Amherst, Middlebury, Haverford pros and cons? Travelling dilemma

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I've been accepted to all, but I can probably only visit one or two, due to limited resources and conflicting scheduling.</p>

<ul>
<li>ALL the open houses are on the same weekend (4/18), though Middlebury has another open house the weekend before that. </li>
<li>I want to visit what I think is my first choice, but I don't want to feel like I'm making an uninformed decision, which is what I'll feel if I don't check out all the schools. They all seem like good matches for me, in different ways-- How do you go about making a tough decision between three great schools? (Not that I'm complaining-- I really am lucky to be in this position! :))</li>
</ul>

<p>Amherst pros:
- *Schupf scholar (25k in funding for independent study, but everyone seems to get all the internships they could possibly want, I'm not sure Schupf gives me a huge advantage) *
- name recognition
- classes at Hamilton and Smith, but consortium schools not that close to each other</p>

<p>Amherst cons:
- sense of community might be compromised by sharing town and school with UMass?
- cliques
- high proportion of athletes
- low possibility of joining acapella with no experience
- library looks run-down</p>

<p>Haverford pros:
- consortium with other small schools (contrasted with Amherst, whose main consortium partner seems to be UMass), but UPenn available by train if students really need it
- honor code and genuinely good people
- duck pond!
- *tight community *</p>

<p>Haverford cons:
- ** could get claustrophobic with just 1,200 students**
- the honor code seems like it could go overboard</p>

<p>Middlebury pros:
- winter term w/ lots of opportunities
- Facilities!!
- seems to be gaining name recognition
- friendliest people
- $2k/year more aid than Amherst
- tight community</p>

<p>Middlebury cons:
- don't know that I'd fit in, given my minority status and socioeconomic background.
- high proportion of athletes</p>

<p>What pros or cons am I missing? Right now, I'm leaning towards Amherst, though if I had something similar to Schupf at the other schools, I don't know what I'd choose. So the issue with the open houses is that I can pick, at max, two. Visiting Amherst is free, and although Midd is just a three hours from Amherst, I can't drive. Not to mention, Midd's first open house is a week before Amherst's, so I have two options: 1) Spend the entire week visiting colleges and miss a lot of school or 2) Fly twice, which means I'll have to pay more airfare to visit Midd, coming from the west coast.</p>

<p>Haverford is really far away from Amherst and Midd, though I could potentially get a partial travel grant. The biggest problem is that its open house is on the same day as Amherst's, so I'd have to cut my Amherst visit short. Even then, I don't know that I'll be able to make the open house, with airline reliability and timing as the main questions.</p>

2

<p>Amherst!..</p>

3

<p>I encourage you to visit two of these colleges to have some basis of comparison. You should be able to combine visits to Middlebury and Amherst on one airplane trip to the east coast.</p>

<p>It is possible to get from Middlebury to Amherst via public transportation. Take the Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) bus from Middlebury to Burlington, VT.
[Burlington</a> Link Express Schedule](<a href=“http://actr-vt.org/bus_schedules/burlington_link.php]Burlington”>http://actr-vt.org/bus_schedules/burlington_link.php)
Then take to the Amtrak Vermonter train down to Amherst, MA.
[url=<a href=“Amtrak”>http://www.amtrak.com/]Amtrak[/url</a>]</p>

4

<p>You don’t have to visit during the open houses, you know.</p>

5

<p>I think you should visit Midd, since you have the biggest concerns about fitting in there.</p>

6

<p>These are 3 great schools so you have a happy dilemma. One could build a case for any of them (based on your personality, interests, goals) but I would think the Schupf scholarship tilts the decision strongly in favor of Amherst. As for your cons, how is the presence of UMass not a positive? Compared to almost any other LAC, it means you have a vastly greater number of courses available to you.</p>

<p>You say the “sense of community might be compromised” by sharing the town and school with UMass, yet you’re the one worried about cliques?!?</p>

