The only tip I guess I have for prospective students would be that Rollins is not simply a reflection of the stereotypes it has been given. If you're looking at Rollins at all, I am sure you have heard about our reputation: Rollins isn't a college, it's a country club; everyone is rich and snobby; it's just a party school, etc. You will come to learn in your college search that every school has good and bad stereotypes. Rollins is home to a lot of wealthy people, but it's also home to a lot of people who are not, and wouldn't be here without extensive financial aid (myself included). There are snobby people everywhere you go, just don't surround yourself with them - it's not that hard. And if you ask me, every school in America is a party school depending on who you hang out with. I know people who go out every night, and I know people who never go out. Rollins is super diverse - so my final word to any prospective student is just to come and visit, make your own judgments about it, talk to the students who actually work hard here. If you're looking to come here just for a good time and no work, you're coming to the wrong place. You'll have plenty of fun, but you won't last longer than a year without busting your butt in your classes. Just saying.
PS, we are the best school around if you want to study abroad. Check it out.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
The gen eds are pretty easy, and you won't lose any sleep over them if you're an intelligent person.
I think the academic rigor of the classes here differs depending on your major. There are a couple majors that are predominantly a joke, and most of the people in them are just in them because they want to maximize their party time. I am a psychology and music double major, and I have to work extremely hard to get A's in my classes. Plus, your education here (and anywhere else, for that matter) is what you make it. You can skate by and just take 12 credits a semester and party all the time, or you can load on the work and the extracurriculars and the jobs, etc. I always have a full class load, plus voice lessons, ensembles, and I just started an independent study for research in psychology that I'm going to be continuing until the end of my time here. Let me just tell you science people - you can't get research experience at other schools like you can here. At big universities, at best you can get a student research ASSISTANT position, which basically means you get to help the professor with research that they're doing - which is freaking awesome, don't get me wrong. But here, you can do whatever you want, and the professors are dying to help you make it happen. Grad schools are going to eat that up. Remember that.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
The dorms are not the best, but they are pretty much what you would expect college dorms to be like, honestly. They're actually way nicer than any of the other college dorms that I've seen in Florida. They all have community style bathrooms, which is the biggest complaint for me. I just don't feel at home if I keep having to lug all my stuff to the bathroom all the time. BUT we have one apartment-style dorm, which I lived in this past year, and it was AWESOME. The apartments have 2 double rooms that each get their own bathroom, a huge living room, a balcony, a kitchen, a dining room, and the bigger bedroom has a walk-in closet. Plus, we lived on the end, so our balcony was over-looking the lake. Million-dollar view there, folks.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
We legit have some of the best food around. Come visit and compare it to other college cafeterias. I had no idea how good we had it here until I went to go visit a friend at her college. Filet mignon, crab cakes, and risotto are common occurrences. And we have a made-to-order sushi bar, complete with really talented Asian sushi chefs. No joke. Not helping the country club stereotype, but I'm not complaining.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
Well, as I have mentioned, most people just head 15 minutes away to downtown Orlando to go to all the clubs (mostly on Wednesday and Thursday). I personally don't really like going out. But there are about a gazillion other things to do here - we're like right next to Orlando, hello. Winter Park is beautiful in itself, especially Park Ave and the little side streets that intersect it. So adorable, great shopping and eating. Orlando pretty much has everything you would ever want to do. And Rollins is located on a lake, and we have a beachside pool. So there's always canoeing, paddleboarding, tanning, water skiing, etc. Also, the closest beach is like max 1.5 hours away, which is not bad at all!
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Hmm, bang for the buck...let me tell you, it is definitely a lotttt of buck. Probably the most expensive school around here. But Rollins totally takes care of me. They're always giving us free stuff left and right, they feed us good food, we live by a lake, we have FOX DAY (look it up!), and you don't have to pay for your cap and gown when you graduate cause that's like pocket change for Rollins. So if you can get enough financial aid, it's a ton of bang for your buck!
