I plan on going into college to be either environmental studies major or a biochem major. I am choosing between Amherst and Brandeis so if anyone has insight on either school it would be greatly appreciated!
I know of an environmental studies major recent alum from AC. Very happily employed in his field directly after graduation. He had a great experience which I am sure would be even better now that the new science center has been opened. It is a marvel. He also had 2 internships in Boston in his field prior to graduating. He did mention that one of them was actually through Brandeis, so they must have a strong department too. But you should definitely give strong consideration to AC.
Congratulations on two great options!
I am familiar with both schools, though no one in my nuclear family has attended or taught at either, so I will share some impressions but encourage you to visit and/or reach out to current students through the admissions offices.
If you have a merit scholarship to Brandeis or something else that evens out the comparison, then your question is especially tough. Amherst is the more selective institution with better per-student resources. That said, the valedictorian of my son’s high school class is now at Brandeis!
Here are some relative strengths:
Brandeis:
- It is an R-1 research university that had two professors win the Nobel prize last year.
- Of the R-1 universities, it is relatively small in size and is dedicated to offering small classes. Undergrads really get to interact with the professors!
- It is the nation’s only completely secular, non-religiously-affiliated college not to have a Christian majority. No religion is as high as 50% there; there is a plurality of Jews, but Brandeis’s commitment to religious diversity is even embodied by the fact that the chapels of three different religions were built so that none of them ever casts a shadow over the other two!
- If you like access to an urban area, Brandeis combines a safe suburban setting with quick, easy access to Boston and all its opportunities.
- Brandeis has a friendly, inclusive environment. If anything, it is known for NOT being a “party school”! The students seem to have a lot of fun doing other types of social activities.
Amherst:
- The quintessential small liberal arts college experience! Small classes, accessible professors who prioritize teaching, tight community.
- One of the very few academically elite colleges to have a completely open curriculum. No distribution requirements! Study only what you want to study, in classes everyone in the class truly wants to be taking.
- Endless resources available to students- great financial aid, great money available for clubs and activities including new ones students propose each year… and I remember our tour guide raving about how the college will lend you a car if you want it and even pay you back for the gas for wherever you go.
- They have made a big commitment to diversity, including socioeconomic and racial diversity.
- Part of a five-college consortium with four other presitigious colleges, where you can take courses, join clubs, etc. at the other colleges as well as your own. In other words, all the advantages of a small college without the usual disadvantage of a more limited course catalog.
- Prettier architecture and more trees/ grassy spaces than at Brandeis.
- Ability to live on campus in campus housing all four years, vs. Brandeis where many upperclassmen have to live off-campus. Although the class of 2022 was overenrolled at Amherst, crowding and forced triples seem to be a more perennial issue at Brandeis.
- It is the cream of the crop, one of the best undergraduate educational institutions in America.
Best of luck deciding, and may you enjoy four wonderful years!
Amherst is incredible. Have you visited? This weekend they are having Admitted Students days and it is not to be missed. The new Science Center is incredible. Take a look if you haven’t seen it for yourself yet
https://www.amherst.edu/news/news_releases/2018/10-18/new-science-center-celebrated-with-inquiry-demos
^^ . that video has a Cameo from Harold Varmus, Amherst undergrad, Nobel laureate in Medicine, former NIH and NCI director
@TheGreyKing I got $65K from Brandeis and $73K from Amherst. It would cost about $10k to go to Brandeis and $3K to go Amherst a year. My parents keep telling me to go to Brandeis because I am going to be a science major thus I should go to a research school but I feel as if that is old fashioned especially since I feel as if the close relations with professors would be awesome. As you can see I am in between a rock and a hard place.
@Meddy I have yet to visit. I am going this weekend and I am really looking forward to it!
This U.S. News link should offer you an idea as to the faculty mentored research opportunities available at Amherst: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/undergrad-research-programs.
I can understand your parents thinking, but Amherst has so many opportunities…it is the first LAC (and only?) to have a Neuroscience major. (which is excellent by the way.)
The other plus is that Amherst is well known in Academia. If you want to go to grad/professional school, an Amherst degree (and faculty recommendations) will be considered along with HYP.
