College Spotlight: Franklin & Marshall College
Hey Everyone,
I honestly cannot believe it, but Thanksgiving is next week, which means two things: we will all soon begin to loosen our belt buckles, and many those Regular Decision deadlines are only a month away! As many students have applied Early Action, decisions will be coming soon, and there is always an opportunity to add a school or two through regular decision. One school students may want to look into adding for regular decision, is Franklin & Marshall, which I was lucky enough to visit earlier this week. I wanted to give everyone a brief look into F & M and what they are all about!
Academics and General Information
Let's get down to the basics. Franklin & Marshall is a residential, four-year liberal arts college located in Lancaster, PA. The school has about 2,300 undergraduates and the campus screams "classic college" with vast green space and beautiful buildings and facilities spread throughout. I haven't spent much time at all in Lancaster, but it is a quaint little city and surrounds the campus. Students have the joys of having the traditional college experience, with all of the benefits of a city within walking distance. The campus is also only a 15 minute walk from the Amtrak station, which is extremely convenient. I took the Amtrak to Lancaster from Penn Station, and it was a very enjoyable ride of under three hours. It was great seeing numerous college students getting work done in the train, and I could vision many of our students doing the same in the future.
At Franklin and Marshall, you will be sure to get personal attention from the faculty, administration, and even President Porterfield, who loves to interact with students on a daily basis. The student to faculty ratio is only 9:1 and the average class size is 16; there are no lecture halls at F & M. There are also 27 competitive Division 3 sports including soccer, basketball, and football. The school's team name, Diplomats, may not be very intimidating, but all students there have a ton of pride in their sports teams, which is great to see at a relatively small college.
Academically, Franklin and Marshall is looking for students who are curious and prefer to learn while interacting in the world, and who are willing to take risks. At the college, they have six main areas of study: Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Languages, The Arts, and Interdisciplinary Studies. Yes, it is a liberal arts college, but Franklin and Marshall has pretty much everything you need from Astrophysics to Public Health to Theatre. Their top three concentrations include Policy and Government, Business, and Biology. Whatever a student's passion, they will have the opportunity to explore and be prepared for a successful future in their field of choice. I actually met multiple students on campus that major in both a science field and a music/theatre concentration. Both of these areas are very strong and F & M works well with the students to ensure students have the opportunity to pursue both areas. Their music department is exceptionally strong, with faculty who are devoted to the students and rock stars in their industry. They have world class facilities, and the best part is students do not need to devote their entire time to music, as 95% of the F & M students involved in the music program, do not major in music.
The housing at Franklin and Marshall is unique, and I think benefits the students extraordinarily well. At the start of freshmen year, students are assigned to one of five possible college houses. Students are placed into a house based on their choice of a freshman connection course, so right from the start, students have common ground with their housemates. These houses surround one of the quads on campus, and students are in charge of their own house, form a government, and actually elect their own leaders. They are given a budget each year, and the students decide how the budget should be spent. There of course is a faculty mentor and administrator assigned to each house, but there is a ton of responsibility placed on the students themselves. There is a great sense of pride among the students in each house, and it creates an incredible community and overall learning and living environment.
Admissions and Financial Aid
Franklin and Marshall is an ideal college for students across the country, so it is definitely competitive to get into. Each year, they have about a 32% acceptance rate, with their middle 50% for SATs: 1210-1400 and ACT: 28-31. Franklin and Marshall, however, is a test-optional school, which I love, and 1/3 of last year's applicants chose to apply test optional.
With Financial Aid, there is no getting around it...F & M is one of the best out there. As a goal of their's in the past decade, F & M meets 100% of the student's demonstrated financial need, and each years, their students receive more than $46 million in need-based aid. Sure, their overall price tag at $63,000 is high, but most students will not pay nearly this much. For students who know Franklin and Marshall is the place for them, they have two Early Decision opportunities with deadlines of November 15th and January 15th. They also have a Regular Decision option with a January 15th deadline. Once you are in, you also have a great chance of getting out within four years, which is becoming more and more rare in higher education. While the national average for 4-year graduation is 36%, Franklin & Marshall is at a staggering 82% ! They also boast a 91% first-year retention rate, so you know their students are happy there!
Overall Impression
I will keep this short, but I love Franklin and Marshall. I did not know too much about the school before my visit, but it will surely be on my mind for years to come. I was fortunate enough to bump into a former student of mine, who is a freshmen at F & M now, while visiting. I asked him if he was enjoying his time there and happy with his choice to attend. His response pretty much sums it all up. He said with a huge smile, "Are you kidding me? I love it here, what's not to like?!".
Franklin and Marshall is a good place, with a passionate and caring faculty and administration. Their students are happy, involved, and prepared to enter the workforce. It's a reasonable distance from New York City, and a different change of pace. I would encourage many of you to take a look at F & M, for its strong academics, gorgeous campus, and overall fantastic community.
Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA
I honestly cannot believe it, but Thanksgiving is next week, which means two things: we will all soon begin to loosen our belt buckles, and many those Regular Decision deadlines are only a month away! As many students have applied Early Action, decisions will be coming soon, and there is always an opportunity to add a school or two through regular decision. One school students may want to look into adding for regular decision, is Franklin & Marshall, which I was lucky enough to visit earlier this week. I wanted to give everyone a brief look into F & M and what they are all about!
Academics and General Information
Let's get down to the basics. Franklin & Marshall is a residential, four-year liberal arts college located in Lancaster, PA. The school has about 2,300 undergraduates and the campus screams "classic college" with vast green space and beautiful buildings and facilities spread throughout. I haven't spent much time at all in Lancaster, but it is a quaint little city and surrounds the campus. Students have the joys of having the traditional college experience, with all of the benefits of a city within walking distance. The campus is also only a 15 minute walk from the Amtrak station, which is extremely convenient. I took the Amtrak to Lancaster from Penn Station, and it was a very enjoyable ride of under three hours. It was great seeing numerous college students getting work done in the train, and I could vision many of our students doing the same in the future.
At Franklin and Marshall, you will be sure to get personal attention from the faculty, administration, and even President Porterfield, who loves to interact with students on a daily basis. The student to faculty ratio is only 9:1 and the average class size is 16; there are no lecture halls at F & M. There are also 27 competitive Division 3 sports including soccer, basketball, and football. The school's team name, Diplomats, may not be very intimidating, but all students there have a ton of pride in their sports teams, which is great to see at a relatively small college.
Academically, Franklin and Marshall is looking for students who are curious and prefer to learn while interacting in the world, and who are willing to take risks. At the college, they have six main areas of study: Humanities, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Languages, The Arts, and Interdisciplinary Studies. Yes, it is a liberal arts college, but Franklin and Marshall has pretty much everything you need from Astrophysics to Public Health to Theatre. Their top three concentrations include Policy and Government, Business, and Biology. Whatever a student's passion, they will have the opportunity to explore and be prepared for a successful future in their field of choice. I actually met multiple students on campus that major in both a science field and a music/theatre concentration. Both of these areas are very strong and F & M works well with the students to ensure students have the opportunity to pursue both areas. Their music department is exceptionally strong, with faculty who are devoted to the students and rock stars in their industry. They have world class facilities, and the best part is students do not need to devote their entire time to music, as 95% of the F & M students involved in the music program, do not major in music.
The housing at Franklin and Marshall is unique, and I think benefits the students extraordinarily well. At the start of freshmen year, students are assigned to one of five possible college houses. Students are placed into a house based on their choice of a freshman connection course, so right from the start, students have common ground with their housemates. These houses surround one of the quads on campus, and students are in charge of their own house, form a government, and actually elect their own leaders. They are given a budget each year, and the students decide how the budget should be spent. There of course is a faculty mentor and administrator assigned to each house, but there is a ton of responsibility placed on the students themselves. There is a great sense of pride among the students in each house, and it creates an incredible community and overall learning and living environment.
Admissions and Financial Aid
Franklin and Marshall is an ideal college for students across the country, so it is definitely competitive to get into. Each year, they have about a 32% acceptance rate, with their middle 50% for SATs: 1210-1400 and ACT: 28-31. Franklin and Marshall, however, is a test-optional school, which I love, and 1/3 of last year's applicants chose to apply test optional.
With Financial Aid, there is no getting around it...F & M is one of the best out there. As a goal of their's in the past decade, F & M meets 100% of the student's demonstrated financial need, and each years, their students receive more than $46 million in need-based aid. Sure, their overall price tag at $63,000 is high, but most students will not pay nearly this much. For students who know Franklin and Marshall is the place for them, they have two Early Decision opportunities with deadlines of November 15th and January 15th. They also have a Regular Decision option with a January 15th deadline. Once you are in, you also have a great chance of getting out within four years, which is becoming more and more rare in higher education. While the national average for 4-year graduation is 36%, Franklin & Marshall is at a staggering 82% ! They also boast a 91% first-year retention rate, so you know their students are happy there!
Overall Impression
I will keep this short, but I love Franklin and Marshall. I did not know too much about the school before my visit, but it will surely be on my mind for years to come. I was fortunate enough to bump into a former student of mine, who is a freshmen at F & M now, while visiting. I asked him if he was enjoying his time there and happy with his choice to attend. His response pretty much sums it all up. He said with a huge smile, "Are you kidding me? I love it here, what's not to like?!".
Franklin and Marshall is a good place, with a passionate and caring faculty and administration. Their students are happy, involved, and prepared to enter the workforce. It's a reasonable distance from New York City, and a different change of pace. I would encourage many of you to take a look at F & M, for its strong academics, gorgeous campus, and overall fantastic community.
Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA
