Amherst College Top Questions

most popular groups: ethnic affinity groups. dorm doors: open in freshman dorms for the first few months. closed under all other circumstances. athletic events: fairly well attended. guest speakers: depends on who it is. theater: moderate attendance, again depending on who's showing if you're awake at 2am on a tuesday, you're procrastinating on that paper due at 10 am. frats/sororities were banned a couple decades back. people party all the time. if you're looking for something to do on saturday that isn't drinking, you can smoke. off campus... is usually limited to parties at other schools.

There is no greek life allowed on campus, but I know of one or two underground frats that meet off-campus. There's no Frat Row where girls get harassed and guys get hammered, and it's not as important to the students as other social activities. I know that alcohol is very prevalent here on campus, but it is possible to live a chem-free social life. My a cappella group consists mainly of drinkers, but when we go to parties together they never pressure me to drink. People are pretty understanding about life choices here: we have a large amount of vegetarians and vegans and numerous religious life groups. The Gay Pride Alliance and other gay pride groups are in their prime, and I've heard of disco parties somewhere but haven't been able to find one yet. Activities that don't involve drinking include: watching a movie in town or at FLICS, going to the mall, hanging out with friends, going to a lecture or school-sponsored party, concerts at the music hall, drama productions, the school musical, playing pool in the campus center, community involvement, dance lessons, and many many more.

Many students play sports here. The athlete crowd and the non-athlete crowd are somewhat separated. Not many people are go-betweens like myself. Since I dance and play field hockey, I have many friends in both. People are generally very friendly and eager to be involved in campus activities. The dating scene is big and the hookup scene is also big! The hookup scene is definitely talked about more often because i think people find it more exciting. I'm usually awake at 2am on a Tuesday, and I'm either doing schoolwork, playing ping-pong with my roommates, chatting with friends, or hanging out with my boyfriend. Fraternities and sororities are not important at all. They are all off campus and there are only a few in existence. Only one accepts women, so they are mostly all-male and associated with sports teams (football, tennis, lacrosse). You can do millions of things on a Saturday night that don't involve drinking such as: playing Wii with your friends, dancing, going to a concert, going for a walk under the stars and watching a movie. The outing club has campfires and cookouts and the campus center has laid back, coffee shop jazz nights and free movie showings.

Sports teams rule the social scene with an iron fist. In most other campuses this would seem insane, but due to the idiotically high percentage of varsity athletes, it's a brutal fact of life.

basketball, nasty. yea leave my room open sometimes. not very popular unless its basketball or playing williams. yea some good ones. Theatre is popping. more of a hookup culture although i got a girl. just by chance. hw definately although many are not. you gotta get here to know. party all the time. not very. had a track meet, then had to go to work, then went out and did my thing. Dancing, chillin with friends, videogames. Go to umass, go into town, go to other schools

There are no shortage of interesting talks and events put on by the college. These are well attended, as are the sporting events here. In this way the college is fairly well balanced. Most people go out partying at least once a week. Some people go six days a week, but this is more rare. Most parties here are open to everyone. They often consist of a keg and half-hearted dancing, but there are some really excellent ones as well. These will have a live band, wild dancing, and a wide variety of drinks. Not everyone drinks at Amherst, and it is possible to have fun at parties without drinking. The Frats are underground, and while there is a definite percentage of students involved, they aren't that important to the social scene. There is a really minimal dating scene, it's almost entirely a hook-up culture. I know of maybe 10 on-campus couples (through-out all grades even).

There is a fuck-ton of drinking here. Upperclassmen generally provide it for underclassmen, usually for free at the parties. But speaking as someone who is against drugs and alcohol, I found it easy to occupy myself with people and things that don't involve drinking in a pretty active social life. People are friendly and you'll generally get to know people on your floor really well. There's always lots of events and stuff to go to (lectures, recitals, etc.) so between that and your work you will be well occupied.

Teams and groups are big with social life. Closest friends are typically made within these groups. Parties are frequent, and a large part of social life. Off campus is great for food and bar scene.

Most common groups are social and supportive groups like Black Student Union or the Asian Students Association. Most people leave their dorm rooms open, it's a pretty trusting environment. My closest friends are from my first year orientation trip or from my dorm first year. Most people work (very very) hard and play hard. People usually go out Thursday-Sunday but the heaviest night is Saturday. Although there are some couples and dating is entirely possible, Amherst has more of a hook up culture. This can become quite old quickly due to the size of the school.

dorm life is great. people leave their doors open, and i know i feel comfortable wandering into the room of anyone on my floor just to chat. at parties, people just wander into a party thrown by upperclassmen and feel comfortable socializing with almost anyone. the dating scene doesn't exist. either you're a single workaholic, a single party animal immersed in the hookup culture, or you're in a long term, practically married relationship.