If you like the small town community, Amherst for nearly free is a no-brainer.
RE: As you can see I am in between a rock and a hard place.
No, you are in front of two huge fountains, one pouring out Strawberry shake and the other pouring out Blueberry shake.
Amherst is the more exclusive/elite of the two although both are exclusive and elite.
Brandeis is a much newer school, post WW2 school built to be a Jewish Harvard. There is no Jewish Harvard. But it is a very good school
Given similar credentials, going to Amherst will probably make grad/professional school slightly more accessible.
Neuroscience programs are now quite common at liberal arts colleges though.
You’ll know better after you visit. Both are great science schools.
From a fit and social aspect, I have a couple of observations for you.
You’ll have a bigger group of science students at Brandeis to connect with than Amherst.
I’m not sure if your the sporty type of but historically Amherst tilts that way.
From an environment perspective Amherst is one of those schools that seem to be pulled right out of a movie set. If you can’t get a skip in your step to be an undergrad on that campus, there something’s wrong. It’s just awesome. And the town is really a fun little college town.
Brandeis campus is not like Amherst. It’s more like a 70s vibe. And Waltham is not Amherst quaint or fun.
Now these things are superficial. But with these great academic powerhouses - Amherst in everything and Brandeis on the science side of the ledger is highly, highly respected. And would have a more stem is cool vibe.
Obviously super generalizations. But these are things that would motivate my choices.
And with the type of aid you’ve been offered. Both are incredibly compelling options.
Congrats on your terrific results.
Both schools do research in the sciences. IDK what Brandeis has but Amherst has an amazing funded summer science research program -
It sounds like your family is more than willing to pay the extra but that’s $28,000 over four years. Brandeis is costing 3x more for arguably older facilities, less attention and fewer resources. You don’t mention loans - Amherst won’t include any. Did Brandeis?
Merc not so Trinity has a neuroscience major and building. The president of the college is a female african american neuroscientist. Check it out!
@OHMomof2 Brandeis did mention loans but my parent do not want to take any out so it will cost $10k without loans.
You’ll spend the night this weekend? I can’t imagine you won’t be shown the science center and such but perhaps reach out to some kids majoring in your scientific area of interest. Any department should be able to help with that. You will have some free time in between and after the various admitted student activities.
I think I’m the lone agnostic here. Brandeis, for its size, is a remarkable institution. At less than 6,000 total students it’s barely more than a LAC itself, yet the intellectual heft of its faculty and general seriousness of its students are palpable. Amherst is the very epitome of the All-American small college experience, but let’s be honest, part of that package still contains a faint odor of exclusivity and appeal to wealth. Ironically, those were qualities upon which Brandeis was founded, in part, to get away from. The OP really needs to walk around both campuses to feel which one fits best.
the poster’s parents should understand that undergrads getting science research experience at top LACs is probably easier than at the R1 larger schools where the undergrads are usually thrown under the day to day supervision of a grad student or postdoc. Also, every top200 R1 institute for grad school or med school knows about Amherst. And an NSF funded summer research position in the science center at Amherst will sound pretty good to those who may not quite understand.
Perhaps it is unfair to say that Amherst is the epitome of exclusivity and wealth as it has made the biggest strides of any LAC in diversity. The current students reflect 45% diversity. Amherst is also need blind, and admits without regard to application for need. Whereas Brandeis is “need aware”. A tour of the campuses and you will see first hand the commitment to sciences at Amherst with the new science center. It is the largest capital infrastructure in the school’s history. The impression I got touring Brandeis is that in the 1970’s it was quite a school, but the dorms are dated, and the science center is about 1/4 the size. The thing that Brandies does have going for it over Amherst is location proximity to downtown Boston and potential internships in research. You can’t replicate that in Amherst and that in fact might be a tipping point.
one of the top schools for both Medicine and PhD graduate research is University of California San Francisco (UCSF). 99.9% of the country doesn’t know it exists; it has no undergrads and no football team. Even people in the bay area don’t know about it, but it has ranked in the top 10 every year in medicine and biomedical research. Don’t take advice based on what sounds best to aunt suzie at thanksgiving.