What's the appeal for Amherst?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were seriously interested in liberal arts colleges. I found their faculty in CS and STEM to be second rate (look at how many CS faculty they have).
I know research is not its main focus.. then what’s the difference from good private high schools?

You were seriously interested in LACs and you found Amherst lacking?

Bullshit.

ps I count 8 CS faculty. How many should a liberal arts college with less than 1,800 students have?

Out of 8 CS faculty, two of them are on leave. Amherst certainly can teach introductory CS classes, but what else can they teach? CS is quite broad, but Amherst simply doesn’t have enough faculty to teach advanced CS courses. You might be able to learn more from free online CS classes.
Amherst can be great for majors like English, Philosophy, maybe math.. they say you can take courses at uMass, then why do you pay high tuition if you are going to take classes at state school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Snobby, condescending students who think they're big shots.

We didn't get this vibe at all on our tour and both guides had taken classes at one of the other colleges in the consortium - for our guides that was Smith & Mt. Holyoke. They'd both been to Greek parties at UMass, but that wasn't their go to party scene. I thought the campus was beautiful, but I know that's subjective (for reference I also liked the campus at Wellesley & Elon, but not Vassar or Duke).

Wow I think Vassar and Duke are both really pretty campuses! Subjective, indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were seriously interested in liberal arts colleges. I found their faculty in CS and STEM to be second rate (look at how many CS faculty they have).
I know research is not its main focus.. then what’s the difference from good private high schools?

You were seriously interested in LACs and you found Amherst lacking?

Bullshit.

ps I count 8 CS faculty. How many should a liberal arts college with less than 1,800 students have?

Out of 8 CS faculty, two of them are on leave. Amherst certainly can teach introductory CS classes, but what else can they teach? CS is quite broad, but Amherst simply doesn’t have enough faculty to teach advanced CS courses. You might be able to learn more from free online CS classes.
Amherst can be great for majors like English, Philosophy, maybe math.. they say you can take courses at uMass, then why do you pay high tuition if you are going to take classes at state school

What classes do they not teach that are taught at other LACs? Please be specific.

[Anonymous]

Because the professors in the non-CS classes and the students are top shelf? I agree, this thread is hysterical. What's your angle because your questions and comments seem disingenuous ? Are you trying to convenience a handful of kids not to apply?

[Anonymous]

As a Williams alum, I definitely agree with OP (sarcasm font).

In reality though, its a fantastic school, if you are looking for the small college vibe. Williams is definitely better, in my completely biased opinion, but the Defectors do run a pretty good operation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were seriously interested in liberal arts colleges. I found their faculty in CS and STEM to be second rate (look at how many CS faculty they have).
I know research is not its main focus.. then what’s the difference from good private high schools?

You were seriously interested in LACs and you found Amherst lacking?

Bullshit.

ps I count 8 CS faculty. How many should a liberal arts college with less than 1,800 students have?

Out of 8 CS faculty, two of them are on leave. Amherst certainly can teach introductory CS classes, but what else can they teach? CS is quite broad, but Amherst simply doesn’t have enough faculty to teach advanced CS courses. You might be able to learn more from free online CS classes.
Amherst can be great for majors like English, Philosophy, maybe math.. they say you can take courses at uMass, then why do you pay high tuition if you are going to take classes at state school

This is hysterica. You think Amherst isn’t teacher anything other than intro CS classes?

[Anonymous]

I know two Amherst grads. Both extremely bright and creative. Neither is a snob.

Now, the things I could say about the Duke grads I've met ...

[Anonymous]

Amherst has a beautiful campus and facilities in a charming town. Objectively the OP has terrible taste and questionable grammar.

[Anonymous]

OP likely has a rejection letter as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amherst has a beautiful campus and facilities in a charming town. Objectively the OP has terrible taste and questionable grammar.

Compared to its closest peers, Amherst clearly has the ugliest campus of them all. Numerous buildings need renovation and the landscaping leaves much to be desired. Williams and Middlebury are far better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town. No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc). Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves. Snobby, condescending students who think they're big shots. This struck us because the students we met at Yale and Brown were so much more friendly and humble. They tout small classes but only 62% are under 20 students- every other top ranked SLAC and nearly every top 20 university is ahead of them. They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

What is the big hype behind this school? I don't get it.

It is a great school. You are nuts. If don't like don't go.

[Anonymous]

Like OP, I don't see the specific appeal of Amherst. I just see it as a generic highly selective liberal arts college. (Yes, my kid applied and was waitlisted, but this was my feeling before the application was in as well as after.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amherst has a beautiful campus and facilities in a charming town. Objectively the OP has terrible taste and questionable grammar.

Compared to its closest peers, Amherst clearly has the ugliest campus of them all. Numerous buildings need renovation and the landscaping leaves much to be desired. Williams and Middlebury are far better.

Disagree. I found Williams to be middling at best and its location was a deal breaker. I did like Midd but the fact that everything was so spread out wasn’t appealing. Dartmouth was probably my favorite of the campuses we toured.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town. No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc). Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves. Snobby, condescending students who think they're big shots. This struck us because the students we met at Yale and Brown were so much more friendly and humble. They tout small classes but only 62% are under 20 students- every other top ranked SLAC and nearly every top 20 university is ahead of them. They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

What is the big hype behind this school? I don't get it.

Jesus Christ.

[Anonymous]

Amherst is without question an amazing school, however when we visited my kids were underwhelmed. I think it was a combination of a hot summer day, Covid protocols and a freshman tour guide who couldn't answer any STEM questions. The parking ticket didn't help.

One child left that trip in love with Williams and another added UMass as a safety. They may still apply to Amherst, but visit definetely moved it down the list.