Haverford College Top Questions

The best thing about Haverford is the intimacy. Everyone here belongs to a tight-knit community and we are really close. However, the best thing about Haverford is also it's biggest pitfall. I think the school is a little too small. Everyone is in everyone else's business, and if something happens to you everyone knows about it. Most people unfortunately have never heard of Haverford, but the ones that know about it are really impressed when they hear that I go here. The most frequent student complaints are about the food. The food is not fantastic, but it's not awful. The administration here is pretty good, but Haverford is at once very critical of itself and in denial about some of the problems. We like to talk about changing a lot of things, but I don't think that very much change takes place. We think that everything can be improved, but we spend a lot of time talking and not much time acting.

For some people, the small size is the best part of the college, for others it is the worst part. There is definitely a close-knit sense of community in place here that's open-minded and accepting. Haverford students are really nice Most don't know what the heck Haverford is, let alone where it is. Here's how a typical conversation goes between a stranger and a Haverford student - Stranger: "So what school do you go to?" Student: "Oh, I go to Haverford." Stranger: "You're going to Harvard?!" Student: "No, not Harvard, Haverford." There's even a facebook group about it. I was so tired of giving my reflex answer of "no-not-harvard-it's-a-small-liberal-arts-school-outside-philadelphia" followed by getting blank stares that I was relieved to finally get here. I spend most of my time on the hall with my friends or in class. But where you hang out varies depending on your personal schedule; whether or not you play sports, if you're in a lot of clubs etc. There's definitely a lot of school pride. Being as small as it is, the College and its students care a lot about the community and show school spirit any chance we get. Students here most often complain about the food and lack of a student center. The surrounding towns of Haverford, Ardmore, and Bryn Mawr a

Haverford is one of the best kept secrets in college offices.

The one thing that I would change about Haverford is the dining services. I know it's tough feeling 1000 people under one roof, and John Francone (the head of d.s.) does everything humanly possible to change things daily according to feedback from students, but they're just so unwilling to make the big changes necessary to improve the quality of the food (re-structure the meal plan so that there are more options for getting meals, like at the coop or lunt cafe, so that everything can be cooked in smaller portions). In terms of a reaction to "Haverford," most people from my city have never heard of it and thought I was saying Harvard. But the people who have heard of it have a lot of respect for Haverford and what it means that I'm a student there. Anyone who has heard of the school is always impressed that I go here. The biggest controversies on campus (there are two) are the perceived divide between athletes and artists and the racial tension that comes from being a small school on the Main Line. The divide between athletes and artists isn't really a big deal. It tends to arise from the perception of teams as exclusive... which isn't a fair representation of athletic teams at Haverford. For example the baseball team eats together in the dining center and a lot of the members live together in one of the few houses on campus. They're actually really friendly guys that come across as intimidating or exclusive because they're close with their teammates. However this whole issue is becoming less and less of one in the past 3 or 4 years as teams are making more of an effort to reach out to other social pools on campus. For example, the chemistry majors' party (with faculty) was held this year at Drinker house, a.k.a. the baseball house. As for the racial tensions, it's an interesting problem at Haverford. Haverford is the most diverse community that I've ever been in, and my high school was about equally black and white. Haverford brings in a lot of international students and various ethnic backgrounds. As a result the population of students at Haverford that would identify themselves as black is disproportionately small, and somewhat segregated. It's really not a question of whether the segregation is an act of the majority non-black students or self-promoted (the Black Cultural Center on campus is self-identified as the black house, and I personally believe that a lot of the ways in which black students feel targeted at Haverford are the product of selective attention- for example it was said that last semester people always pee on the BCC, which has the unfortunate location of being halfway between Drinker house and the apartments, which are more frequently peed on... so drunk people who can't make it back to the apartments and forgot to pee on the stoop of Drinker before they left might take a pee break at the BCC). However, there are undeniable presences of racism on campus, such as the rare occurrence of racial graffiti. For the most part it's not really a pervasive issue on campus, but there are awareness events held every semester and I think both issues have drastically improved over the last 4 years.

