Amherst College Top Questions

Students are very social with each other, though teams tend to hang out with each other. They have replaced fraternities as "fraternities." Depending on athletic commitments and such, you can party any time you want, though the biggest party nights are in order: Saturday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

We love our sports teams. And rugby. I always leave my dorm room unlocked. I met my closest friends through class and pledging. I do physics well past 2 am every tuesday. People drink usually on wednesday-saturday, and there is a large lull on friday nights. Saturday nights can be spent watching a movie with friends, attending concerts or events around, or playing board games.

There are always things going on- lectures, plays, accapella, etc. There are always parties, but they usually aren't huge like at big universities, and there is no greek life. There's not much dating, but a lot of hooking up. Most people are friends with the people in their dorm.

There is always something going on on campus. Sports games aren't a huge draw, but they pretty steadily attract people. Amherst isn't really known for its sports, but all of the teams are good enough to make their games worth watching. The college and various organizations on campus frequently bring speakers or hold events, and there are theater performances throughout the year. There are a lot of good concerts in Northampton, which is about an hour away on the (free) bus. People hang out a lot on weekdays with their dormmates, in people's rooms and in the common areas, often into the early morning. While there is probably a party going on somewhere any day of the week, weekends are the main time for parties, with Saturdays being the most popular, then Fridays, then Thursdays. Amherst parties generally involve copious amounts of alcohol, but there are many non-drinkers who still go to the parties and enjoy themselves. The library has an extensive VHS and DVD collection in the basement, which is always worth checking out.

Sports teams dictate the social life on campus, but all parties are open to everyone and everyone attends. No one is ever excluded from any social event on campus, ever. I'm the head of Program Board -we bring in mentalists, comedians, illusionists, and other performers throughout the year on random nights for the students to gather and release some stress. These events are really well attended! Don't worry about the Smith and Mt. Holyoke girls, they really don't come over too much and even if they do they're just an afterthought to most Amherst guys. Freshmen are totally into each other -always leaving their doors open and attending every event ever. It's great -they're like a huge family. People party anywhere from 1-5 nights a week, depending on who you are. Most people just go out on Saturdays, or Wednesdays (bar night) and Saturdays. To party more than that is somewhat rare and occurs mainly among upper classmen.

A lot of people play sports (whether competitively or club) and a lot of people also participate in a cappella groups, which are huge on campus. People are also very involved in campus publications such as the Olio (yearbook), Amherst Student (newspaper), the Indicator, and others. During freshman year, you'll tend to be friends with the people in your own dorm. The best time to meet people in other dorms is during orientation week. Honestly, you don't want to associate exclusively with people in your dorm. Branching out is very helpful and refreshing so that you always have someone you can talk to in the dining hall. Social scene is so-so. TAPs (The Amherst Party) are put on by Social Council and they can vary from really good to super crowded and disgusting. Some of the best parties are put on by students orgs, and the music tends to be better. There isn't much pressure to drink, unless you hang out with people who put that pressure on you. It's college, and everyone respects everyone else's decision for the most part. Most weekends there are parties, movies, performances, etc. to keep you busy. Also, going into town to a restaurant or taking the bus to the Hampshire Mall to watch a movie is a way to get off campus. There are no frats or sororities on campus. As far as dating goes, some people are in relationships, whereas a lot of other people just hook up at parties. The common culture doesn't seem to be one of looking for long-term relationships.

It's sufficient to say that people are very involved in lectures/performances/show/events. There's always something going on and when I'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday night I'm probably doing work...but at least I know that I'll have friends just an instant message away because they're up doing work too!

Since we have such a small student body and a full varsity athletic program, a lot of kids are athletes and non-athletes can feel excluded from this culture (which is why I joined a club sport-rugby), but students can and do get involved in tons of other ways. I'd say most people are involved in at least one extracurricular; a lot of people get involved in way too many things and overcommit themselves but eventually figure out how to even out their schedule. All freshmen live together in freshmen-only dorms (on the freshman quad), which is a great way to meet people your first year-most of my best friends now are people from my freshman dorm. Social life is mostly on campus- there are usually a decent amount of parties every weekend. Some people go out 4 nights a week, some people 1 or 2, but whatever your style, it is easy to be social and have fun on your own terms. The social scene can sometimes seem repetitive or boring, especially when its always with the same cast of characters, but, despite being a small college, I'd say Amherst has a pretty good social scene overall.

The social life at Amherst is generally quite mediocre. The Amherst Parties are terrible. There are no official frats/sororities in the school. The dating scene is random and not very exciting. There are a variety of events going on on campus, but only certain groups of people go to each type, and there is rarely an overlap, which divides the campus almost entirely based on interest.

The college has a ton of really great and diverse events on campus, especially speakers on varied subjects, all supported by a different organization on campus. These lectures bring to light many current political and social problems in our world and are very interesting and stimulating. Technically, the College has banned fraternities and sororities, but last weekend was one of the biggest parties on campus, held by an "underground" frat. The fraternities here pledge out in the open, proudly wear t-shirts advertising frats, and throw parties focused on the frat. But what can the College really do? If you don't want to drink on a Saturday night, you can always lacadisically hang out with others in the common areas or dorm rooms and have silly/engaging conversations, watch movies, but that's really about it. Most people who are active on the weekends are going out to parties. You dont necessarily have to drink, since there's always music, dancing, and sometimes a live band. But it makes the other wasted kids a bit more bearable.