I am a first-year undergraduate student looking to transfer for personal reasons you can read about here (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17954948). I have a few questions about Hampshire and I was hoping some students/alums/parents could fill me in.
How LGBT-friendly is the college? If I came out, would students be accepting? Can I obtain gender-neutral housing?
How good is the financial aid?
How feasible is a science-heavy courseload at Hampshire? Is the science program in general strong and supported?
What are the disability services like at Hampshire? I had no trouble transferring my learning disability accommodations from my high school to my current institution - is Hampshire a supportive environment for people like that?
How is the campus vibe? Is it laid-back, high-stress, preppy, hippie, or something else? What kind of students does Hampshire usually attract?
Hi - I can comment on a few of your questions. My son is a Div 3 student at Hampshire this year. Can’t quite believe he’ll be graduating in May!
Hampshire is an extremely LGBT friendly place and if you come out, students would be extremely accepting, at least from what I've seen from my son and his friends. All of the housing is co-ed and even the bathrooms - in academic buildings and in dorms - are gender neutral.
I can't speak to your own situation but Hampshire's been very generous to us. The folks in financial aid are very helpful and - again speaking from our experience - have gone out of their way to be friendly as well.
Re: science - that's a question for the folks in the admissions area but given you can take courses from any of the other four colleges (UMass/Amherst, Amherst College, Mt. Holyoke and Smith) I'd think it would be extremely feasible.
Disability services - again for our son - have been excellent. My son is deaf and has been accommodated well and in a proactive, friendly manner. Joel Dansky (the disabilities coordinator at Hampshire) is superb - very understanding and has a great "can do" attitude. In my son's case, he had needed assistive devices (such as an FM system) Hampshire could have borrowed it from UMass, who has a strong audiology department. My son's found Hampshire to be very supportive.
I think Hampshire attracts kids who are smart and focused and quirky. It's not laid back - at least not in the theater department - students are very self-motivated and tend to (I think) be very ambitious in terms of what they want to do and accomplish. My son's friends are theater-type students so that's really all I can speak to - they're pretty much theater kind of folks with that artist/creative personality. Don't know about the kids in other areas.
I think Hampshire's drinking culture is probably similar to other colleges in that it probably is prevalent but it seems to not be as big a deal as it is on other campuses (this is just my impression).
My son’s been very happy and fulfilled at Hampshire and couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. It’s been a great fit for him. He has taken classes at all the other colleges except for Smith which has broadened his horizons. He has an Amherst college professor on his Div 3 committee as well. I do think the 5 college consortium is a wonderful arrangement - he feels he has best of both worlds. A small, supportive campus but with tons of course offerings.