A decision for a very indecisive girl: NU v. Amherst

Parents Forum
1

<p>The clock is continually ticking and I only have a few days left to make my college decision! Barring all panic for a brief moment, my dilemma is a choice between Northwestern and Amherst.</p>

<p>I live in the Chicago suburbs, so NU would be much closer to home (and I do come from a small, tight-knit family). I was accepted to NU's MMSS program (Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences), which really closely follows what I plan to pursue in college (I'm probably majoring in economics and hopefully following that up with law school). I'm currently enrolled in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, but there's always that possibility that I might might might be able to cross-enroll in Medill for broadcast journalism too, or at least take some classes there. (I'd love to be a financial journalist for a media network.) The campus is beautiful and convenient, and Evanston and Chicago appeal to my suburbia/city-girl heart. The size of the campus is also really nice; I'd like feeling like I could blend into the crowd, but also like I could stand out once in a while. The student body is very diverse, and I could really picture myself as a student there.</p>

<p>At the same time, I recently visited Amherst for a prospective student weekend and loved it. It would be an eye-opening experience to live further away from home, but I would be able to see my loved ones less often. Of the classes that I sat in on, I also enjoyed the ones at Amherst more (though I realize that 2-3 classes is not representative of any college's education). I enjoy the Open Curriculum, and I really liked the class sizes (of the ones I observed, class sizes were anywhere from 12 students to 30-ish students). I would really like going to a campus where my professors knew my name and were willing to build a good rapport with their students. NU's classes, on the other hand, seemed to float around the approximate size of 30-ish to 40-ish students. Still, I'm worried that Amherst's size and relative isolation will make me feel claustrophobic (even my high school population is twice as large as Amherst's undergrad population). If I went to Amherst, I would probably double major in Economics and Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought.</p>

<p>I would really appreciate any help or insight that you can offer me! It seems like the parents on CC generally have very good advice. :) Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Only you can evaluate how adventurous you feel, but I can point out a few things you might have missed concerning Amherst that relate to your dilemma.</p>

<p>When you visited Amherst, were you able to experience the Five College Consortium? Amherst is linked academically and in EC's to 4 other colleges, so there is plenty of chance to explore beyond the small population of Amherst College. This is not just hypothetical; most students are all over several campuses each week. Together these 5 schools have around 30,000 students, with UMass having the largest number by far. On average, most students take one course per semester at a different campus, so the free shuttle busses are full of people changing places. EC's include students from other campuses, too. You can pick your evening's activity not just by Amherst's calendar, but by the "Five College Events Calendar."</p>

<p>Did you get over to visit Northampton? It's a small city, with a very artsy main street, unlike Amherst which is a small college town. Altogether, that area of Western Massachusetts is described as "suburban" although it has no core city the size of Chicago.</p>

<p>The 2 majors that interest you are exceptionally strong at Amherst.</p>

<p>I don't know Northwestern, so am only offering what I know about Amherst. People who like Amherst a lot say it has the advantage of being "small within large," rather than claustrophobic.</p>

<p>One way people evaluate which one to choose is to figure out where they might be able to transfer, in case they really choose wrong. Seems to me, if you're wrong about Amherst, you have a better chance of transferring from Amherst to Northwestern than the other way around, since NW is so much larger. No guarantees, of course.</p>

<p>From your posting, it sounds like the known vs. the unknown is most on your mind.
That's why I started with how "adventurous" you feel. You'll probably like either one, but for different positive reasons. The tug of family and a known environment is very strong, but aren't you a bit curious to experience a different part of the country?
If, after four years, you miss your area that much, you can go to live and work right there. We also have a close family, but found that we changed to become comfortable with vacations and summer visits, rather than every weekend.</p>

<p>Best wishes; you'll do great at either, but I bet this is a hard week for you to decide!</p>

3

<p>I would take the plunge and go to Amherst. You will develop some independence and can still go home to visit plenty often. Amherst offers an amazing college experience and you will love it.</p>

4

<p>You need to make your own decision of course, but to me it seems like you should go to Amherst. I think if you pick Northwestern you are more likely to look back and say "I wish I had given Amherst a try."</p>

5

<p>I agree with the above two (and I'm an NU alum). Go to Amherst. NU's a wonderful school but it would be great to experience something other than Chicago for you. Good luck either way!</p>

6

<p>OK- I will cut to the chase-go to Amherst-it will change your life and make you better or the best person forever.</p>

7

<p>Wow, thank you so much to all of you for your thoughtful responses! If I could also ask a question about prestige, I realize that Amherst is one of the (if not the) best liberal arts college in the nation, though NU is also nothing to scoff at. Does anyone know about the availability of internship opportunities at either school? Also, would it be possible for you to offer me any input about the quality of graduate school-feeding or job placement after graduating either from Amherst or from NU with an MMSS Kellogg certificate? I'm not too good with that kind of "real world" information... Thank you again for all of your great help!</p>

