Hi! I’m a rising senior looking at Amherst College, and I think from what I’ve seen it really appeals to me–I’m an introvert so a small college would suit me well but there are 4 other colleges in the area so I won’t feel that isolated. I also love the Open Curriculum + cross-registration and it has my majors, plus people seem intellectually-driven and focus on learning which I love.
However, I do have some concerns:
I’ve heard there is some self-segregation at Amherst and I’m not really feeling that–I love diversity and interacting with multiple people.
I’m also pretty connected to my Asian Indian culture, and I heard if you’re like that you could feel out of place??
Furthermore, I love like Boston vibes and I’m not sure how I feel about Amherst being a small town–does the small town give off a very rural feel?? I prefer more a urban/suburban type feel–I guess kind of like Brown U.
I’m not really sure how accurate these concerns of mine are in 2020, so could someone please let me know if they still hold true? Any insight would be really appreciated–thank you!
(Also, my intended majors are biophysics and linguistics. How is the biology department at Amherst? Also, I think I’d have to cross-register to get my linguistics degree since Amherst doesn’t offer it–would my linguistics degree still be a degree from Amherst?)
Based on your lack of familiarity with Amherst, coupled with your focus on Amherst only, it seems that you are early in your college search. Both Amherst and Brown are high reaches for almost everybody, so starting your college search by focusing on these two colleges is a good way to end up disappointed next spring.
If you are looking for a small college and are not really interested in a more isolated location, there are a number of liberal arts colleges in suburban or urban settings.
Amherst is in a small town, but, aside from the rest of the colleges in nearby towns, it also has UMass Amherst, with 15,000 students nearby.
My son will be a senior at Amherst. If by self segregation you mean the much talked about “athlete vs non-athlete” divide that is much more of an issue on College Confidential than it actually is at the college. Everyone can find friends at Amherst and the college does a lot for the freshmen to have them mingle and meet. For example the freshmen arrive on campus a week before classes start and the first three days the freshmen go on retreats off campus so they all have a chance to get to know each other. Not sure they will do that with covid but I am sure they will do some other activities with social distancing.
I personally think that the town of Amherst is more suburban than rural at least compared to some of the other LAC’s which are in very rural areas!
Thank you for your responses! I actually consider myself to be at the end of the college search, and I’m trying to figure out if I should apply ED/RD to Amherst, as I have never been to the campus/area and can’t go now during the pandemic. My safeties/matches are all in-state (NC) so I was focusing on researching more about my reaches! I’ve looked at some other LACs, but my parents won’t send me out of state unless it’s worth giving up UNC Chapel Hill, so none of the LACs other than Pomona really appeal to me. If you have any suggestions about LACs in urban/suburban areas I’d love them as I may have missed some that would be good for me!
And that’s good to hear about the athlete vs non-athlete divide not being much of an issue, and that the Amherst town gives off a suburban feel, thank you! On the self-segregation front, I also heard that people of similar ethnic groups and whatnot will form their own groups and kind of stay to themselves–does anyone know how true this is?
@merc81 Ah yes, I should not have implied that only Amherst and Pomona are worth venturing out of NC for; other LACs provide an amazing education as well. I should’ve said that basically any LACs other than Amherst and Pomona don’t appeal to me, primarily because of location.
@merc81 Thank you for the resources! I’ve skimmed through them in case there were any names I haven’t heard of. But I think Amherst’s pros outweigh the urban/suburban feel I was going for–I’ve almost been warming up to the idea of a smaller town for an undergraduate experience. Thank you again for the links!
You mentioned Boston, please check out Tufts, which has a lot of overlap with Brown. Also Vassar is 1.5 hours train ride to the big NYC, and Haverford and Swarthmore are very close to Philadelphia.
If you’re still considering, here are some other things to think about with Amherst:
I wouldn’t call Amherst urban, suburban, or rural. It’s truly a college town, and much livelier than the average suburb. There are tons of college students in the area (with Amherst, UMass, Hampshire, etc.), and because of that the shops have “city hours.” As in, they’re open late and often cater to younger people. The views of pioneer valley to the west might give off a more rural vibe. To me that’s the best of both worlds, though it may be a con to you or to others that it’s not urban.
If you take courses at other campuses, I believe your degree will still only say Amherst College. Note you can take up to half of your classes off campus each semester.
Amherst just built a new science center so their facilities for biology, physics, etc. are quite strong.
Another pro for both Amherst and Brown are their open curriculums. Often LAC distribution requirements can skew towards humanities, which is a pain for anyone in the sciences. The open curriculum allows much more flexibility and does not benefit or hurt any one major.
Amherst definitely isn’t suburban or rural. As stated above, it’s a college town. And Northampton is a few mikes down the road, and is a small city with a great vibe. Far bigger and more interesting than say Hanover NH where Dartmouth is.
If you want a LAC feel yet more urban, Brown and uChicago are great options.
I definitely would pick Amherst over UNC personally; it’s an amazing college.