Anonymous wrote:I went to Smith and rode the bus between the colleges all the time. All the towns in that area are typical New England towns. Small but cute. Enough to keep you occupied. Hiked nearby. Went to the mall sometimes. Would have loved to have had a Whole Foods equivalent back then. I took a few road trips to Boston every once in a while but was very content in my part of the world.
Anonymous wrote:Here's my take on WASP:
Williams: Terrible, no good school that rejected my kid. May locusts devour their crops and their spouses become infertile.
Amherst: Kid didn't apply and so I don't know much about it except that it's definitely better than Williams.
Swarthmore: It's am amazing college that accepted my kid. All Swatties are good looking geniuses and who will probably win Nobel Prizes in the future.
Pomona: It's a mediocre school that waitlisted my kid. It has the potential to be great (waitlist pending), but it has some serious issues (like taking my kid off the waitlist).
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay, maybe we missed something, but in what universe is Amherst in a great college town? Seriously, we couldn't find much town at all there. There were Amherst, U Mass Amherst, and then nothing nearby. That was my DD's chief concern. We asked where kids went off campus for fun and they mentioned buses to Boston, which is a bit of a hike. If we missed a great college town I'm happy to be proven wrong. Did we just look in the wrong place?
We were there two weeks ago and thought the exact same. My daughter took it off her list because of the location.
This seems fake.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If it might be relevant for your student:
Williams and Amherst: stopped requiring that students have the COVID vaccine a year ago.
Swarthmore and Pomona: still require students to have the COVID vaccine, at the moment, here in March 2024. Swat also requires a booster.
OMG, just stop. This was NOT asked. YOU are the only one with a problem with a Covid vax requirement.
Anonymous wrote:Here's my take on WASP:
Williams: Terrible, no good school that rejected my kid. May locusts devour their crops and their spouses become infertile.
Amherst: Kid didn't apply and so I don't know much about it except that it's definitely better than Williams.
Swarthmore: It's am amazing college that accepted my kid. All Swatties are good looking geniuses and who will probably win Nobel Prizes in the future.
Pomona: It's a mediocre school that waitlisted my kid. It has the potential to be great (waitlist pending), but it has some serious issues (like taking my kid off the waitlist).
Anonymous wrote:Pomona is the best of the bunch and most selective too-having the consortium with other amazing schools to draw from is the key to their success as well as the weather. My DC hated Amherst and didn’t even look at Swat or Williams-terrible location and grinder culture, no thanks!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay, maybe we missed something, but in what universe is Amherst in a great college town? Seriously, we couldn't find much town at all there. There were Amherst, U Mass Amherst, and then nothing nearby. That was my DD's chief concern. We asked where kids went off campus for fun and they mentioned buses to Boston, which is a bit of a hike. If we missed a great college town I'm happy to be proven wrong. Did we just look in the wrong place?
We were there two weeks ago and thought the exact same. My daughter took it off her list because of the location.
Anonymous wrote:Okay, maybe we missed something, but in what universe is Amherst in a great college town? Seriously, we couldn't find much town at all there. There were Amherst, U Mass Amherst, and then nothing nearby. That was my DD's chief concern. We asked where kids went off campus for fun and they mentioned buses to Boston, which is a bit of a hike. If we missed a great college town I'm happy to be proven wrong. Did we just look in the wrong place?
Anonymous wrote:^^^Their consortium is BS-the 5C’s are within 1 square mile of each other, not the same at all.
Anonymous wrote:Pomona is the best of the bunch and most selective too-having the consortium with other amazing schools to draw from is the key to their success as well as the weather. My DC hated Amherst and didn’t even look at Swat or Williams-terrible location and grinder culture, no thanks!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay, maybe we missed something, but in what universe is Amherst in a great college town? Seriously, we couldn't find much town at all there. There were Amherst, U Mass Amherst, and then nothing nearby. That was my DD's chief concern. We asked where kids went off campus for fun and they mentioned buses to Boston, which is a bit of a hike. If we missed a great college town I'm happy to be proven wrong. Did we just look in the wrong place?
I think you did look in the wrong place. Amherst is in a great town along with other nearby towns such as Northampton and Hadley. Lots of good restaurants (probably because UMass with its large student population there). Great shopping nearby such as Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, LL Bean, etc. If you like the outdoors there is a lot do as well. Mt. Holyoke mountains has nice hiking trails. The Berkshires are not far away
This is good to know. Is there anything within walking distance of campus?