Amherst College Top Questions

best thing about amherst: most brilliant minds in the world talking to yours, taking what you say seriously, taking what you write seriously. the professors here are what makes it amherst. one thing to change: attitude. too many people here think they're entitled to everything. school size: school is very small. sometimes it's too small. most days it's all right. people's reactions: if they're from the pioneer valley, they assume you're the worst kind of amherst student. if they're not, they're likely to say "where's that? emerson?" most time on campus: library/room/dining hall. the town of amherst is... special. i thought i came from a small town, but WOW. it has its perks, though. cool festivals and good sushi. administration will do anything for the students. biggest recent controversy: there's a contest to improve chances at housing assignments for the next year. the ish that went on in that lipsynch caused some serious backlash from students who were appalled at what was allowed and deemed acceptable and even funny. school pride depends on who you talk to. those in the athletic circles have a lot. those who aren't tend to not give a crap. unusual: since we don't interview, we manage to collect the most awkward people in the country, the ones who didn't get into ivy leagues because they whomped in their interview.

The most frequent comment you'll get if you come here is "Amherst? You mean UMass, right?" Despite others' complete lack of knowledge about the College (which I admit, I had as well), Amherst is full of academically-minded and knowledgeable people and a welcoming atmosphere to all. The only thing to complain about is the food, which isn't bad but can get very boring after a little while. You learn to be creative, but other than that I love it here!

My school is just the right size. When i tell people that I go to Amherst, they are usually impressed. There is definitely a lot of school pride. The town of Amherst is fun and full of great restaurants. Northampton is down the street and also a great place to go for dinner, fun events and entertainment. Being involved in dancing in the valley is great. There are many master classes and performances. I've learned how to tango, combine ballet and modern in various ways, and I've most recently been studied performance improvisation. Amherst's administration is very forward-thinking and accomodating. They really care about student happiness and individual success. Amherst is such a fabulous environment because our campus is so diverse. If you're willing, you can make friends from all over the world. The different perspectives on campus are enlightening and I've really loved going to campus events when speakers talk about different issues because the debates and questions asked afterwards are always interesting.

Imagine if there was some sort of boarding school for college age kids, rife with cliques and the very worst aspects of high school. And God help you if you aren't on a sports team, because no one else will.

best thing= the campus (when the weather is nice) ppl outside, everyone just in a good mood change= more choices at val school = too small Go to amherst = all the people who matter not only know what amherst is, but know that you are doing big things Most of my time = in my room, or in the lib college town = umass is its own town administration = very nice from what ive worked with big controversy = amherst confessional, anonymous postings, ppl bashing one another not a lot of school pride at all nothing unusual...until you get here being a lordjeff too much hw, damn

Amherst is a very lovely campus. It's laid out with plenty of open green spaces, old New England Architecture, and a great view of the hills. We have great running/biking trails through the woods. The town of Amherst is nice, but students rarely leave the campus (except for real food). It is definitely a bubble community. Amherst Town has a ridiculous amount of restaurants for such a small area, which is a great change from our one dining hall. This is one of the complaints almost every student shares: our repetitive and greasy food. I think the size of the college is perfect, we really do have small classes, except for intro science courses- those can go up to 100. The administration is really great, and are all very helpful. They really do want every student to do well here.

If you are interested in academics and don't know what you want to major in, come to Amherst. The open curriculum is the only way I'd ever want to be in school again - I can't even fathom what having prereq's would be like, especially at a huge state school. Aside from that, I think Amherst does a good job of selecting kids who are not just run-of-the-mill brain machines, but instead people who are creative and unique. However, I can say from experience, if you want to focus on music or sports, you can probably do a lot better than Amherst. Not to say there are not lively sports times and lots of music - because that's not true - just that if you want to go super-far in those, you will be better served elsewhere.

Tough acadamically, but kids let loose on the weekends. School is a little small and everyone knows everyone's deal. Kids assume were a bunch of nerds at Amherst. I spend most of my time in my room or my friends room. Good College town. Good admissions need more school unity though. School pride is there but we need more of it.

When I tell people I go to Amherst they are either extremely impressed or have no idea what I'm talking about. I tend to spend most of my time studying. There is always homework to be done. I wish I had more time to enjoy all the great speakers that come to the school but there always seems to be something to do that night. As much as people might complain about this school, though, I get the feeling they wouldn't want to be anywhere else; much like people complain about their nagging parents, but at the end of the day they love them to death.

the environment at amherst is great- it is a lot of really friendly, open-minded people. Its the perfect size. i always feel like there are new people around me, and lots of faces i've never seen before, while at the same time i can't walk into the dining hall without finding someone i know to sit with. the community is really close knit, starting with freshman dorm groups, and continuing throughout the four years. the most recent controversy surrounded the "amherst confessional," an anonymous discussion forum. a few people were posting really insulting and mean-spirited things on it. the response was that a group of people spammed it with the entire collected works of shakespear, thus making it impossible to find anything or read anything. it was great to see people taking a stand about how we don't tolerate that kind of thing at amherst.