Earlier last week the Huffington Post published the Princeton Review’s list of the worst college towns in America. Our very own Albion College came in at number nine on the list, the only college out of the eleven that didn’t get a picture of the town itself.
Of course to anyone who knows anything about Albion College this is no surprise. Albion College has turned up on this list frequently.
Without a doubt, the town of Albion is one of the largest obstacle recruiters face when trying to enroll new students to the school.
Joshua Merchant, Interim Vice President for Enrollment believes that the ranking is nothing to fret about.
“We’re ranked as one of the best colleges in the country with something to do on campus,” Merchant said. “I want kids who are going to choose Albion College because of academic rigor, faculty, student life, and because the opportunity to get involved and what they’ll get out of Albion after they graduate in four years.”
Merchant also points out that the list is off the top 376 colleges in the country, not overall, therefore celebrating the fact that we even made the list, especially when looking at the other schools,
“That’s pretty good company we’re in, Notre Dame, Wabash, that’s great company!” Merchant said.
Other schools of higher learning on the list include Tuskegee University, United States Coast Guard Academy, Hotstra University, Wheaton College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Bates College and Ohio Northern University.
But does Albion’s small town really make Albion College a bad school or college experience? I think not, in fact I would even argue that it makes the school even better.
The lack luster town makes it so that students have to spend time on campus, and therefore have to spend time with each other. Students have to get along, they’re all in it together and the mall town forces them to stay on campus and get to know one another making the college one super tight and close knitted community.
Outside of that, Union Board almost always has something going on around campus.
We’re ranked as one of the best colleges in the country with something to do on campus,” Merchant said. “If a college student is going to pick their college based on where the nearest Starbucks is then Albion College probably isn’t the college for them.”
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