildings, they have new facilities, such as their gym and dorm buildings, that give the school a modern touch. On top of this, the faculty and students are very eager to help. As a prospective student visiting the campus, I could truly feel the tight knit community and definitely see it as a warm, welcoming institution with great resources to thrive.
Naziru - 01/15/2019
Dickinson college is pretty exciting but gets a bit boring sometimes. The events on the weekends are monotonous and if you do not party, there's basically nothing you can do to enjoy your weekend. Playing soccer is my only way of having fun.
Juliet - 01/07/2019
Overall, Dickinson College is a great school. The professors are dedicated to helping students and translating their passion for the subjects they teach. There is a sense of community between the students, staff, and faculty - partly because of the smaller student body and class size, but also because of the public awareness on the campus and willingness to remain open to opinions.
Freya - 08/01/2018
Dickinson College is an exceptional place to be a student. Academically, I feel challenged but I'm also constantly fascinated and excited for class discussions and meetings with professors, who all knew my name by the end of the first week. The student body is driven but exceptionally friendly, I have yet to find a standoffish or rude person on campus after one year. The administration values each and every student and is always accessible to students, which I personally appreciate as I came to Dickinson from a large public high school where the administration could not have been more removed from student life. I have already had dinner with the president of the college, and have yet to have a class exceeding 20 students. My first-year dorm was amazing, and my second-year building is even better. I cannot express how positively I feel about my Dickinson experience so far, it's truly a wonderful place to learn and grow as an individual!
The fall 2020 acceptance rate for Dickinson College is 43%. That means, out of _____ applications received in 2020, _____ students were offered admission.
What should every freshman at your school know before they start?
Like life, I believe college is what you make of it. You are responsible for your own successes and because of this, you have to remember that in order to achieve your goals you have to put the work in. Choosing the right college involves finding the right fit for each individual and a person needs to consider the total package. Academics need to be the top priority, but think about other things like location, sports, traveling abroad, and other activities that are going to make you happy. It is important to remember that you are choosing a place where you are going to spend the next four years of your life. Choose somewhere that will help you learn, grow, and be happy. You have to balance the studying with enjoying life (but that doesn't mean party all the time). To do well in college I think there are only three things a person needs to remember. Most important, go to class. I repeat, GO TO CLASS. Secondly, get involved and talk with your professors, they are there to help you. Finally, relax, if you work hard you will be fine, don't sweat the small stuff.
Dickinson is home to those who have a thirst to think outside of the box. Dickinson is not your traditional undergraduate institution. It's a community of students and faculty who desire to know more. It's full of fantastic minds who live to collaborate and educate the world at large.
What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?
The worst thing about my school is that there is not very much to do in Carlisle. You end up walking to walmart and the movie theater a lot.
It also rains a lot, which can bring your spirits down a little.
We are best known for our enviromental sustainabilty and study abroad programs. Our new science complex has allowed us to become more advanced in all fields of science. We also have very strong political science, history, and international business and management programs. We are also known for out language program since we offer 13. While students succeed academically and take their studies serieously students generally go out on the weekeneds. We were nicknamed "Drinkinson."
Dickinson's professors are top notch. Because we have no graduate students, professors teach every class and frequently learn students' names early in the semester. I have had great experiences with my professors. My favorite class was American Government, which inspired me to major in Political Science. My least favorite class was my freshman seminar. Some number of students have intellectual discussions outside of class. Students are certainly able to find others with whom to have these conversations. Students do not seem to be competitive at all, and you will often see groups of students working together in the HUB or the library. The political science department is full of great professors, and the major is not difficult to complete. The academic requirements are not overwhelming, but it is strongly encouraged that students get their lab sciences out of the way during their first-year.
The best thing about Dickinson is the professors. They are very accessible. If I could change one thing, I would abolish Greek life. I find Dickinson to be the perfect size for me, but I went to a high school of just over 500. Students from large high schools may find it a bit stifling. Most of my time on campus is spent in my room or in the student union building. Carlisle is a cute college town, tons of restaurants and a smattering of things to do. The administration, on one hand, can be very accessible and willing to talk, but on the other, they frequently overlook major student issues. One experience I will always remember is sitting on Morgan field in the sun with my friends.
What are the most popular student activities/groups?
There is so much to do on campus that you could literally have every minute of every day M-F filled with something. Clubs meet most evenings, guest speakers visit at least once a week for one academic department or another, and there are all kinds of theatrical performances. Student clubs and organizations organize events like cultural dinners, performances, and educational presentations. If you want to party, you could find one every night. However, the academic courseload doesn't really allow for that (if you want to do well). While social life does sometimes seem to revolve around Greek Life, you certainly don't need to be Greek to have a terrific social life. I'm not in a sorority but go to Greek parties and non-affiliated parties hosted by Greeks all the time. There are also a lot of large common spaces on campus to host impromptu events if you are looking do so something alcohol-free on a weekend night. I often see students playing pool in the Quarry (campus coffee shop) on a Friday or Saturday night or checking a movie out of the library.
Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?
While many Dickinson students fit this mold, there are many who do not and get along just fine. Since the school is expensive, there are a number of students with a lot of disposable income at hand, but while it is accurate that many Dickinsonians are rich, they (for the most part) are not snobby about it. I have friends who have parents at the helm of Fortune 500 companies and drive Range Rovers or Audis, but they still drink cheap beer and complain about job prospects like the fest of us.
What is the stereotype of students at your school? Is this stereotype accurate?
Greek life is popular on campus, but you wouldn't know that if it weren't for the days where sororities/fraternities plan to wear matching t-shirts. It's really to go about your day without encountering, or even thinking about, Greek life. The student body is at Dickinson has a little bit of everything. There is a good amount of international students, a lot of them coming from East and South Asia and a few from all over Europe. The students that are from the US are typically from surrounding New England states, and New Jersey and Connecticut make up a good portion. There are lots of classy ladies/men - the kids who wear J. Crew, Sperry's, and button-downs. These students have a more carefree attitude towards school and their academics. Jocks are mixed in here, about 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students participate on a sport team. About 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the students here are very serious about academics and spend a lot of time in the library and 24-hour science labs doing work and securing the good grades that let us stay here.
All students must apply yearly for financial aid. This process starts with the FAFSA.
Though financial aid deadlines vary by school, it is a good idea to apply as soon as possible. For the upcoming school year, you can apply as early as October 1 for the FAFSA. Additional school aid will be dependent on the FAFSA results.
78% of students attending Dickinson College receive some sort of financial aid.
10% were awarded federal grants.40%received federal loans. Many students do also need to apply for additional private student loans.