The best thing about Haverford is the friendly population. I knew that Haverford was a great college academically, but what really drew me in were the people! Everyone is so friendly and wants to help whoever needs it. 1,200 students sounds really small, and it is, but it doesn't FEEL that small. We share classes with Bryn Mawr, Swarthmore, and Penn; so it's a busy little campus. I would still love it even if it was self-contained: I love passing by people I know and giving them a big grin! The Nature Trail is one of the most beautiful parts of the campus, and we are a natural arboretum, which means that we are surrounded by gorgeous plants and trees. Our dining services are amazing – everyone complains about college food, but we really have the best quality imaginable. And we definitely have the friendliest staff. They are truly our friends. Everyone on campus is friends with everyone else.

A VERY small school which you sometimes wish you could escape from but you love anyway. The small environment means that you have at least some sort of invested relationship with everyone from the dining hall staff to your deans. The Honor Code is great because people are allowed to exercise their own judgement which means we have fun without (usually) it getting out of hand.

The best thing about Haverford is definitely the Honor Code and the Student Government. Students have control over large portions of the governance and this empowers us students to work for the benefit of our community. The Honor Code is also integral in fostering a community full of trust, concern, and respect. Our school is by most standards small, but by our standards, just right! People normally react when I tell them I'm from Haverford by raising their eyebrows and going "Ahhh." Haverford is in a historic suburban area with many amenities and much to do off-campus, especially with Philadelphia nearby. Haverford's Admin is very outgoing and seeks to dialogue with the students. They are very supportive of the students and seek mutual understanding and cooperation. The biggest controversy is regarding limiting smoking on campus. There is school pride, but it is sort of a hush-hush school pride insomuch as we hold Haverford dear to our hearts, but don't need to shout about it. Many High Schoolers observe that we say the word "However" a lot.

Haverford is AMAZING! When I first came to campus I was immediately drawn to its beauty. The campus is an Arboretum with over 200 different species of plants and hundreds of acres of trees. For a school with a relatively small student body, it has an incredible amount of open space. It is beautiful in the dead of winter and during the hottest summer months. The students are what make Haverford such a special and unique place. They are generally the most intelligent students that I have encountered and I have taken classes at Haverford, the University of Pennsylvania and Bryn Mawr. They love to study and excel, but on weekends they know how to have fun and relax. Parties are generally well attended by underclassmen that have not yet ventured into Philadelphia or the surrounding suburbs. Students take care of each other and monitor their friends closely. I have never felt more safe at a party in all my life. It is refreshing to be a student; however some grow to dislike the comfort and security that comes from being part of the community. Your four years here can be decieving if you do not have a clear career in mind. Because grades are not discussed, the same ethos carries through to work and can hurt students during the job search if they are not aware of the process. I am proud to attend Haverford College. Faculty are dynamic and the opportunites to explore academic pursuits are great because Haverford, Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr and Penn cross register courses. I will always remember the first night I ever spent at Haverford. A new beginning in a new place with new faces...yet it felt like home.

A small school with a lot to be proud of. The close-knit community makes it more unusual NOT to be known by a majority of the campus than the reverse. The "HaverBubble," the invisible, intangible bubble that encloses us from the outside world and allows a unique Haverford culture to develop, is something we both love and hate: Haverford is both an kind of flawed utopia and also false idyll from real life. We maintain a strong relationship with Bryn Mawr, the women's college down the road, diversifying the social, academic, and cultural scene. It's true, though, that the food really could be better.

I LOVE Haverford, and I think most people do, too. There's a lot of school pride, but at the same time, it's common knowledge that by the time one reaches senior year he's ready to burst the "Haverbubble" and experience the real world. On the same note, Haverford students spend most of their time on campus, and resources in Philadelphia aren't used nearly enough. We're a fairly self-sufficient little community. As far as college towns go, Haverford's connection to the school is limited. Locals like to walk on our nature trails (because the campus is basically the most beautiful thing ever), but since this area is so economically well-off, there aren't many opportunities for student outreach unless one goes into Philly. Oh, and just like in high school, everyone is way too over-programmed. Students like to do EVERYTHING, and rarely have time to breathe. But people tend to only do what they love, so whatever works for them...