7

<p>Amherst!..</p>

8

<p>Sorry, I didn’t mean anything against UMass at all. I picked mostly small LACs to apply to, and most of the LACs I applied to were in rural areas. I would feel more comfortable in place with a strong sense of community (small schools, I assume). If there’s a school with 20k students in the same town, and there’s cross-enrollment between Amherst and UMass, wouldn’t that defeat the point of being at a small school?</p>

9

<p>If you haven’t been there, you must visit Middlebury. I was undecided until the moment I stepped onto campus for the first time. Then everything fell into place and I never looked back.</p>

10

<p>My son picked Midd over Amherst just for the campus . He did not regret it. Sciences Po in Paris for a year. 3 languages.</p>

11

<p>Haverford! </p>

<p>“Most seniors look back on their Haverford education with a distinctive appreciation. It is a fondness that comes from understanding how profoundly the College has changed them. Haverford teaches its students more than just school subjects: it teaches them to lead honorable lives… Many alumni do not realize the scope of their education until years later, but the impact is almost always felt. In this way, Haverford is unique.” --CP (a rival website to CC which shall cannot be named)</p>

12

<p>Why do you consider “high proportion of athletes” to be a con?</p>

<p>Athletes are people, too.</p>

13

<p>There are festivities, fun, goodies, and shows at the Amherst and Middlebury Open Houses.</p>

<p>Nothing at the Haverford Open House…</p>

<p>"Amherst cons:

  • sense of community might be compromised by sharing town and school with UMass?
  • cliques
  • high proportion of athletes
  • low possibility of joining acapella with no experience
  • library looks run-down"</p>

<p>–No, because the intellectual and social life and of the community resides on chiefly campus, and students head to town to get away. UMass students do take advantage of the Consortium, you may see only one or even no Five College students in your classes per semester. And, every college in the Consortium has its own campus and intellectual/social life, so you won’t have to be afraid of <em>gasp</em> Five College students crashing your parties en masse. What’s the problem, anyway? A few MoHos here, and few UMass bros there, and the party is livelier.</p>

<p>–There are cliques at every school. Doesn’t excuse the existence of cliques at Amherst, but, still.</p>

<p>–Amherst and Midd are both very sporty schools, but athletes make up <15 percent of the student body at Amherst. And, it’s not as if you can’t–or do you refuse–to be friends with athletes… they’re people, like you and I, except they have a commitment and a real passion on top of academics.</p>

<p>–A Capella takes everyone. Not that they have low standards, but they’ll take you on and help you out. Amherst is “The Singing College,” after all.</p>

<p>–Yeah, the library does suck,–it’s not that bad, really–but apparently our technology is tops according to CP.</p>

14

<p>

Maybe because serious academic students are sick of high school and don’t want to go to a school where athletes run the show.</p>

15

<p>^ What drives you to believe that the majority of athletes at Amherst and Middlebury aren’t serious about their academic work?</p>

16

<p>I didn’t say they weren’t. All I said was that many serious students don’t want to go to a school where athletes dominate the social scene.</p>

17

<p>I don’t know what your final decision would be, but if you can only look at two schools this week, I would definitely choose Amherst first in your case. The LAC atmosphere is not compromised by the presence of the other schools–they just make the town better. Not only that, but when the little town of Amherst gets claustrophobic, you can hop on a bus and go to Northampton for movies and great restaurants (or for taking a class at Smith) and fun shops. I think it’s the perfect mix of having a strong LAC feeling but of also having your options open for other things. Haverford is VERY small and there really isn’t an interesting town to enjoy right there. My child goes to a similar LAC (fantastic school, nothing town) and it does get a bit claustrophobic. Not that that’s all bad. You do get a more “stripped down” kind of life, reduced to its essentials. The kind of UMass students who would choose to take classes at Amherst tend to be the kind who are easily the equal of Amherst students but with fewer bucks, so that doesn’t compromise the atmosphere, either. It’s fun to try out the different schools, but you don’t have to. Another thing to consider is that Amherst is one of the top 3 LACs in the country, so it is of a slightly higher tier than Middlebury (#4, so no big deal) and Haverford (somewhat lower, though not drastically). I definitely think Haverford is worth a look, but as someone else said, you don’t have to go there for that special weekend–just a daytrip is fine. Maybe you can fly out of Philly? And yes, I’d definitley check out Middlebury, too, though it’s harder to get to by public transportation if you don’t have a car.</p>

