What’s the deal with Amherst?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please enlighten where this “college infrastructure” is then because it certainly isn’t in the little shopping area next to the school. We could barely find somewhere for dinner outside of that horrible historic Inn.

Protocol. Lao Hu Tong. Formosa. LiLi's. Miss Saigon. Bueno Y Sano. Amherst Oyster Bar. Royal Chicken and Kebab. Pita Pockets. The list goes on and on. If you go to Hadley (easily accessible by a free bus), there's pretty much every store you'll need: Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Home Depot, Michael's, Big Y, T Mobile, AT&T, a Chase Bank branch…the amenities are all there.

DP here. I went to Dartmouth and Hanover is similar in size, but farther from other little towns. I remember Amherst being close to Northampton, which also has a bunch of great restaurants, shops and coffee shops. The point is that if you have a bunch of colleges nearby, there's more places to check out, which makes Amherst more interesting than, e.g. Williamstown. I heard that the kids at Williamstown drive to Northampton.

That’s definitely not true, at least not because they need to. People go to North Adams or Pittsfield. It’s easier to go to Albany than it is to Northampton

Northampton is far nicer of a place than North Adams or Pittsfield.

But if you’re going an hour out, just go to Albany-which has multiple times the things as Northampton. No one really mentioned niceness originally, so I’m not sure why we care.

I am one of the Amherst detractors. The Williams Inn was heaven. Even the sandwich and coffee places were nicer.

Students don’t go to the Williams inn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a Williams alum FWIW. I liked Amherst when I toured decades ago, and I liked it even more when my kid toured. For me, it was the stunning natural setting and friendly atmosphere that sealed the deal for Williams. I could have been just as happy at Amherst though. I don’t understand why people need to put down any school.

Um, because kids need to decide where to apply and where not to apply? And it is better to compare positives and negatives than all positives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has one of the best premed programs, with very high med school admission rates.

Law school too. Feed right into Yale and Harvard. Also really good placement into various PhD programs.

I went there and have hired several grads—they are always great. Really smart, hard working, genuinely nice. And several of my classmates went back to be professors.

It’s a great town and I loved the campus. My kid won’t ever get in but I’m encouraging them to look at umass Amherst because I love the area so much.

Some kids do take classes in the 5 colleges but many don’t because Amherst plainly has the best classes of the 5. But I often got specialty hard to find books from the other libraries and did take one very specialized seminar at mt H.

I don't see how that can be true when it has a small percent of courses compared to Umass and has no graduate coursework. Sounds like a copout.

I don’t know how many UMass students partake in the consortium, either. I know at one point, they got rid of the bus route linking them all (unsure of that is still the case).

[Anonymous]

Amherst is the quintessential college town! Love it there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has one of the best premed programs, with very high med school admission rates.

Law school too. Feed right into Yale and Harvard. Also really good placement into various PhD programs.

I went there and have hired several grads—they are always great. Really smart, hard working, genuinely nice. And several of my classmates went back to be professors.

It’s a great town and I loved the campus. My kid won’t ever get in but I’m encouraging them to look at umass Amherst because I love the area so much.

Some kids do take classes in the 5 colleges but many don’t because Amherst plainly has the best classes of the 5. But I often got specialty hard to find books from the other libraries and did take one very specialized seminar at mt H.

I don't see how that can be true when it has a small percent of courses compared to Umass and has no graduate coursework. Sounds like a copout.

I don’t know how many UMass students partake in the consortium, either. I know at one point, they got rid of the bus route linking them all (unsure of that is still the case).

The bus is very much in service. I have never heard that they got rid of it, and would question this. Seems unlikely.