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
Okay, fine, you don't have to look Fox Day up - didn't see this box before. Fox Day happens every year in the spring, usually the first or second week of April. It's when the president picks a random day that is supposed to have beautiful weather, and doesn't tell anyone (literally), and at like 5:30am on that day, he goes out to the lawn and puts this big statue of a fox by the flagpole, and that means that class is canceled for the day! It has become such a huge deal, especially in the past few years. People play Fox Day Roulette weeks before it might happen, people place bets on when they think it will be, people won't do their homework/study for tests that are supposed to be on the day that they think Fox Day will be (which is stupid, btw), etc. And people legit camp out all night on the lawn if they think it's gonna be fox day, and when he finally does bring the fox out, people start running around like crazy at 6 in the morning screaming IT'S FOX DAYYY! and posting facebook statuses and calling their friends to wake them up and make sure they know, and then everyone goes and eats free breakfast in the cafeteria, and then goes and does whatever they want. Beach, Disney World, Universal (we sell discount tickets for all the theme parks), chill on campus by the pool, sleep, or Rollins always has some activities on campus for people who don't want to go anywhere, like slip and slides, giant inflatable twister, and so on. Then everyone comes back to campus by like 5:30 and there's more free food for the fox day barbecue! And then everyone goes and gets ready to come back to the real world for class the next day, cause Fox Day is ALWAYS in the middle of the week. Cruel, I know. But it's our own little holiday, and we get real excited about it.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
Hardworking, fun-loving, open-minded, people who want to make a difference, people who love to learn and ask questions, people who have great ideas that they need help executing
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
We have so many clubs I could not even tell you how many there are. One that most people find pretty interesting is the laughing club. They literally get together for like 15 minutes every week and just start laughing. People think they're crazy, but I think they might be on to something.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
Eh, I'm not one for greek life, but I guess ours is as good as it gets.
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
Our campus safety guys are great (well, most of them). There are a couple of crabby ones, and you won't like them when they give you a parking ticket (which they will, inevitably, sometime during your time here), but for the most part you can tell they genuinely are concerned about the safety of everyone here. If you are in the parking garage at like 11pm and you don't feel comfortable walking back to your dorm by yourself, they will come get you in their little golf cart or in a truck and drive you to your dorm. You can actually call them whenever you want if you need a ride to somewhere on campus. They are really nice for the most part. I even randomly called them a couple of weeks ago because I was creeped out and thought someone might have followed me back to campus, and I wanted to ask their advice on what I should do. They have our backs!
The only tip I guess I have for prospective students would be that Rollins is not simply a reflection of the stereotypes it has been given. If you're looking at Rollins at all, I am sure you have heard about our reputation: Rollins isn't a college, it's a country club; everyone is rich and snobby; it's just a party school, etc. You will come to learn in your college search that every school has good and bad stereotypes. Rollins is home to a lot of wealthy people, but it's also home to a lot of people who are not, and wouldn't be here without extensive financial aid (myself included). There are snobby people everywhere you go, just don't surround yourself with them - it's not that hard. And if you ask me, every school in America is a party school depending on who you hang out with. I know people who go out every night, and I know people who never go out. Rollins is super diverse - so my final word to any prospective student is just to come and visit, make your own judgments about it, talk to the students who actually work hard here. If you're looking to come here just for a good time and no work, you're coming to the wrong place. You'll have plenty of fun, but you won't last longer than a year without busting your butt in your classes. Just saying. PS, we are the best school around if you want to study abroad. Check it out.
The gen eds are pretty easy, and you won't lose any sleep over them if you're an intelligent person. I think the academic rigor of the classes here differs depending on your major. There are a couple majors that are predominantly a joke, and most of the people in them are just in them because they want to maximize their party time. I am a psychology and music double major, and I have to work extremely hard to get A's in my classes. Plus, your education here (and anywhere else, for that matter) is what you make it. You can skate by and just take 12 credits a semester and party all the time, or you can load on the work and the extracurriculars and the jobs, etc. I always have a full class load, plus voice lessons, ensembles, and I just started an independent study for research in psychology that I'm going to be continuing until the end of my time here. Let me just tell you science people - you can't get research experience at other schools like you can here. At big universities, at best you can get a student research ASSISTANT position, which basically means you get to help the professor with research that they're doing - which is freaking awesome, don't get me wrong. But here, you can do whatever you want, and the professors are dying to help you make it happen. Grad schools are going to eat that up. Remember that.
