Amherst Tour

[Anonymous]

My daughter graduated UMASS Amherst recently if you want a big campus with all the stuff of a big university just go there and save 100k.

If kids can get into Amherst UMASS will put her in Honors program with the nice dorms and money off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter graduated UMASS Amherst recently if you want a big campus with all the stuff of a big university just go there and save 100k.

If kids can get into Amherst UMASS will put her in Honors program with the nice dorms and money off

Ooh at risk of hijacking post- how was her experience at UMass and what did she major in? I’m the poster who mentioned visiting UMass with my DS and spinning through Amherst. Boy did he loved the UMass campus.

[Anonymous]

Agreed it was very underwhelming. The most interesting thing we saw in town was Emily Dickinson's grave. Daughter much preferred the Maine LAC's we toured the next day.

[Anonymous]

We are a couple of years away from applying anywhere, but were at a family event this spring nearby, and stopped in fog a tour. The tour guide was nice, but spent a lot of time talking about how stressed she was doing the tour when she had a class immediately after the tour. Felt rushed. I thought the campus was fine, but I kept thinking, "I can't believe this is Amherst." It really is underwhelming. The buildings aren't interesting and they're all in a little cluster, with people driving through the campus. We saw smith and Mount Holyoke on previous family trips and both are far more impressive.

I realize this is all superficial and what matters are the academics and social life. But the physical plant is more like a 7 when one would expect a 9 or 10.

[Anonymous]

Honestly folks and I know this is tough to answer...if Amherst was ranked #100 vs. #2 would anyone say it was a nice campus?

Unfortunately at DCUM there is way too much...my kid visited "Top School X" and just loved the campus...when if you were to plop someone down in the middle of said campus and tell them the school is ranked #200 they would say they hated it.

University of San Diego legitimately has probably the nicest campus anyone could possibly imagine...but it's ranked #100 (and yes on the West Coast) so nobody talks about it.

If you legitimately thought it was great...good for you. However, there is no shame in basically saying the campus sucks (if it does), but that's a perk of being a top school...you can let your facilities go to heck and it won't impact enrollment one iota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were overwhelmingly underwhelmed. The college looked like a dumpy boarding school with no buildings-just hills. Such a small campus with acres and acres of unused land. Tour guide flexed the open curriculum to express joy never having to take a math or history course again, yikes. Outside of the science center, the buildings looked dilapidated. The school seems to be way over investing in bio and chem while having little opportunity for much else. We also much preferred the town where Smith College was compared to snoozefest of Amherst. At least Williams or other New England LACs have charming architecture and once in a lifetime views. Amherst, Mass could be anywhere in New England, very unremarkable.

Okay

You're an annoying person. They are allowed to have discussion on the underwhelming nature of Amherst, just don't engage if you wish to add nothing.

Okay

[Anonymous]

Yes, Northampton is a better town, which is only a free, 15-minute bus ride away. Amherst kids will go there plenty. Not an either/or. The 5 college area is super dynamic with interesting events at one campus or another on a daily basis.

Amherst itself, as far as college towns go, is pretty good: lots of restaurants, cafes, and stuff to do. And it is almost adjacent to the Amherst campus.

No, it’s not urban, but tons to do close to the sleepy Amherst campus; some consider this the best of both worlds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly folks and I know this is tough to answer...if Amherst was ranked #100 vs. #2 would anyone say it was a nice campus?

Unfortunately at DCUM there is way too much...my kid visited "Top School X" and just loved the campus...when if you were to plop someone down in the middle of said campus and tell them the school is ranked #200 they would say they hated it.

University of San Diego legitimately has probably the nicest campus anyone could possibly imagine...but it's ranked #100 (and yes on the West Coast) so nobody talks about it.

If you legitimately thought it was great...good for you. However, there is no shame in basically saying the campus sucks (if it does), but that's a perk of being a top school...you can let your facilities go to heck and it won't impact enrollment one iota.

Amherst's facilities aren't even particularly bad (aside from the library, which is slated for replacement in a few years); the campus just lacks architectural cohesion. There are also quite nice views on its campus: https://twitter.com/AmherstCollege/status/1445122310554492930

[Anonymous]

You’re paying for the education and to be around other smart kids. Would still be worth it if it had concrete brutalist buildings, as many campuses do.

[Anonymous]

We toured Amherst two years ago and DC was similarly underwhelmed. Not sure why they are ranked high. Academics don't really stand out--similar to other lower ranked schools--and they recruit a lot of athletes, which is a problem for such a small size school.

[Anonymous]

Went to visit UMass and Amherst and my kid surprisingly much preferred UMass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, Northampton is a better town, which is only a free, 15-minute bus ride away. Amherst kids will go there plenty. Not an either/or. The 5 college area is super dynamic with interesting events at one campus or another on a daily basis.

Amherst itself, as far as college towns go, is pretty good: lots of restaurants, cafes, and stuff to do. And it is almost adjacent to the Amherst campus.

No, it’s not urban, but tons to do close to the sleepy Amherst campus; some consider this the best of both worlds.

I'm sorry but have you ever taken that awful bus. The ride is typically thirty minutes if you're lucky, closer to an hour often. It's quicker to ride a bike on the path behind Amherst than to attempt the B43. This problem has stopped cross-registering often for students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We toured Amherst two years ago and DC was similarly underwhelmed. Not sure why they are ranked high. Academics don't really stand out--similar to other lower ranked schools--and they recruit a lot of athletes, which is a problem for such a small size school.

I've begin to see WASP more as WSP-A, because I can't ever find something that puts Amherst above the other T4 LACs. Williams has fantastic tutorials/Oxford connections, Swarthmore has engineering, an amazing honors program, and top grad placement rate, and Pomona is special as an LAC in California, the Claremont colleges, and Cambridge connections.

Amherst has a lack luster campus, an open curriculum, which I still will never understand why this is a pro outside of avoiding classes you wouldn't try which defeats the purpose of a liberal arts college, and a depressing library.

[Anonymous]

Yeah. Let's have an agreement from everyone on DCUM. Let's agree that no one will apply ED this fall to sucky Amherst, other than my kid. All agree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah. Let's have an agreement from everyone on DCUM. Let's agree that no one will apply ED this fall to sucky Amherst, other than my kid. All agree?

You can take it lol. On a good note, your kid won't get Freshman 15 from the hills and terrible dining hall!