My kid does complain that the bus is slow. But it's very much in use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much time the various detractors have actually spent near Amherst. In addition to several blocks of restaurants (multiple Asian and Mexican places), cafes, a bookstore, movie theater, weekly farmer’s market and live music venue that brings in big acts right near campus, there are also all the strip mall type amenities within 3 miles— Whole Foods, rTrader Joe’s, big y, Home Depot, target, chipotle and similar chain type restaurants, large rock climbing gym. Then there is Northampton, which is quite urban in feel with several blocks of shops and restaurants and bars. Add to that concerts and events at other schools in the consortium and there is a lot going on, as much as at any school not in a large city. And then there are the trails right on campus with farm with flower garden where kids can make bouquets for their room, the gorgeous rail trail that goes all the way to Northampton, and multiple beautiful nature preserves with hiking trails and swimming holes all within easy biking distance. In the first two months my DC has biked to Northhampton and attended multiple live concerts in Amherst. I would say the campus buildings, especially the library, are not as impressive as many campuses (though the dorms are quite nice, and everything is more than functional), and the first year quad is pretty with a good view of the mountains, but not as nice as Williams or Middlebury. I think if you take a quick tour it might not impress, but if you really explore the area I think it has a lot more going for it in terms of a combination of amenities/activities/nature than any other LAC on the east coast.

I liked Middlebury a lot but I don’t think the campus is super cute, certainly not cuter than Amherst. The buildings are hodgepodgey/modern.

Middlebury is literally the opposite of hodgepodge and modern. Have you even been there?

Yes. Just visited.

Some stone. A little brick. Some grey block. Some modern vibes. Random Tudor building. Some random homes (old frat houses?) for dorms. Very spread out.

I liked it but it wasn’t as cute as I was expecting. I like gothic or even some brick better. YMMV.

Okay, I guess opinions vary. I hope your kid finds their place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please enlighten where this “college infrastructure” is then because it certainly isn’t in the little shopping area next to the school. We could barely find somewhere for dinner outside of that horrible historic Inn.

Protocol. Lao Hu Tong. Formosa. LiLi's. Miss Saigon. Bueno Y Sano. Amherst Oyster Bar. Royal Chicken and Kebab. Pita Pockets. The list goes on and on. If you go to Hadley (easily accessible by a free bus), there's pretty much every store you'll need: Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Home Depot, Michael's, Big Y, T Mobile, AT&T, a Chase Bank branch…the amenities are all there.

DP here. I went to Dartmouth and Hanover is similar in size, but farther from other little towns. I remember Amherst being close to Northampton, which also has a bunch of great restaurants, shops and coffee shops. The point is that if you have a bunch of colleges nearby, there's more places to check out, which makes Amherst more interesting than, e.g. Williamstown. I heard that the kids at Williamstown drive to Northampton.

That’s definitely not true, at least not because they need to. People go to North Adams or Pittsfield. It’s easier to go to Albany than it is to Northampton

Northampton is far nicer of a place than North Adams or Pittsfield.

But if you’re going an hour out, just go to Albany-which has multiple times the things as Northampton. No one really mentioned niceness originally, so I’m not sure why we care.

I am one of the Amherst detractors. The Williams Inn was heaven. Even the sandwich and coffee places were nicer.

I love how you call yourself an "Amherst detractor." Is this something to be proud of? Why does it matter so much to you? Get a life.

I have to agree. My kid doesn't go there either and I have no skin in this game. But it seems like a great school in a pretty good college town (no I don't think Amherst is as good as many other college towns but it's not awful either). And the views from campus are very, very pretty! So I don't get the detractors especially since they don't even have a kid there, what do they really know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please enlighten where this “college infrastructure” is then because it certainly isn’t in the little shopping area next to the school. We could barely find somewhere for dinner outside of that horrible historic Inn.

On the main road in between Amherst and Northampton. It's not the most charming part of the area but it has everything you could need and easy to reach via the bus from any of the colleges. There is a Target, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Chipotle several hotels, etc, etc. Always full of college kids.

And then you go a little further to Northampton and it has so much character and so many great restaurants. Plus the area is so pretty with so much natural stuff to do - climb a mountain, take a hike, pick apples....Sorry you missed the best parts of the area! Dig a little deeper if you go back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has one of the best premed programs, with very high med school admission rates.

