Allegheny College
520 North Main Street
Meadville, Pennsylvania 16335
Bentlely Hall is the renowned centerpiece of Allegheny's breathtaking campus.
College Description
One of America's oldest colleges (founded in 1815), Allegheny provides a traditional liberal arts education with a twist -- it provides an unusual number of ways to connect what occurs in a first-rate college to the life each graduate will lead. The Allegheny College Center for Experiential Learning allows "one-stop shopping" for career-related internships, collaborative research with faculty, leadership development, service learning, and off-campus study. Extremely strong programs of residence life and extracurricular activity help develop "the whole person." The campus is among the nation's most attractive, leaving no doubt that Allegheny is a place with great tradition. Meadville's location in the picturesque rolling foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, 40 miles from Lake Erie, gives students innumerable opportunities for outdoor recreation, yet Pittsburgh and Cleveland are both within 90 miles.
Academic LifeMajors Offered
Allegheny ensures that students develop intellectual breadth (taking at least two courses in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences), as well as expertise in one or more fields (developed in the major). Allegheny provides 29 unusually strong majors for an undergraduate institution, each one culminating in the distinctive Senior Project. Every student completes an original Senior Project, proving his or her ability to a complete a major assignment, work independently, analyze and synthesize information, and write and speak persuasively.
Effective writing and speaking are particular emphases of an Allegheny education. They are prominent objectives of "The First Course" taken by every freshman, and the Freshman Communication Seminar and Sophomore Communication Seminar promote these skills exclusively. The faculty's stature as scholars, researchers, and artists, which complements their skill at teaching, is especially important to students given students' ability to collaborate with faculty on research and creative projects. Extensive programs of internships, off-campus study, and service learning are offered. Study abroad is sponsored in Australia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Niger, Russia, Scotland, South Africa and Spain.
Majors Offered
Applied economics; art; art history, criticism and conservation; biochemistry; biology/biological sciences; business/managerial economics; chemistry; communication/speech communication and rhetoric; computer science; computer software engineering; creative writing; dramatic/theatre arts; economics; education; English; environmental science; environmental studies; fine arts related; fine/studio arts; French; geology/earth science; German; health/medical preparatory programs related; history; international/global studies; international relations and affairs; journalism; mass communication/media; mathematics; multi-/interdisciplinary studies related; music; music performance; neuroscience; philosophy; physics; political science and government; pre-dentistry studies; pre-law studies; pre-medical studies; pre-nursing studies; pre-pharmacy studies; pre-veterinary studies; psychology; religious studies; Spanish; technical writing; women's studies
Campus Life / Campus Visit
Allegheny provides the full array of support services expected of a fine residential college: academic advising and skills improvement, extensive career development, personal counseling, religious programming, leadership development, etc. The housing options are excellent, from traditional "dorms" to brand new apartment-style accommodations and houses on the edge of campus. Dining choices include a food court in the expansive Campus Center, where many of the College's 100-plus student organizations (social, community service, cultural, religious, academic, artistic, and governance) have their offices. Activities each week on campus include many lectures, concerts, performances, and movies. Parties and dances in the Campus Center, residence halls, and fraternities are popular on the weekends (about 90 percent of the students remain on campus). Allegheny's social scene is enlivened, but far from dominated, by "Greek" activity -- about 30 percent of the students join fraternities and sororities.
Facilities and Resources
Allegheny's Steffee Hall of Life Sciences, opened in 1993 at a cost of $14.5 million, is considered a national model. The same is rapidly becoming true of the Wise Sport and Fitness Center, opened in 1997 at a cost of $12.6 million. Other prominent facilities include the 283-acre Bousson environmental field station, the state-of-the-art psychological research labs, and the original College building, Bentley Hall, considered one of the three or four finest remaining examples of Colonial American architecture. At Allegheny, computing applications enhance learning in virtually all departments. Consequently, all residence hall rooms provide free, high-speed access to the Internet and the campus computer network via students' own computers. Students also have free network and Internet access via 16 public computer labs (more than 200 machines). Pelletier Library is wired for on-line catalogue and database searching, as well as interlibrary loans. Its own collection numbers 650,000 volumes (including microforms), 261,000 government documents, and 1,000 periodicals. Several of the library's special collections, including Ida Tarbell's Lincoln papers, are especially noteworthy.
Allegheny's varsity athletics program is unquestionably among the very best in the NCAA's Division III. About half of the 20 men's and women's teams are nationally ranked each year; the football and golf teams are past national champions, and softball has been runner-up. Also offered are baseball (men), basketball (both), cross country (both), lacrosse (women), soccer (both), swimming (both), tennis (both), indoor and outdoor track (both), and volleyball (women). The Gators play in the highly regarded North Coast Athletic Conference. Facilities are outstanding, including the new $12.6-million Wise Sport and Fitness Center. Club sports are added when sufficient student interest is shown, recently including ice hockey, men's volleyball, and downhill skiing. Intramurals attract two-thirds of the student body.
Financial Aid / Scholarships
Allegheny maintains an extensive program of need-based financial aid, ensuring that students who recognize the College's many advantages are financially able to enroll. Generous College-sponsored grants serve to hold down the loan and work components of the financial aid package. Only the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is required to apply for need-based aid. In addition, more than 200 achievement-based scholarships are awarded to freshmen each year, and they are renewable for up to four years of satisfactory academic performance. These scholarships are worth up to $10,000 per year, and they variously recognize exceptional academic performance, significant achievement in extracurricular activities, and past experiential learning.
Admission Requirements / Application
Students who want to be challenged intellectually, but in a supportive, unpretentious atmosphere, should consider Allegheny. The College's highly personalized selection process emphasizes students' secondary school performance (grades, class rank, rigor of program), then SAT or ACT scores. Also considered are school and community activities, recommendations, character, personal qualities, the essay (required) and special talents. Credit and/or placement is awarded for AP scores of 4 or 5. Early Decision applications may be filed between November 15 and January 15 (rolling notification occurs between December 15 and January 31). The regular application deadline is February 15, with notification by April 1. Campus visits are strongly recommended, with time allowed for an individual interview and contact with faculty and students.
 
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