What’s the deal with Amherst?

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing that OP's kid is applying ED to Amherst and the parent is trying to dissuade other top kids from applying also. There's really no other reason to go on a public forum to bash a school. FWIW, I visited Amherst and thought it was great - not too rural due to nearby towns and schools and the kids there seemed happy. That science building is amazing and they are opening a brand new student center next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing that OP's kid is applying ED to Amherst and the parent is trying to dissuade other top kids from applying also. There's really no other reason to go on a public forum to bash a school. FWIW, I visited Amherst and thought it was great - not too rural due to nearby towns and schools and the kids there seemed happy. That science building is amazing and they are opening a brand new student center next year.

The science building looks nice, but it really isn’t special and doesn’t really have the capacity to be a place for meaningful research beyond the bio and chem departments due to space constraint.

Most of the campus is nothing like the science center and in need of renovation- seeley mudd is particularly egregious.

[Anonymous]

Amherst is pretty boring. I don’t agree with the conspiracy theorist that this person is trying to weed out competition- that’s moms thinking their forum has more reach than it really does

[Anonymous]

We visited this past year and I absolutely hated Amherst. Ugly campus and boring, run down town. But there’s no denying it’s a great school for those to whom it appeals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We visited this past year and I absolutely hated Amherst. Ugly campus and boring, run down town. But there’s no denying it’s a great school for those to whom it appeals.

+1, I can’t help but just think about how lifeless it seemed. I’m aware it’s a wonderful school with good academics and outcomes, but DD lost all interest when we actually saw the campus life.

[Anonymous]

Reminder that these jealous people are calling THIS ugly:



They are all jealous and can't handle that there kids will never be a mammoth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reminder that these jealous people are calling THIS ugly:



They are all jealous and can't handle that there kids will never be a mammoth.

I would just like to comment that I am an Amherst parent and it’s “their.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing that OP's kid is applying ED to Amherst and the parent is trying to dissuade other top kids from applying also. There's really no other reason to go on a public forum to bash a school. FWIW, I visited Amherst and thought it was great - not too rural due to nearby towns and schools and the kids there seemed happy. That science building is amazing and they are opening a brand new student center next year.

The science building looks nice, but it really isn’t special and doesn’t really have the capacity to be a place for meaningful research beyond the bio and chem departments due to space constraint.

Most of the campus is nothing like the science center and in need of renovation- seeley mudd is particularly egregious.

Seeley Mudd is not great looking but the math department it holds is wonderful. Best community on campus and tons of support for new students.

[Anonymous]

I love

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Reminder that these jealous people are calling THIS ugly:



They are all jealous and can't handle that there kids will never be a mammoth.

It’s very telling that only one of these three images is an actual photo of what currently exists on campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote: No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc).

Open curriculum? Consortium?

Anonymous wrote:
Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves.

I'm always surprised when I see this repeated here. DC's friend group looks like it was made for a brochure.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Nice cherrypicking. They're ahead of Williams and Swarthmore on under 30. Either way, the "advantages" the other schools have are rounding errors.

Anonymous wrote:
They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

The benefit also takes the form of being in a real college town with sports games, bars, and an actual full selection of amenities.

The consortium is not a real benefit and few students use it. I don't know why people on DCUM still are lying about this when it's common knowledge at this point. If you want a consortium that bad, go to the Claremont schools or whatever they are.
What percent of LAC classes even have 30 students?

I don't think this is true about the consortium. My kid is at another one of the colleges in this 5 college consortium and it's definitely a benefit. She has gone to many social events at other colleges. Her friend is taking a class at another school. They do use it. Plus there's just an overall benefit to being in an area that serves a lot of college students in terms of the infrastructure that serves them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote: No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc).

Open curriculum? Consortium?

Anonymous wrote:
Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves.

I'm always surprised when I see this repeated here. DC's friend group looks like it was made for a brochure.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Nice cherrypicking. They're ahead of Williams and Swarthmore on under 30. Either way, the "advantages" the other schools have are rounding errors.

Anonymous wrote:
They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

The benefit also takes the form of being in a real college town with sports games, bars, and an actual full selection of amenities.

The consortium is not a real benefit and few students use it. I don't know why people on DCUM still are lying about this when it's common knowledge at this point. If you want a consortium that bad, go to the Claremont schools or whatever they are.
What percent of LAC classes even have 30 students?

I don't think this is true about the consortium. My kid is at another one of the colleges in this 5 college consortium and it's definitely a benefit. She has gone to many social events at other colleges. Her friend is taking a class at another school. They do use it. Plus there's just an overall benefit to being in an area that serves a lot of college students in terms of the infrastructure that serves them.

So 1 student at another school takes class off campus (btw no one is saying other colleges don’t sue the consortium- Hampshire basically only exists to take classes at the other schools), and students go off campus to other ones for some things. These aren’t exactly dazzling reasons to go to a college- I went to many MIT and BU events while at Harvard, but I wouldn’t list MIT parties as a core reason to go to Harvard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote: No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc).

Open curriculum? Consortium?

