Randolph College

As a former student of the Newly Co-ed Randolph College I feel there are many things that go unsaid during the Visitation and application process.

The college does have a long standing history as RMWC, but that is were it stops. It may look the same but it a completely different school now.

How do I mean? During a pre-season ncaa meeting, my first days of first year, the athletic department head told us that they had done a random drug testing an earlier year and the results had been horrible. No repercussions came from this. This is a long running problem with the college.

Why is it such a problem? Plain and simple, there are 600 kids on campus, when 75% or more of the student population drinks or does drugs that only leaves a very small number who don't. I had a friend who transferred from Randolph to U. So. Florida one of the countries top party schools, and Ill never forget her saying. "Florida is fun, but they don't party as hard as Randy-Mac."

An ambulance at the college to rush someone to the hospital is commonplace it seems these days. With the introduction of men into the college the number of incidents involving Rape and assault are also beginning to rise, devastating to individuals in such a small community where you cant drop a dime without the college knowing about it.

The college still has a few redeeming qualities. The colleges "be an original" campaign ultimately failed. The don't want original, they want you to be just like every other college kid, but occasionally they actually do get original people, and they make the college an amazing place.

A handful of the teachers are top-tier, mostly the ones that stayed after the co-ed switch. Degree programs have become much easier with the addition of less than qualified males to the college. Sports is the main entertainment, besides the Macon Activities Council. For a D3 school the importance of the sports programs is a little absurd, esp when most of them are quite awful to be honest.

Randolph college is perfect for Intelligent Girls who can speak their mind and can keep jerks at bay.

It's also perfect for Less than qualified males who want to be treated like a god for participating in a sport.If you actually are an Original, I hope you find the teachers who really will care about your future, and the friends that will love you for you. Try and avoid the drugs and the assholes, keep your head down, and the college will be a great place for you, other than that, just about anywhere else would be better.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2015

Individual Value: A-, Surrounding City: D-

Randolph-Macon Woman's College and Randolph College are two entirely different colleges existing, for a time, concurrently, although perhaps it is more pertinent to say they currently exist competitively. R-MWC and RC students do tend to clash, but understandably so. They applied to fundamentally different educational systems and (as has so far been the case) have not gotten along as well as they could have. The strife is understandable (not necessarily justifiable) because the co-ed transition was forced upon a very vocal body of strong, independent women in less than one year, must less time than other college co-ed transitions. Had the transition been gradual over a period of say 3 or 5 years, I believe the outcome would have been much less volatile (and verbally/emotionally abusive to both upperclasswomen and underclass-students).

The faculty absolutely make the college. They are nearly all highly qualified (watch out for sub-par adjunct professors, especially in Phys. Ed. classes, Public Speaking, from my experience) and absolutely dedicated to the students. The professors are absolutely the redeeming quality in Randolph College; although considering most of them were hired as R-MWC professors I must admit I am not surprised and would expect nothing less.

The diversity of the student body is absolutely fantastic! This is a great environment for open-minded, equality-sensitive students ready to hang out with all different kinds of people (read: not a high-school, cliquish social popularity contest). This campus has prided itself on being an open, inviting community, meaning everyone is free to be exactly who they are in terms of personality, sexuality, religion, etc. and are equally willing to accept others. This is absolutely not Liberty University. "Live and let live" is an accurate description of the kind of student R-MWC strove and Randolph strives to recruit.

My personal experience began without much knowledge of R-MWC as a college, I wasn't particularly excited about it being all female, but I was offered a stellar scholarship, they had my intended major (German) and I was particularly keen to train with the Riding Center Director, J.T. Tallon. I will caution you however, that Randolph dropped the German department weeks prior to my major declaration, so I was forced to either change my major or transfer (I elected to change my major) and Randolph has since continued to make significant changes quickly and without warning; therefore I encourage you to ALWAYS have a back-up plan here. The administration has definitely become less student-friendly and does not react kindly to students' honest opinions and input about the college (unless they are radically positive), however Dean Stevens is the exception and is absolutely open to listening to the student body (rather than simply hearing them out to save face).

My first year was the final year of R-MWC as an all woman's institution, and I must admit it was indeed my favorite year with regard to the social environment around campus. I really fell in love with R-MWC and realized I absolutely loved the single-sex education style. Honestly, girls spoke up much more vociferously in class while R-MWC was still all-female and the overall quality of work was higher. The small class sizes allows for great discussion and having a professor know only know your name but also know your work ethic and work style personally is supremely helpful toward becoming a confident, well-spoken, intelligent, open-minded person ready to enter the world. The professors are, for the most part, very open-minded and listen to their students as much as they lecture. They encourage students to pursue their own personal passions, rather than passions others (like parents, etc.) have for them. Students will absolutely learn to write and write well. I strongly discourage attending this school if you are not serious about your academics and willing to write.

