<p>I have been fortunate enough to be admitted to Amherst, Wesleyan, Carleton, Grinnell, Johns Hopkins, and Umich (I am a Michigan resident, and would receive a full-ride at Michigan.) I am interested in studying International Relations, but I'm attracted to many different areas and thus Amherst's open curriculum is appealing. Currently, I'm leaning towards Amherst or Wesleyan, just because I think I'd like the small liberal arts college feel better than a large university. Is Wesleyan comparable to Amherst in terms of undergraduate education? I'm thinking I might like the vibe better at Wesleyan, but I haven't had any chance to visit. Any advice or insight on these schools? Thank you!</p>
<p>Are you male or female. I would research deeply before attending Amherst as a female. Wesleyan is much more offbeat than Amherst. I can’t imagine you wouldn’t visit the two before choosing.
I would not turn down the full ride. Seriously? Unless the other packages are great.
I would be very cautious going to Johns Hopkins as an undergraduate as you might not be taught by actual professors. It’s all about the grad students there, many do not speak English well.</p>
<p>Michigan has a TOP 10 IR/political science department with a national rep. Hopkins offers similar bragging rights + a number of programs in DC - and the opportunities that entails - that are open to undergrads ( The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, their grad division, is located in DC, not Baltimore).</p>
<p>Amherst, Carleton, Grinnell and Wesleyan all have excellent departments that may not offer the depth and reputations of the larger universities but potentially stronger teaching. Amherst, as pointed out, is not Wesleyan. These 2 schools have VERY different vibes and I’d agree with redpoint to carefully check out their CC sites and recent issues of their student newspapers to get insight into this.</p>
<p>I’d also agree with redpoint that a full ride at Michigan is really hard to turn down. Unless money were absolutely no issue, I’d have real trouble looking anywhere else</p>
<p>Wesleyan’s atmosphere is changing - it’s not as offbeat as it once was. Different than Amherst for sure, but not as different as 10-15 years ago.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers everyone! To clarify, my family is low-income, and we received great financial aid packages from the LAC’s I was admitted to, especially Amherst. So, even with the Michigan full-ride, with the relatively low price of the other colleges, I’m now searching more for fit. redpoint, are you referring to the sexual assault incidents at Amherst that have recently come to light? I have researched the issue and was admittedly perturbed, but sexual assault is an issue at many college campuses and I did not see it as a reason to immediately discount the school. I will be visiting both Amherst and Wesleyan in the coming months, and will hopefully be able to decide where I feel most comfortable/what is the best academic fit. </p>
<p>Those were good points about the resources at the larger universities, however, I think I value more professor access and quality of teaching, which are excellent at all of the colleges I was accepted to, so now I think it’s just a matter of degree. I plan to attend graduate school at a place such as Georgetown or Johns Hopkins, so I may want to focus more now on getting a solid liberal arts education and those skills that go with it and specialize later.</p>
<p>Wesleyan impresses me as being the more spacious campus; very few complaints about lack of places to hold social functions, student clubs. Just about everyone agrees the Amherst student union was an architectural mistake.</p>