Law school too. Feed right into Yale and Harvard. Also really good placement into various PhD programs.

I went there and have hired several grads—they are always great. Really smart, hard working, genuinely nice. And several of my classmates went back to be professors.

It’s a great town and I loved the campus. My kid won’t ever get in but I’m encouraging them to look at umass Amherst because I love the area so much.

Some kids do take classes in the 5 colleges but many don’t because Amherst plainly has the best classes of the 5. But I often got specialty hard to find books from the other libraries and did take one very specialized seminar at mt H.

I don't see how that can be true when it has a small percent of courses compared to Umass and has no graduate coursework. Sounds like a copout.

I don’t know how many UMass students partake in the consortium, either. I know at one point, they got rid of the bus route linking them all (unsure of that is still the case).

Well, I'd imagine fewer UMass students use it because they are at the largest school so their school would already have the most classes. So they'd have less need. On the other hand, if they want to experience something different, like the small classes my kid has at their LAC, it would probably be an attractive option. I do know someone at UMass who took a class at Smith for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much time the various detractors have actually spent near Amherst. In addition to several blocks of restaurants (multiple Asian and Mexican places), cafes, a bookstore, movie theater, weekly farmer’s market and live music venue that brings in big acts right near campus, there are also all the strip mall type amenities within 3 miles— Whole Foods, rTrader Joe’s, big y, Home Depot, target, chipotle and similar chain type restaurants, large rock climbing gym. Then there is Northampton, which is quite urban in feel with several blocks of shops and restaurants and bars. Add to that concerts and events at other schools in the consortium and there is a lot going on, as much as at any school not in a large city. And then there are the trails right on campus with farm with flower garden where kids can make bouquets for their room, the gorgeous rail trail that goes all the way to Northampton, and multiple beautiful nature preserves with hiking trails and swimming holes all within easy biking distance. In the first two months my DC has biked to Northhampton and attended multiple live concerts in Amherst. I would say the campus buildings, especially the library, are not as impressive as many campuses (though the dorms are quite nice, and everything is more than functional), and the first year quad is pretty with a good view of the mountains, but not as nice as Williams or Middlebury. I think if you take a quick tour it might not impress, but if you really explore the area I think it has a lot more going for it in terms of a combination of amenities/activities/nature than any other LAC on the east coast.

I liked Middlebury a lot but I don’t think the campus is super cute, certainly not cuter than Amherst. The buildings are hodgepodgey/modern.

Middlebury is literally the opposite of hodgepodge and modern. Have you even been there?

Yes. Just visited.

Some stone. A little brick. Some grey block. Some modern vibes. Random Tudor building. Some random homes (old frat houses?) for dorms. Very spread out.

I liked it but it wasn’t as cute as I was expecting. I like gothic or even some brick better. YMMV.

Okay, I guess opinions vary. I hope your kid finds their place.

If my kid was into environmental issues, I’d push hard on Middlebury even though we didn’t love the campus. But kid has other interests better served elsewhere.

Good thing there are so many great options for our kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how much time the various detractors have actually spent near Amherst. In addition to several blocks of restaurants (multiple Asian and Mexican places), cafes, a bookstore, movie theater, weekly farmer’s market and live music venue that brings in big acts right near campus, there are also all the strip mall type amenities within 3 miles— Whole Foods, rTrader Joe’s, big y, Home Depot, target, chipotle and similar chain type restaurants, large rock climbing gym. Then there is Northampton, which is quite urban in feel with several blocks of shops and restaurants and bars. Add to that concerts and events at other schools in the consortium and there is a lot going on, as much as at any school not in a large city. And then there are the trails right on campus with farm with flower garden where kids can make bouquets for their room, the gorgeous rail trail that goes all the way to Northampton, and multiple beautiful nature preserves with hiking trails and swimming holes all within easy biking distance. In the first two months my DC has biked to Northhampton and attended multiple live concerts in Amherst. I would say the campus buildings, especially the library, are not as impressive as many campuses (though the dorms are quite nice, and everything is more than functional), and the first year quad is pretty with a good view of the mountains, but not as nice as Williams or Middlebury. I think if you take a quick tour it might not impress, but if you really explore the area I think it has a lot more going for it in terms of a combination of amenities/activities/nature than any other LAC on the east coast.