8

<p>Would it be an equally hard decision if you lived near Amherst?</p>

9

<p>For grad school placement stats, I think you might be wiser to contact each school's career center, ask your excellent question, and compare notes. Perhaps email, and then call after school but during "business hours" (try to get to them before 4 p.m., actually). Amherst might have a special placement sub-department just for law and medical school, so ask that way. You might mention that you're deciding between schools, so they answer a bit promptly (let's hope).</p>

<p>(ADad, what a cool diagnostic question!)</p>

10

<p>To ADad, I think that it probably might be. To me, it just seems like each school makes up for where the other school has something lacking, which makes it so hard to decide. I'm really in love with Northwestern's campus and student life, though Amherst's campus is also beautiful in a different way, and I'm not qualified to say as much about Amherst's extracurriculars, etc.</p>

<p>paying3tuitions, thanks very much for the suggestion. I'll try to give them a call (though that could be a problem for Amherst because I live in the midwest, so by the time I get out of school, it's already 5 PM EST).</p>

11

<p>How about a morning call? Let the time zones work for you:)</p>

12

<p>As an added dimension of [perhaps unneeded] complexity, I was also contemplating UChicago and Dartmouth. I had basically narrowed it down to NU and Amherst, but are there any voices out there who would have me reconsider or tell me that I narrowed down well?</p>

13

<p>P.S. Aha, there's a solution, paying. :) Now to combat my horribly lethargic morning personality...</p>

14

<p>I was wondering why your location was UChicago.</p>

<p>Are you saying that if you lived near Amherst you would be more likely to choose Northwestern?</p>

<p>When was the last time you had to make a challenging decision? How did you decide, and how did that decision turn out?</p>

<p>(By the way, what did you decide about French V versus choir, how did you decide, and how did that decision turn out?)</p>

<p>Do you feel that you should reconsider Chicago/Dartmouth?</p>

15

<p>About the UChicago thing, I just noticed that and deleted it a little while ago (I think it was put on my profile in a frenzy of excitement after getting my first EA acceptance). :)</p>

<p>If I lived near Amherst, I might actually be inclined to give a slight preference to Amherst, because proximity to home is somewhat of a factor. However, Amherst and NU are very equally attractive in my eyes. </p>

<p>Seeing as how I am indecisive by nature, I guess that I always put a lot of cautious thought into any significant decisions. Thanks for remembering that French v. Choir thing! I decided to take French instead of joining the school choir, and I think it was probably for the best. I've definitely progressed a lot in French this year and I'm still planning to join an a cappella group or other musical group once I get to college (I suppose Amherst's reputation as the "singing college" factors in here somewhere...).</p>

<p>I feel kind of odd just striking a school from my list completely because I'm a big fan of keeping my options open (even if that may not be the most prudent route). I guess I just didn't "click" completely at either of those schools as well as I did at Amherst and NU, though I am very aware that it could be my own skewed perception of the schools. As of now, I think I'm content to let my mind duke it out between Amherst and NU, but I just wanted to lay all of my cards on the table.</p>

16

<p>At the moment, then, you have a very slight preference for NU, owing to the fact that NU is close to home? </p>

<p>I'm glad that your decision worked out well between French and choir. How did you ultimately decide, though?</p>

17

<p>I might have a very slight preference for NU, but I'm conscious of the fact that it's at least partially due to the fact that it's closer to home. I don't want to let the location be the ultimate deciding factor, though, so I'm doing the best I can to disregard it. The above posters have made some very good points in favor of Amherst, which only makes my decision more difficult! I don't know whether to :( or :).</p>

<p>I chose French over choir because I felt that it was more academically rewarding, and because I decided that I could always pick up choir and music again in the future but I would forget a lot of French if I stopped taking it for a year.</p>

18

<p>I hope that you'll let us know what you find out tomorrow and what your thinking is then. :)</p>

19

<p>MDB.</p>

<p>Congrats on a variety of excellent schools to choose from!</p>

<p>Being far away from home would be a challenge--no question about it. But, as an earlier poster suggested, Amherst might give you the best of both worlds -- a small top ranked LAC in the midst of five colleges, including UMass with it's 25K students and abundant resources. The 5-College bus is free. And Western Mass is gorgeous! (I moved up from NJ to do my graduate work at UMass and loved living in the area.) Still, it is hard to leave your support system and all that is familiar to you.</p>

20

<p>Flip a coin. Play paper-scissors-rock with someone. Seriously. And if you feel uneasy about the decision and want to go best out of 3, that tells you your decision :-).</p>

<p>Since finances don't appear to be the issue, and you love them both, go with Amherst; get out of your comfort zone (and again I say this as an NU alum who loves the school). It's fabulous but a bit "expected" for a smart Chicago area student. Again, congrats on both -- you really won't go wrong either way.</p>