Car makes it easier. but it is doable without, especially if you pick, say two classes at the other school that meets on the same days and you just spend those days at that campus. If you have a class you can eat lunch in the other school’s dining hall. I would recommend staying on home campus first year, developing friends and getting involved in campus clubs before branching out.

at Mount Holyoke I took classes at Amherst College and UMass. I definitely enriched my experience. However I also had a car which made it much easier to get around!

I went to Smith and took classes at 3 of the other 4 colleges without a car. Only some classes worked in my schedule (one was jterm) and UMass classes went a week later than Smith's, which was inconvenient, but it was nice to have more options. I don't think it would be a big part of most students' experience unless they really wanted it to be, and it would limit their ability to do other stuff.

My Smithie’s friends did it (one friend had a minor based on classes from another school). It is easier with a car but can be done without. My kid has a MHC student in more than one class so I know folks do it.

My MHC kid has a research mentor at UMass and using the PVTA has not been difficult. She's taking a class there next semester; registering was easy but not sure how convenient the course schedule will be.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a DC at Mt. Holyoke? How common is it to take classes at the other four colleges in their consortium? Is it fairly easy to get from campus to campus? Trying to get a sense of how much the Five Colleges play into campus life.

It’s easy but takes time

My kid is at one of the other colleges. Great area. The free PVTA bus goes to all 5 colleges and many more locations. Kid uses it all the time to get to stores, movies or to events on other campuses. Bug dies complain it takes a while so sometimes gets an Uber or zip car (not bad if split with friends). Says taking a class at a different college would be far easier with a car because the bus would take a while.

Anonymous wrote:It depends entirely on the major and the schedule. There's a bus that goes from campus to campus, but you have to factor in travel time when adding the classes to your schedule.

+1 Mt Holyoke is the farthest out, so can be challenging in terms of scheduling. Whereas it's easy for UMass studets to take classes at Amherst and vice versa.

This is a recent post that may help, which also references another recent post on the topic.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1306513.page#31346622

It depends entirely on the major and the schedule. There's a bus that goes from campus to campus, but you have to factor in travel time when adding the classes to your schedule.

Anyone have a DC at Mt. Holyoke? How common is it to take classes at the other four colleges in their consortium? Is it fairly easy to get from campus to campus? Trying to get a sense of how much the Five Colleges play into campus life.