The present social situation of the college, to be frank, is utter turmoil. There is a disconnect within the student body between Randolph students (where honestly the administration pushes its athletics more than its academics) and the last few Women of R-MWC, however I do believe that turmoil will dissipate over time. You are required to live on campus all four years, which means living in a dorm, not campus apartments (those don't exist). Additionally, within the past four years there have been serious changes for campus living. The school has largely increased its level of partying; therefore campus life administration has retaliated by cranking-up its drinking policies and dorm rules and regulations. Hall directors are VERY quick to fine students for even the smallest infraction of rules in the handbook. I encourage you to take a peek at the student handbook before entering this college, as those are the rules you will be held to. Hall directors do tend to turn-over every few years, so hopefully these restrictions will become less stringent with the next turnover. The rationale behind cracking-down on drinking policies makes no sense to me realistically. Think about it: college students who want to party are going to party regardless of rules and restrictions (be real). If rules on campus are too strict, they will drive off campus to party (meaning they will be driving back to campus later on). To me, this seems like an unsafe policy determined by short-sighted policy formulation aimed at deflecting negative publicity for Randolph, rather than realistic policies fostered around ensuring student safety (not to mention getting acquainted with your peers). If students are forced to live on campus (and I warn you this is a very SMALL campus that feels smaller every year), it makes realistic sense to be lenient (but safely lenient) in order to discourage students from getting behind the wheel to find parties. In my opinion, that is simply setting the stage for a disaster (and pretty negative publicity for Randolph, which is currently really struggling with enrollment and student retention).

Riding at the College is fantastic. The coaches are great, although the horses could be in much sounder condition if the college would adequately fund the Riding Program so that it could treat its horses the way they deserve to (ie proper injections, supplements, vet visits). The horses themselves are all carefully chosen (all horses are donations, however this does not mean that every potential donation horse is accepted to the program) for being well-mannered and suitable for a college school program. Over the past four years, the overall quality of donation horses has increased, however and there is quite a nice group currently (assuming they will stay sound without proper medications, as many donation horses come in with soundness issues). JT is a phenomenal coach; he is a brilliant teacher but can be a bit harsh with his criticisms, although not unlike most professionals in the real Hunter/Jumper world. If you want to step up your riding game and can take a tough coach, this is the school for you. I recommend not bringing a private horse for at least the first year as it is easier for JT to get to know a new rider on horses he knows rather than getting to know a new rider on a new horse (it will turn out better for your technical skill in the long run).So if you are an open-minded individual seeking a quality, rigorous education I encourage you to check out Randolph, but I also caution you to be on your toes and always have a back-up plan should you choose to attend.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2010

Faculty Accessibility: A+, Individual Value: D-

I came to RMWC as a junior transfer in the adult program (known as Prime Time for students 24 and older) and I think generally this is a wonderful school. I agree with others in the fact that you have to work here to earn your success, it will not be handed to you. I feel I have been challenged in my classes, and you cannot slack off, but the fact that the teachers take the classes so seriously I find enjoyable. I consider the school writing-intensive, every subject I have taken here, from Political Science to Literature has been paper and writing-intensive. There is a close-knit community here and it is very diverse, you will meet women from every type of financial background and social background, and we have a large international student population. I would say that regarding social life, the college tries to provide the students with plenty of activities to do on campus, many clubs and they try to bring interesting guest speakers and authors to speak at the school, but don't count on the surrounding city of Lynchburg for much fun. It's not known for its night life but RMWC is close to many other colleges such as UVA. Some teachers here are friendly, some are a bit arrogant, just keep working hard in your classes, and you will get through. I also want to add that the campus is quite pretty and quite safe. And the college offers pretty good deals on financial aid and plenty of opportunity for scholarships. I have found the staff and advisors are available and accomodating if you need to talk to them. And there is a sizable amount of adult students here, about 1/8 of the campus is comprised of adult students. The college is about to go co-ed, and I hope it will continue to carry on a close-knit environment among its students and will continue our special traditions such as the Pumpkin Parade.

1st Year Female -- Class 2009

Campus Aesthetics: A, Surrounding City: D-