Anonymous wrote:
Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves.

I'm always surprised when I see this repeated here. DC's friend group looks like it was made for a brochure.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Nice cherrypicking. They're ahead of Williams and Swarthmore on under 30. Either way, the "advantages" the other schools have are rounding errors.

Anonymous wrote:
They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

The benefit also takes the form of being in a real college town with sports games, bars, and an actual full selection of amenities.

The consortium is not a real benefit and few students use it. I don't know why people on DCUM still are lying about this when it's common knowledge at this point. If you want a consortium that bad, go to the Claremont schools or whatever they are.
What percent of LAC classes even have 30 students?

I don't think this is true about the consortium. My kid is at another one of the colleges in this 5 college consortium and it's definitely a benefit. She has gone to many social events at other colleges. Her friend is taking a class at another school. They do use it. Plus there's just an overall benefit to being in an area that serves a lot of college students in terms of the infrastructure that serves them.

So 1 student at another school takes class off campus (btw no one is saying other colleges don’t sue the consortium- Hampshire basically only exists to take classes at the other schools), and students go off campus to other ones for some things. These aren’t exactly dazzling reasons to go to a college- I went to many MIT and BU events while at Harvard, but I wouldn’t list MIT parties as a core reason to go to Harvard

Being in a real college town with a full suite of amenities, restaurants open late into the night, proper bars, and 40,000 other students does give Amherst an advantage over Williams or Middlebury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote: No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc).

Open curriculum? Consortium?

Anonymous wrote:
Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves.

I'm always surprised when I see this repeated here. DC's friend group looks like it was made for a brochure.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Nice cherrypicking. They're ahead of Williams and Swarthmore on under 30. Either way, the "advantages" the other schools have are rounding errors.

Anonymous wrote:
They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

The benefit also takes the form of being in a real college town with sports games, bars, and an actual full selection of amenities.

The consortium is not a real benefit and few students use it. I don't know why people on DCUM still are lying about this when it's common knowledge at this point. If you want a consortium that bad, go to the Claremont schools or whatever they are.
What percent of LAC classes even have 30 students?

I don't think this is true about the consortium. My kid is at another one of the colleges in this 5 college consortium and it's definitely a benefit. She has gone to many social events at other colleges. Her friend is taking a class at another school. They do use it. Plus there's just an overall benefit to being in an area that serves a lot of college students in terms of the infrastructure that serves them.

So 1 student at another school takes class off campus (btw no one is saying other colleges don’t sue the consortium- Hampshire basically only exists to take classes at the other schools), and students go off campus to other ones for some things. These aren’t exactly dazzling reasons to go to a college- I went to many MIT and BU events while at Harvard, but I wouldn’t list MIT parties as a core reason to go to Harvard

Being in a real college town with a full suite of amenities, restaurants open late into the night, proper bars, and 40,000 other students does give Amherst an advantage over Williams or Middlebury.

Have you been to Amherst? There were only a few restaurants and bars on the main drag, I was shocked given that UMass is so big and nearby. Apparently Mich of the social life is going to UMass parties. Not ideal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Tiny, mediocre campus in a lackluster town.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote: No academic highlights (like Williams tutorial, Swarthmore Honors, etc).

Open curriculum? Consortium?

Anonymous wrote:
Racial and socioeconomic diversity on paper, but every group sticks with themselves.

I'm always surprised when I see this repeated here. DC's friend group looks like it was made for a brochure.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Opinion.

Anonymous wrote:
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.

Nice cherrypicking. They're ahead of Williams and Swarthmore on under 30. Either way, the "advantages" the other schools have are rounding errors.

Anonymous wrote:
They themselves said few utilize the 5 College consortium, so that's a moot benefit.

The benefit also takes the form of being in a real college town with sports games, bars, and an actual full selection of amenities.

The consortium is not a real benefit and few students use it. I don't know why people on DCUM still are lying about this when it's common knowledge at this point. If you want a consortium that bad, go to the Claremont schools or whatever they are.
What percent of LAC classes even have 30 students?

I don't think this is true about the consortium. My kid is at another one of the colleges in this 5 college consortium and it's definitely a benefit. She has gone to many social events at other colleges. Her friend is taking a class at another school. They do use it. Plus there's just an overall benefit to being in an area that serves a lot of college students in terms of the infrastructure that serves them.

So 1 student at another school takes class off campus (btw no one is saying other colleges don’t sue the consortium- Hampshire basically only exists to take classes at the other schools), and students go off campus to other ones for some things. These aren’t exactly dazzling reasons to go to a college- I went to many MIT and BU events while at Harvard, but I wouldn’t list MIT parties as a core reason to go to Harvard

Being in a real college town with a full suite of amenities, restaurants open late into the night, proper bars, and 40,000 other students does give Amherst an advantage over Williams or Middlebury.

Have you been to Amherst? There were only a few restaurants and bars on the main drag, I was shocked given that UMass is so big and nearby. Apparently Mich of the social life is going to UMass parties. Not ideal.

DC goes to Amherst; we are quite familiar with the town.