What is the Pioneer Valley area of Massachusetts like?

[Anonymous]

There are 5 colleges there that have cross-reg and it seems like a lovely mix of small town and rustic charm. How often do the schools interact?
Do kids take weekend trips to Boston or NY City?
Are there opportunities for volunteerism or internships in the nearby towns?

[Anonymous]

We recently toured Smith College and Mount Holyoke. It’s a beautiful area with really lovely natural scenery. The five college consortium seems pretty interconnected. We got the sense that some students really utilize it while others stay a little more in their own campus bubble. We definitely saw the circulator bus going around several times.

[Anonymous]

It’s definitely a place where having a car opens up options for roadtripping. (NYC is pretty far though). Beautiful area and interesting to visit. Northampton is both relatively bustling and very quirky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely a place where having a car opens up options for roadtripping. (NYC is pretty far though). Beautiful area and interesting to visit. Northampton is both relatively bustling and very quirky.

There’s also an Amtrak station, very easy to get to Boston and NYC.

[Anonymous]

It’s beautiful. We really enjoyed exploring Amherst and Northampton. Big city perks such as good restaurants, museums, culture, without the big city hassles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are 5 colleges there that have cross-reg and it seems like a lovely mix of small town and rustic charm. How often do the schools interact?
Do kids take weekend trips to Boston or NY City?
Are there opportunities for volunteerism or internships in the nearby towns?

I went to one of the Five Colleges (Hampshire).

Interaction between schools really depends on the school and the student. I took classes at Smith and Amherst because cross-registration was completely seamless and I had no restrictions on what I could take. Hampshire's library was small so I relied a lot on the Amherst and Mount Holyoke Libraries since they were strongest on my subject areas. Activities and lectures attract students from the entire area. The free bus system was an important lifeline, no car needed to hit stores, food or movies.

Boston is 2 hours away, NYC is 3 hours. There's frequent coach bus travel to both cities. Very normal to take a weekend trip to either.

Plenty of opportunities in the region, Springfield and Worcester are less than 1 hour away and also have interestting and important museums and cultural institutions.

I made a lot of friends at Mount Holyoke (I am male).

[Anonymous]

Speaking of libraries, the Mt Holyoke library is something to behold, an absolutely stunning and inspiring space!

[Anonymous]

DD loves Mt Holyoke and relies on the shuttle and on PVTA to get around. Often goes to Amherst or Northampton on the weekends with or to see friends and UMass faculty. She hasn't gone or been invited to Boston or NYC for the weekend. Has gone to Hartford and Boston for scientific conferences. She has two professional / scientific mentors at UMass (more niche than her MHC advisors) and at one point was going to take a grad-level class there but then found out MHC offered something similar. The girls seem to go to Springfield for anything requiring a city. South Hadley is definitely more remote than Amherst or Northampton but she enjoys it.

[Anonymous]

I know lots of kids who hated that area when they toured colleges. Too rural for them. YMMV