Pros and Cons of Centre College In Danville, Kentucky

Ranking 19th in the nation on the Forbe's list, Centre College seems like a promising place to continue your education. However, just like all other colleges, centre has its pros and cons.

Listed below are some pros and cons that I have discovered, being a freshman on campus, that are handy to know when deciding if you want to go there.

Pros:

- A lot of the faculty are extremely friendly and will go out of their way to help you if you have a question or need extra help

- There is a wide variety of courses, so there's sure to be at least something that will interest you

- If you don't like a major they offer, you can self-design your own. I have several friends who have chosen to do such and they very much enjoy it.

- There are great facilities on campus, including a campus mail service, an indoor heated pool, multiple gyms, tennis courts, a two-story workout room, various easily accessible computer labs, and a three-story library that's open late to accommodate the students who wait to do their essays until the night before it's due.

- The upperclassman, for the most part, are very nice and will help you get oriented at Centre. If you're lost or need to ask a question, never be afraid to ask a fellow student.

- If you happen to be a partier, they have some really good parties happening around campus. Centre tries to downplay the parties, but it is indeed a part school if that's what you're looking for. It could also be a con, too.

- If you're considering Greek life, Centre has a really good Greek system with a lot of fraternities/sororities to choose from.

Cons:

- With a tuition of $37,000 a year, Centre is very much regarded as a rich kid's school and a lot of the staff (excluding the professors), treat you as if you should be rich (like getting annoyed at you because you have unpaid balance that you can't afford to pay because your scholarship check hasn't gotten to the school yet)

- Centre is very selective about what credit will transfer. They don't accept duel-enrollment credit, blended classes, or online classes, so don't waste your money think you'll get a jump start on your degree, like I did. $10,000 on 63 credits at a local college and I was told by the Registrar that all but 6 credits would have to be considered "college prep", like I have that much money to spend on such a thing.

- If you do a work study, there's a good chance that some of the staff will treat you rudely. I work in the athletics office and there are some great coaches that all the student workers love working with and there are those that are rude and treat us like we never do any work at all (which we do).

- Centre wants all your time. There are out of class activities that you may be required to go to and you need to go to 12 convocations a year. I'm working 3 jobs to put myself through college, so my schedule is pretty tight and it's hard to fit things in.

- Like the point above, Centre is not good about working around your schedule. You have to work around their schedule. This may not bother some people, but I like to think that I'm paying them to work for me rather than I'm paying for the privilege to go there.

- The classes are extremely hard, probably harder than anything you're used to, so you can expect that your freshman grade will be between one or two letter grades below your high school average.

- Centre does offer scholarships, but they're not nearly enough to accommodate the low-income families (such as myself). If you don't have financial problems, it may not be an issue for you. I graduated Valedictorian at my high school with a 97.6 GPA and I was offered a scholarship of $13,500, which, don't get me wrong, is an outstanding amount for a scholarship and I'm thrilled about it. However, bearing in mind that my family is way below the poverty line and tuition is at $37,000 a year, even with the FAFSA I'm still paying $5,000 out of pocket, which is way more than I can afford considering I'm getting 0 financial aid from my family (below the poverty line, again, and I'm not the only child) and I, personally, make less than $10,000 a year, so just keep your financial situation in mind.