The dorms are not the best, but they are pretty much what you would expect college dorms to be like, honestly. They're actually way nicer than any of the other college dorms that I've seen in Florida. They all have community style bathrooms, which is the biggest complaint for me. I just don't feel at home if I keep having to lug all my stuff to the bathroom all the time. BUT we have one apartment-style dorm, which I lived in this past year, and it was AWESOME. The apartments have 2 double rooms that each get their own bathroom, a huge living room, a balcony, a kitchen, a dining room, and the bigger bedroom has a walk-in closet. Plus, we lived on the end, so our balcony was over-looking the lake. Million-dollar view there, folks.
We legit have some of the best food around. Come visit and compare it to other college cafeterias. I had no idea how good we had it here until I went to go visit a friend at her college. Filet mignon, crab cakes, and risotto are common occurrences. And we have a made-to-order sushi bar, complete with really talented Asian sushi chefs. No joke. Not helping the country club stereotype, but I'm not complaining.
Well, as I have mentioned, most people just head 15 minutes away to downtown Orlando to go to all the clubs (mostly on Wednesday and Thursday). I personally don't really like going out. But there are about a gazillion other things to do here - we're like right next to Orlando, hello. Winter Park is beautiful in itself, especially Park Ave and the little side streets that intersect it. So adorable, great shopping and eating. Orlando pretty much has everything you would ever want to do. And Rollins is located on a lake, and we have a beachside pool. So there's always canoeing, paddleboarding, tanning, water skiing, etc. Also, the closest beach is like max 1.5 hours away, which is not bad at all!
Hmm, bang for the buck...let me tell you, it is definitely a lotttt of buck. Probably the most expensive school around here. But Rollins totally takes care of me. They're always giving us free stuff left and right, they feed us good food, we live by a lake, we have FOX DAY (look it up!), and you don't have to pay for your cap and gown when you graduate cause that's like pocket change for Rollins. So if you can get enough financial aid, it's a ton of bang for your buck!
Okay, fine, you don't have to look Fox Day up - didn't see this box before. Fox Day happens every year in the spring, usually the first or second week of April. It's when the president picks a random day that is supposed to have beautiful weather, and doesn't tell anyone (literally), and at like 5:30am on that day, he goes out to the lawn and puts this big statue of a fox by the flagpole, and that means that class is canceled for the day! It has become such a huge deal, especially in the past few years. People play Fox Day Roulette weeks before it might happen, people place bets on when they think it will be, people won't do their homework/study for tests that are supposed to be on the day that they think Fox Day will be (which is stupid, btw), etc. And people legit camp out all night on the lawn if they think it's gonna be fox day, and when he finally does bring the fox out, people start running around like crazy at 6 in the morning screaming IT'S FOX DAYYY! and posting facebook statuses and calling their friends to wake them up and make sure they know, and then everyone goes and eats free breakfast in the cafeteria, and then goes and does whatever they want. Beach, Disney World, Universal (we sell discount tickets for all the theme parks), chill on campus by the pool, sleep, or Rollins always has some activities on campus for people who don't want to go anywhere, like slip and slides, giant inflatable twister, and so on. Then everyone comes back to campus by like 5:30 and there's more free food for the fox day barbecue! And then everyone goes and gets ready to come back to the real world for class the next day, cause Fox Day is ALWAYS in the middle of the week. Cruel, I know. But it's our own little holiday, and we get real excited about it.
Hardworking, fun-loving, open-minded, people who want to make a difference, people who love to learn and ask questions, people who have great ideas that they need help executing
We have so many clubs I could not even tell you how many there are. One that most people find pretty interesting is the laughing club. They literally get together for like 15 minutes every week and just start laughing. People think they're crazy, but I think they might be on to something.
Eh, I'm not one for greek life, but I guess ours is as good as it gets.
Our campus safety guys are great (well, most of them). There are a couple of crabby ones, and you won't like them when they give you a parking ticket (which they will, inevitably, sometime during your time here), but for the most part you can tell they genuinely are concerned about the safety of everyone here. If you are in the parking garage at like 11pm and you don't feel comfortable walking back to your dorm by yourself, they will come get you in their little golf cart or in a truck and drive you to your dorm. You can actually call them whenever you want if you need a ride to somewhere on campus. They are really nice for the most part. I even randomly called them a couple of weeks ago because I was creeped out and thought someone might have followed me back to campus, and I wanted to ask their advice on what I should do. They have our backs!