18

<p>Three outstanding schools, and really quite comparable academically; IMO, there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between them in academic quality. I think the biggest differences are related to location and campus culture. Middlebury’s in a small town in the middle of nowhere. . . I mean, Vermont. Anyway, it’s really quite isolated, but in an absolutely gorgeous setting. If you’re into outdoor activities like hiking and skiing, it can’t be beat. And it attracts a lot of students who ARE into those things. If that’s not your thing, Midd may not be your school.</p>

<p>Amherst is in a small college town in a valley full of colleges, of which Amherst is almost certainly the best, though by no means the only good one. Lots of college town-type activities not only in the town of Amherst but throughout the surrounding area—a kind of college-town paradise. IF you’re into the college town scene, that is.</p>

<p>Haverford is in a quiet leafy suburb of a major American city. The town of Haverford isn’t particularly lively or interesting, nor are any of the neighboring Main Line suburbs. On the other hand, Philadelphia is a quick 20-minute train ride away, and New York about 90 minutes away by the (cheap) Chinatown bus. My impression is most 'Fords don’t get to NYC all that often but many do get to Philly on the weekends with some frequency. The weeknights are for studying and on-campus activities. Haverford is small, true enough, but it’s not isolated. Bryn Mawr is only a mile away and with seamless cross-registration most Haverford students end up taking some classes at Bryn Mawr and vice versa, and the two schools have lots of joint ECs and social activities. So don’t be fooled by the size; Haverford itself is more like half of a strongly integrated Bi-College academic and campus community, effectively doubling the size of the student body you’d be interacting with on a regular basis. There’s also substantial though certainly less interaction with Swarthmore, where Haverford students can also take classes (and vice versa); and many students at all these schools manage to take one or more classes at Penn during the course of their college years, or at least get to Penn occasionally for socializing and such. My D, who will begin at Haverford in the Fall, thinks this is an almost ideal combination, with a quiet lovely campus as a place to concentrate on your studies during the week, together with easy access to a major city with lots to do and lots of other nearby colleges and universities, with a total of 250,000 college students in the Philadelphia metro area, the nation’s second-largest concentration of college students after New York City. But that’s a question of person preference. Others prefer Midd’s rural, woodsy-outdoorsy setting; still others, Amherst’s semi-rural small college town feel. </p>

<p>What really defines Haverford, however, is its Honor Code. It’s worth thinking long and hard about this. For my D, and for many who are drawn to Haverford, the Honor Code is what makes the school and the campus community unique, and uniquely appealing—a place truly dedicated to the ideals of personal integrity, mutual respect, human dignity, and social justice, not just as abstract ideas but as practical guides to the ways people try to live their lives, individually and as a campus community. Others may find all this Honor Code talk oppressive. By and large, people know which side of that divide they’re on. It’s pretty much what defines whether you belong at Haverford. Don’t go if you’re not 100% comfortable with it. But if you find it appealing, then Haverford is probably the place for you, because you won’t find quite that same spirit replicated at other schools, even very good ones like Middlebury or Amherst.</p>

19

<p>Go to Amherst and Midd’s open houses, then visit Haverford another day if you can get a travel grant of some kind. From your given pros & cons, Haverford seems like the nicest school (for you) with its harmless cons. I happen to live near Haverford and its a very good school. Not at all claustrophobic, and its proximity to Philadelphia is very good for all types of career paths.</p>

20

<p>No one’s brought up the $25 grant money for research/indep. study yet. Students at top LACs seem to have no problem securing study abroad trips or internships-- would a 25k grant give a student significantly more opportunities?</p>