I have so many good things to say about HWS that I am not sure it could fit in a Yelp review!…read more Let me just list some of my favorite aspects of HWS: The people -- President Gearan is one of the smartest, civically minded, dedicated, and successful people you will ever meet. I think that he is one of the greatest assets of HWS along with his wonderful family. He and his family made my time at HWS so memorable. Also, the professors are fantastic. I graduated almost 3 yrs ago and continue to collaborate on research articles with one of my undergraduate mentors. The relationships you develop with the people at HWS can really last years, if not a lifetime. There are so many great people on campus it is hard to list them all -- but I want to give a shoutout to the Admissions staff and the Alumni House staff who are also fun and awesome! Woo. The campus -- The campus is beautiful and they do a good job of renovating and keeping it up-to-date for the most part. Also, you are on a 35 mile long lake in the middle of NY wine country! Yes, that means wine tasting, wine tours and wine class (.5 of a credit!). This is absolutely appropriate considering it is freezing and miserable 6 months out of the year so they need to make up for this in some way -- aka their proximity to vineyards and wineries. Also, you can basically navigate between any 2 points on campus in 20 minutes. The education -- My undergrad education absolutely prepared me for my post-college life and has set me up for a PhD program. Overall, the professors were knowledgeable, dedicated and fair. If you work hard and are intelligent, you will do well. I feel as if many of my professors had high standards that pushed me to always do my best. Basically, I love HWS and think that the opportunities overall are hard to parallel. The study abroad, community service and career development opportunities are all excellent and worth the ~$53,000/yr pricetag!

OK, time to review my alma mater. Kinda tough, given that I almost have to give it 5 stars…read more.. but this past summer, back for reunion, they did it up in style. gave us the freedom and flexibility to choose from a number of planned activities, or do nothing at all, and hang out on the quad until 3 a.m., even giving us unfettered access to the sound system, so we could blast 80's tunes on the sound system. Everything for reunion was done extremely well, which reflects the leadership of President Gearen and the culture of the school that hasn't changed signficantly since I left many years ago. Hell, even Professor Marvin Bram is still tooling around on his 1950's era bike. Great school, excellent faculty and students. Hidden gem. Thanks Bishop Hobart!!

My daughter goes here. This is by far one of the most dysfunctional schools I've ever seen. Small…read moreexample. Mice in day on campus had landscaping trucks blocking half the roads. Meals plans make no sense, class schedules are very challenging to arrange etc etc. on top of that the cost is at the very top of the norm which makes it even more frustrating. I'd pick another place if I were you.

Got in to all the schools I applied to. Have never regretted choosing Ithaca College for a second…read more Best 4 years ever. Met the best people, ate some great food, partied waaayyy too hard and learned from some of the best professors. The Writing Department is unbeatable. Would kill for a Senior Seminar redo. Go to Ithaca. It will be absolutely everything you could want from a college experience.

In relation to Mark Twain's study specifically: I saw this in conjunction with Mark Twain's grave,…read morethe Corning Glass Museum, and the Rockwell Museum. Though the furnishings aren't original, the entire structure is original, as is the floor, the fireplace, windows. The structure was moved from the Twain summer estate to Elmira College in the 50s. Even the stone fireplace was taken apart and rebuilt stone by stone. He wrote some of his best known work here. It was a neat little stop off, and it would have been heavenly to relax, think, meditate, nap, or write here. Elmira College has some nice architecture and a pretty fountain as well.

Beautiful college and grounds. Just gorgeous. Many historical figures in American history graduated…read morefrom this university. Most well known professor Mark Twain and he wrote many of his works in his cupola office on the grounds. A lot to see and do in this area. Fun trip.

At a request I stopped by Keuka College to take part in a small symposium and was really impressed…read morewith it. Keuka has been around since 1890, has a great location covering 288 acres on Lake Keuka, one of the Finger Lakes. It has about 1,800 students with tuitions running around $33,000/year. With a rating of 112 amongst best colleges and universities of the north, I'd say it's a pretty good college. As a liberal arts based college its concentrations are on pre-professional education and experiential learnings. The students I met appeared super bright, engaged and enthusiastic about their learning experiences. I also thought the students here at Keuka were in many ways benefiting from the rather remote country type location of the college. What was a real shocker to me was to find that Keuka partners in providing educations in Vietnam and China, which is no small thing for such a small college as this. Overall, I really liked their location, the enthusiasm of the students and the overall maintenance of a liberal arts based primary education

If I could give this school a zero start I would! This school is not welcoming at all. I was there…read morefor a walk and happened to see that is was move out day. So I asked parents that were tossing things like fans and other things of use if I could have them. They were kind and let me take a few things before security came in, and made me leave. I have never been in trouble my entire life, and I was afraid they were going to press chargers, for as I was leaving a cop was coming into the school. I was not making any messes, I actually cleaned up a mess that had been made by students/family. Why won't you let people get things that can be used instead of it sitting in a dumpster. I didn't pull anything out of the dumpster, it was sat to were I could grab it if I wanted it.

Very racist and no diversity at all. I had a very disappointing experience with a girls' basketball…read moreteam and their behavior towards my daughter and her team. Not only were they openly disrespectful and racist, but the referee was also highly biased and unfair, failing to address the inappropriate actions on the court. This created an uncomfortable and hostile environment for my daughter and her teammates, who were just trying to play the game. It was disheartening to see such poor sportsmanship and a lack of accountability from both the opposing team and the referee. This experience has left a bad taste, and I hope future games promote fairness, respect, and true sportsmanship.