<p>Just wondering if any students, alumni, parents or job recruiters are aware if Amherst’s reputation as a top lac is widely known in areas outside of the northeast. Thanks!</p>
<p>My uncle's in business in the midwest and raved about Amherst's reputation...I was on the fence about applying and that's one of the reasons I did.</p>
<p>Depends very much on the value of an education is to the person you're asking. MOST, if not all, of my friends and family all across the US would be very impressed with Amherst education. Those who are academic and those who are athletic (and division III aware).</p>
<p>But what I have found in life is it isn't what other people think it's about how it feels to you. If you spend your life trying to second guess everyone else's opinion on you and/or your life, you are in for a rather long road looking for acceptance. Truly, it's not worth it.</p>
<p>And actually, this is also probably why people comment that Amherst folk aren't as effusive about their college choice than others (swarthmore, williams, etc). I have come to the conclusion that they are perhaps more self assured to know that they are where they want to be. It's the goldilocks theory: It's just right.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I come from the midwest and about one-half of my high school friends are very much aware of Amherst's reputation. This group is made up of high achieving students. The other half has not heard of Amherst. Many of the kids in this group plan to attend colleges in our state. What I failed to ask in my last post is whether or not grad schools and employers outside of the northeast are aware of Amherst's rep. and the type of student is produces. Thanks.</p>
<p>My understanding is that the people who truly count (Grad Schools, etc.) know Amherst. I'd imagine most big employers within the United States also. Abroad, I've heard of some lacking name recognition (but this was in comparison to Harvard).</p>
<p>My mom was at the bank the other day and mentioned Amherst offhandedly. The neighboring teller went on to rave about the school. We're on the west coast.</p>
<p>I think that what is so special about Amherst is that fact that the students who go there could have gone to a "big name" school like Harvard or Yale, but they chose to go to Amherst because they weren't so shallow. I think that it is obvious that grad schools and employers know Amherst and are very impressed with it...it's the #1 liberal arts college IN THE COUNTRY. Everyone who matters knows how prestigious Amherst is. If you are the type of person who is just applying to schools for namesake, that's shallow and annoying. Bottom line, Amherst is prestigious and incredibly well respected. Other bottom line, as long as Amherst is an amazing school, does it REALLY matter how "well known" it is?</p>
<p>Sorry for the rant.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback...it was all very helpful!</p>
<p>Amherst may not have the name recognition of an Ivy among the hoi polloi, but is no mystery to top professional schools.</p>
<p>Thanks, JW...the info you provided was what I was trying to find (Amherst's reputation with top grad schools and top employers in the coountry).</p>
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<p>It's wrong to say that all students who attend schools like Harvard or Yale do so just because they are "shallow." A person is allowed to want to go to an Ivy League/"big name" school because of what the school offers and not for its name.</p>
<p>Amherst College is considered as a peer school, in several respects, of Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale & Williams. The curriculum, I believe, offers freedom similiar to that of Brown University. It is not uncommon for an Amherst student to also have been accepted to a couple Ivy League schools.</p>
<p>Oh WishyWashy, I'm sure that Melanie didn't mean that everyone who attends an Ivy League school is shallow. Why must people take one small part of a post, quote it, and make such generalizations by referencing the quote? Melanie's point was that students who attend Amherst generally see past the "glitz" of an Ivy League school. It wasn't the opposite, that those who attend ivy schools are only in it for the glitz. </p>
<p>Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.</p>
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Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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<p>I love that saying! So true. I think we can safely say that there are a lot of generalities on CC and they aren't meant to stereotype (although stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason). We will always find the exception to the rule (and they are good to hear) but just because they exist doesn't mean they make the generalities less true.</p>
<p>Amherst will be pretty much universally known among grad schools, professional schools, and top line employers. Outside the Northeast, you will run into some people whose knowledge of colleges pretty much begins with the state schools and ends with schools they've heard of in the context of college football and basketball...but those people aren't usually the ones making hiring decisions.</p>
<p>The same can be said for the top 25-30 LAC's, not just Amherst.
Hmm...now that I think of it, that encompasses all the LAC's in CC's Top LAC's forum</p>