Furman University

If you're a liberally minded person who needs to be around other liberals, you'll find that you're few and far between among the student body, but you'll find plenty of friends among the faculty. Try the "create your own major program" -that's the one thing that i wish i'd done differently - that I would have participated in that program.

4th Year Male -- Class 2003

Education Quality: A+, Scholastic Success: A-

I am a freshman here at Furman and love the school and everything it offers. I am involved in greek life and intramural sports. Furman does an excellent job of making the freshmen feel at home. There are so many opportunities in the first few weeks to meet people and sign up for organizations, and I would highly advise new students to do so. I have met so many wonderful people through Furman and really wouldn't change my experiences here for anything. I consider myself a very social person and have definitely found my niche. I feel like there is something here for everyone.

All of the clubs and organizations are open to new members and accepting of everybody. There are fun things to do and places to go every night of the week for those who like to party, but there are also girls on my hall that enjoy staying in for movie nights!Furman is techniquely a dry campus, which scared me away at first, but many like to consider it damp. Oh-and there are actually liberal people here, contrary to popular belief :)

1st Year Female -- Class 2008

Faculty Accessibility: A+, University Resource Use/ spending: B

I visited Furman on a whim while doing a tour of other schools in the region (Davidson, Duke, Wake Forest, UNC Chapel Hill) and fell for the school very quickly. Like many high school students, I had taken AP science courses and believed that I wanted to be a physician. During our visit, we dropped in on the main pre-med adviser at the time, Dr. Fairbanks. Even though he was not expecting us, Dr. Fairbanks spent more than an hour with us answering our questions. This experience ended up being a very good preview of my time at Furman.

If you are looking for a party school with huge sports programs and a campus that is dominated by jocks, you aren't doing a very good job of reading the college guides. Clearly, Furman is not such a place. It is, however, a very strong liberal arts college with an emphasis on building good student-faculty relationships and providing students with an excellent set of skills. These skills are not job training, strictly defined. If you become Microsoft certified, etc, you will be doing it on your own outside of your demanding classes. You will, however, learn how to read, write, and speak with conviction and clarity. You will find yourself able to persuade others better than many of your coworkers, and when it is time to write up a report, you will often be the savior of the team. When people ask about a word, literary reference, historical event, or foreign culture, you will be the one who knows the answer.

Don't be afraid of anti-Yankee sentiments. I grew up outside of Baltimore and attended high school in Pennsylvania, but I felt very comfortable at Furman after a short adjustment period (trying sweet tea, discovering grits, and learning Mississippian to better understand my friends). Those who bemoan Furman's treatment of northerners are most likely dissatisfied for many reasons and are failing to adjust to college life. Also, as a general rule, the women at Furman outclass the men by a tremendous amount. The women are so far out of the men's league that, if the men's entire league exploded, the women wouldn't hear it for three days. Nevertheless, I met my wife at Furman, and she has yet to discover her error.

Beware the foreign language requirement. No hablo Espanol, no quiero hablar Espanol, y no me gusta el C-. I could go on for a while, but I'll conclude with my experience since graduation. While Furman is a regionally known school, its reputation is good. Compare this to nationally known schools like FSU that are nationally known... for being abysmal. Over the years, more and more people seem to know the name and more importantly, react very favorably. In several instances, the fact that I went to Furman was enough to qualify me as an overall good (and smart) guy with new acquaintances. Sometimes, it also meant that I was assumed to be from a relatively wealthy background, but that's not always a bad thing in the real world. Since graduation, I have attended a top ten public university for a Ph.D., which I am completing this year. I received multiple offers for Assistant Professor positions that I am deciding between now (I signed on to this site to read student reviews of my potential employers), and I only hope that I can do for my students what my Furman professors did for me.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000