First-Year Students Find Transition to Hamilton Easy

By Kye Lippold '10 and Bret Turner '13

A survey of first-year students conducted last week by HamPoll observed that first-years generally found the transition to college life easy. However, alcohol and Greek life occupied a much greater role in the campus social scene than incoming freshmen expected, and first-years generally found Hamilton more diverse than their own community.

The social scene at Hamilton proved to dominated by alcohol and Greek organizations more than first-years expected before they arrived. While 37% of first-years initially expected alcohol to play a major role in campus social life, 64% thought it played a major role after they arrived at Hamilton. The same held for fraternities and sororities, with 36% of students expecting them to play a moderate or major role on campus before arrival, and 66% concluding they actually played such a role. Marijuana, other illegal drugs, and casual sex were all about 10% more prevalent than students expected.

When asked about their experience adjusting to college life overall, 82% of first-year students found the experience easier or about the same as they expected. However, among the minority that reported a harder transition than their expectations, 21% of women found the transition harder compared to 10% of men.

This difference by gender was mirrored when first-years reported their ease of making friends. While 83% of students found making friends as easy as they expected, women were more likely to report finding social connections hard (20%) relative to men (10%). Students from further abroad were also more likely to have a difficult time making friends, with 26% of students from outside the Northeast reporting this, versus 13% of students from New York, New England, and the Mid-Atlantic. Students living in different dorms on campus reported generally the same level of ease in making friends relative to their expectations.

Respondents from the first-year class reported strong study habits, with 34% spending more than four hours on coursework per day. This workload somewhat exceeded their expectations, with only 25% expecting to work four or more hours per day prior to their arrival on campus.

When asked about the diversity of Hamilton relative to their home community, 48% said Hamilton was more diverse than their home, while 26% said Hamilton was less diverse. However, this question showed a sharp distinction by racial background while controlling for other demographics; students who identified as only white were 53% likely to say Hamilton was more diverse than their home community, versus 25% of students from other or multiple ethnic groups.

This distinction also applied to respondents' views of their groups of friends; students of color and varsity athletes were more likely to view their friends at Hamilton as less diverse than their groups of friends at home (with 46% and 33% taking this view, respectively, compared to 23% of the entire sample).

Notably, first-years in this survey viewed Hamilton as more diverse than did first-years in 2007. Thirty-six percent of respondents from the Class of 2011 viewed Hamilton as less diverse than their home communities in a HamPoll survey at that time, compared to 26% of the Class of 2013. This suggests a greater perception of diversity among the most recent first-year class.

The survey, specifically targeted to the Class of 2013, received 126 responses, or about a 26% response rate. The survey sample was self-selected, so results may differ from the overall population.

Some other findings:

Scholarly pursuits such as intellectual debate and studying with others were pursued at rates similar to what students expected. Fourteen percent of students thought intellectual debate played a major role in social life, and 36% held this view for studying with others.

First-years generally expressed positive opinions of their roommates, with 76% viewing their roommates in a positive fashion, and only 6% having a negative impression.

While students generally found interacting with professors and getting involved in extracurriculars easier than they expected, 55% found it harder to travel off campus than they anticipated.

41% of students found that the dining experience exceeded their expectations, with only 9% thinking it was worse.

Attending Adirondack Adventure, a first-year pre-orientation program, was not associated with a significant increase in the perceived ease of making friends relative to expectations.

Regarding that venerable campus institution, the Varsity Streaking Team, only 10% of students in the sample had not heard of the team before they came to campus. Three respondents out of 126 had never heard of the team at all.


Tabulations for Graphs

Activity	Percent Expecting a “Major Role” in Social Life	Percent Currently Viewing as a “Major Role” in Social Life
Alcohol	37	64
Marijuana	6	11
Other illegal drugs	0	2
Casual sex	9	14
Fraternities and sororities	6	18
Intellectual debate	17	14
Studying with others	31	35
Extracurricular activities	55	58
Religious activities	2	2
Athletic events	21	26

Activity	Percent Expecting Minor or No Role in Social Life	Percent Currently Viewing as Minor or No Role in Social Life
Alcohol	13	11
Marijuana	63	49
Other illegal drugs	87	76
Casual sex	54	45
Fraternities and sororities	63	33
Intellectual debate	32	37
Studying with others	14	17
Extracurricular activities	4	10
Religious activities	78	70
Athletic events	24	25