College Prowler, an American publishing company that releases guidebooks for nearly 300 different colleges, recently added Mercyhurst College to its online college rankings list.

Out of approximately 100 students surveyed for College Prowler’s “report card,” Mercyhurst received B’s and C’s but not a single A.

College Prowler helps students find the college that is right for them. Its Web site includes tools such as financial aid calculators, personality matching quizzes and scholarship opportunities.

Its “report card” looks at various aspects of college life such as academics, campus dining and local atmosphere.

Gannon University earned grades to Mercyhurst, although it earned an A for its nightlife.

Although the majority of student reviews are positive, some reviews rated the Mercyhurst harshly. Students particularly complained about health and safety, which earned a C.

Other bad grades lie beyond the control of the college. Weather and off-campus dining earned C’s as well.

The list of the worst things about Mercyhurst was topped with apartments, availability of parking and cold weather.

Not all of the ratings painted Mercyhurst in a bad light. The best things about the college include the academic programs, The Hammermill Library and Mercyhurst’s beautiful campus, which were all given a grade above average.

Senior Kristen Grenga commented about Mercyhurst College on College Prowler.

“I really enjoyed my time spent here at Mercyhurst. The campus is beautiful, and there was always something for me to do,” she said.

The company relies on current college students to write about the things students really want to know about prospective colleges.
Junior Chrissy Mihalic was Mercyhurst’s contributing author for College Prowler.

“I think the school could benefit from the ratings,” she said. “Mercyhurst could build on the positive results, as well as improve on what the students felt were negative aspects of the College.”

More than 50 College Prowler users have added Mercyhurst College to their lists of prospective colleges, and Mercyhurst can expect to gain publicity from the Web site.

Director of Undergraduate Admissions Christopher Coons, who had not heard of College Prowler before, said, “If the Web site will be used by prospective students, we want to know about it.”

Unlike Coons, Director of Marketing and Public Relations Meghan Corbin has heard of the site.

“We are very cognizant of sites like College Prowler,” she said. “We utilize every vehicle possible to recruit students.”
Corbin has ideas for ways Mercyhurst can use the site.

She said she wants to post listings for the different Mercyhurst campuses. She pointed out that North East reviewers might post about issues which do not affect Main Campus and those reviews could affect the college ratings.

Corbin said she uses student reviews on sites such as College Prowler to suggest campus changes to administration. She advises students to take note of renovations and rewrite reviews if their opinion changes.

Students can visit http://collegeprowler.com/mercyhurst-college/ to write their own reviews of Mercyhurst.