Amherst College Top Questions

Small, enclosed campus environment; if you like that Amherst is a good place for you. Located in the five-college area, so there are tons of students around and it's easy to branch out and meet one of the 50,000 collegians in the area. It's D3, but there's a ton of pride for athletics, particularly the basketball team

The best thing about Amherst is nearly everybody pulls double duty in one way or another. Almost all of my friends are varsity or club athletes. Because of that, we don't have very many fat people. The size is perfect for what I wanted. Unfortunately, many people confuse Amherst College and UMass Amherst, which is insulting to my intelligence. We are in a college town, but that is mainly due to UMass. We are remarkably well contained within our own campus. The food is particularly unenjoyable however.

The school is pretty small, but it's very comfortable. The faculty is really there for you. I got really sick at the beginning of the semester, and the dean, my professors, and the health services people were all really helpful and supportive. The campus is a bit isolated, but it's easy to get into Boston if you need to, and everything you need is right in town. The food isn't great, it's very repetitive, and there is little in the way of fresh fruits and veggies. The campus is really nice, and very convenient.

I've had a lot of people from high school visit Amherst, and they're always amazed by how gorgeous the campus is. There's beautiful vistas and great architecture and tons and tons of trees. The dorms are really nice, too. Most of them are either old frat houses, recently built or renovated, or both. After your freshman year, it's really easy to get a single if you want it. Campus is extremely convenient--it's not very big and right in the center of town. Downtown Amherst is pretty small, but it has all the necessities. People go into town a lot, to shop or just go out to dinner. There are a lot of college kids around, with UMass being so close. Most importantly to me, however, is that Amherst College breeds a really strong sense of community. The school is small and personal enough that you will always see a friend on your way to class and you'll always feel safe walking back trashed from a party at 3 AM.

BEST THINGS About Amherst? (1) Geographic, Socioeconomic Diversity... People here are from all walks of life and have very unique and interesting perspectives and opinions. My social education has been just as valuable as my academic education. (2) Antonio's Pizza, open 'til 2am every day. (3) Small classes with engaged students and enthusiastic, accessible professors. (4) Five College Consortium enables you to take classes at UMass, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Smith (which offer classes in communication, accounting, filmmaking, etc that are not offered at Amherst). (5) OPEN CURRICULUM = NO REQUIREMENTS! WORST THINGS About Amherst? (1) Long winters. (2) Bad food. (3) 1,600 students = too small. By the time you're a senior you'll be really ready to get the hell out of here. REACTION TO 'I Go to Amherst'? Many people assume that I go to UMass, which, frankly, pisses me off. But the people who matter in getting a job know what Amherst is and are always impressed. COLLEGE TOWN? Definitely a college town, but definitely not a city. There are lots of options for food, a movie theater and enough bars to keep you happy, but not much more than that.

This school is very small, and it will be a big change to some people, especially to people whose high school is bigger than Amherst. If you know that you want to be really involved in a cultural group or that you want to meet different people all the time, then don't come to this school. By the time you've spent one year here, you'll know a lot of people and they will know you, for better or for worse. Town is small, but the restaurants are great. There's a lot of space to walk and hang out with people. If you're looking for the excitement and pace of a big city, Amherst is not the school for you. If you like small, intimate environments, then come here. Some Amherst students are definitely activists, but most students don't tend to be very incendiary. Some outlets of thought on campus are the Indicator, the Amherst Student and online forums. Amherst is a very prestigious school, mostly because of the quality of the professors and the motivation of the students. That said, most people here tend to be fairly laid-back, and they do have lives outside of studying.

It's a small community, shocking I know...But I'm from a big city knew I wanted a school where I could run and hide from the world and I definitely found it in Amherst. But it can be as secluded as you make it, I have a tendency of going to too many activities thus I'm rarely in my room but I know people who never venture past their common room. The town is small but bearable (unless you like going to clubs...), I like coffee shops and bookstores so I'm generally in heaven for most of the academic year. If you stay here for the summer it gets a little lonely since half the towns population is gone but you can manage. Something I found slightly unusual when I first came here, was the number of people who are generally good at almost everything, it certainly made me feel inadequate for a large part of my first year until I realized I'm good at some things too...

Amherst is a really fun place-it is for the most part a positive, nurturing environment with a strong academic community. It is very tiny (only 1600 people), which has its pros and cons; people do know each others' business a lot and it can seem claustrophobic-having only one dining hall forces the student body to bond together but also makes it impossible to avoid anyone you don't want to see. At the same time, I love the feeling of a close-knit community, that I never have to walk very far to get anywhere on campus, and that I see people I know all the time. Also, everyone will say that you know everyone but that's definitely not true-I still meet new people all the time. It's also nice that Amherst is part of a 5 College Consortium, so you can take classes at other schools and just generally not feel so isolated despite being in western Massachusetts. "Downtown" Amherst is very tiny but very cute and literally adjacent to our campus, making it very accessible. It has fun bars and restaurants, a CVS, and a few cute shops. Bigger shopping centers with everything you could possibly need are just a short drive down Rte 9 and Northampton is only like a 20 min drive. Campus itself is small but most people find they rarely leave-people call it the 'Amherst bubble.' Between academics, extracurriculars and social life, it's pretty easy to get completely caught up in being at Amherst and forget about the outside world, which I guess is a good and a bad thing, but I think mostly good, as long as you leave every once in awhile.

Amherst is a really rich, well-organized school, which definitely cares for its students. Although the school is quite small and can get a bit stifling, for the most part it's just about the right size. The town of Amherst is horrendously small, however, which might be one of the greatest disadvantages to the school. I like a lot of things in Amherst, but what I miss the most is the sense of school pride (not the pompousness of it, but the awareness of its existence) and the random old traditions that school in Europe, for example, tend to have. Amherst smells like it's new, and although that's not true, it can be quite disconcerting at times.

The best thing about Amherst is the variety of different people you meet (if you look in the right places). There are so many people from so many different places and its really amazing to see the convergence of ideals and sentiments during that first week of orientation. One thing I'd change is making the atmosphere a bit more friendly. The campus, especially during the winter months (which is about 3/4 of the school year), is very disjointed from each other and doesn't have as much friendly interaction. People here can be sorta cold if you're not their best friend. When I first told people I was going to Amherst they said "You mean Elmhurst?" (a community college back home). Outside of New England, nobody really knew what I was talking about. Downtow Amherst is a bit more subdued, with some good places to eat, one bar, and a CVS for all of your urgent daily needs. There's a great public transportation system that takes you to the mall, the other 5 colleges, and Northampton, a really great downtown area with tons of shops and restaraunts. The most recent controversies at Amherst stem from intolerance towards different races and sexual orientation, such as the yelling of offensive slurs at people on campus. Also, the recent "Lip Sync" contest for Room Draw created quite a stir since the Feminist Alliance and many students saw the winning performance for the rising juniors as offensive and demeaning towards women. One of the biggest anomalies I find at Amherst is the unexpected large number of jocks. Yes, we're a school filled with people who are multi-talented and did amazing things in high school, but I just didn't think there would be so many stereotypical sports-obsessed students here.