I liked Middlebury a lot but I don’t think the campus is super cute, certainly not cuter than Amherst. The buildings are hodgepodgey/modern.

Middlebury is literally the opposite of hodgepodge and modern. Have you even been there?

Random Tudor building.

There are no Tudor buildings at Middlebury. Do you mean the Chateau?

The French building, right? It looked Tudor to us from the side. We didn’t get a close look but it did stand out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a Williams alum FWIW. I liked Amherst when I toured decades ago, and I liked it even more when my kid toured. For me, it was the stunning natural setting and friendly atmosphere that sealed the deal for Williams. I could have been just as happy at Amherst though. I don’t understand why people need to put down any school.

Um, because kids need to decide where to apply and where not to apply? And it is better to compare positives and negatives than all positives?

NP, because OP's post seems less like a psa and more like a mean-spirited, unbalanced, unfair and slightly unhinged post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a Williams alum FWIW. I liked Amherst when I toured decades ago, and I liked it even more when my kid toured. For me, it was the stunning natural setting and friendly atmosphere that sealed the deal for Williams. I could have been just as happy at Amherst though. I don’t understand why people need to put down any school.

Um, because kids need to decide where to apply and where not to apply? And it is better to compare positives and negatives than all positives?

NP, because OP's post seems less like a psa and more like a mean-spirited, unbalanced, unfair and slightly unhinged post.

+1

You can share pros and cons without being a B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please enlighten where this “college infrastructure” is then because it certainly isn’t in the little shopping area next to the school. We could barely find somewhere for dinner outside of that horrible historic Inn.

Protocol. Lao Hu Tong. Formosa. LiLi's. Miss Saigon. Bueno Y Sano. Amherst Oyster Bar. Royal Chicken and Kebab. Pita Pockets. The list goes on and on. If you go to Hadley (easily accessible by a free bus), there's pretty much every store you'll need: Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Home Depot, Michael's, Big Y, T Mobile, AT&T, a Chase Bank branch…the amenities are all there.

DP here. I went to Dartmouth and Hanover is similar in size, but farther from other little towns. I remember Amherst being close to Northampton, which also has a bunch of great restaurants, shops and coffee shops. The point is that if you have a bunch of colleges nearby, there's more places to check out, which makes Amherst more interesting than, e.g. Williamstown. I heard that the kids at Williamstown drive to Northampton.

That’s definitely not true, at least not because they need to. People go to North Adams or Pittsfield. It’s easier to go to Albany than it is to Northampton

Northampton is far nicer of a place than North Adams or Pittsfield.

But if you’re going an hour out, just go to Albany-which has multiple times the things as Northampton. No one really mentioned niceness originally, so I’m not sure why we care.

I am one of the Amherst detractors. The Williams Inn was heaven. Even the sandwich and coffee places were nicer.

Students don’t go to the Williams inn.

There were plenty there eating with parents when we were there. But yes, kids likely tend to eat on campus at all schools.

I’ve been on maybe 30 college visits between my two kids over the past three to four years. Amherst is the only one I really disliked. Obviously, thousands of kids attending the consortium schools feel differently and are happy to have that location be the place where they spend their college years. However, op is not alone in wondering why.

[Anonymous]

We've toured and spent time (several days) at each of the NESCACs except for Conn College along with Swat and Vassar and felt that Amherst had the best combo of college, campus and towns. Might add that the consortium is just there if you want to use it but is a very minor to non-factor in deciding to apply there