<p>Hi! Sorry, I have another question. How do intramural sports at Amherst work (in terms of eligibility, time commitment, and rigor)? I'm most interested in basketball and soccer. Is there a girls' team for both of them? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I have a question about the atmosphere at amherst.
I visited my brother recently at Johns Hopkins. Just by hanging out for an hour with his friends you can tell how intelligent they are, but it's not that they're flaunting it...they just are smart. And they care about their classes, and they want to learn...to the point where seeing them doing their work almost made me want to do homework or something. It's not that they spend every hour on their work, because they don't, but they do study and they care about their classes.
I was wondering if you've had a similar experience at amherst? anything you can tell me about the academic/social atmosphere would be helpful, thanks :)</p>
<p>Starshooter-I don't play intramual sports because I play a sport here, but I have some friends on teams. I think it is open to everyone and is pretty informal, with games often on weekends and sometimes during the week. You just get a group of your friends together and form a team and you make it as rigourness (or not rigourness) as you like.</p>
<p>JPan-I would say that is similar to Amherst. I would say most people here are smart, but there are very few people who fit the nerd sterotype. I think there aren't many people here who lock themselves in the library and study all the time. I would say most try to find the right balance between school/athletics and campus groups/socializing.</p>
<p>What's the metal scene like in amherst?</p>
<p>this thread is really helpful. I'll add my question to the list.</p>
<p>I've been playing soccer for a really long time, and I love the sport. However, I do not intend to play on my college's team. From what I've heard/read, a very large percentage of Amherst students play varsity sports. Does this make non-athletes feel out of place? And, what is the commitment like for club sports?</p>
<p>
[quote]
What's the metal scene like in amherst?
[/quote]
I have no personal experience with the Amherst area metal scene, but this</a> obituary of a local luthier mentions that the Pioneer Valley is home to at least one Grammy-nominated metal band. If no one here can give you anything better, I would poke around that website to get an idea of the music scene in the Pioneer Valley. It seems like a good source.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I've been playing soccer for a really long time, and I love the sport. However, I do not intend to play on my college's team. From what I've heard/read, a very large percentage of Amherst students play varsity sports. Does this make non-athletes feel out of place? And, what is the commitment like for club sports?
[/quote]
I had sort of the same concern coming here, since I never so much as played Little League, and it hasn't been any problem at all. Whenever a bunch of team members through a party, they don't throw out non-athletes or anything like that. Pretty much every party here (besides small private things in people's rooms) is open to whoever wants to come. There's no divide between athletes and non-athletes at all. Club sports vary in the level of dedication required. Some require more time commitment than others. I know the crew team has had a couple really early morning practices the last week or so, but that's not the norm. I also have some friends on the rugby team. I know they practiced a couple times a week during the season. They have a couple offseason practices coming up, but I think those are optional.</p>
<p>I don't know much about the metal scene, but bands of every kind come and play in Northampton (a free bus ride away).</p>
<p>Non-athletes don't feel out of place at all. Everyone has friends who are and are not on varsity teams. I play ultimate frisbee, which is a club sport. It's the most fun I've ever had in my life! If you fully commit to it, it's sometimes 5 practices a week and then a weekend tournament. That's pretty rare, though, and now that it's the off-season we practice less. Club sports are perfect because it's up to you how much you put into it. I've put in a lot and it's definitely worth it, but some of my other friends who are more casual have had a great time too. So the moral of the story is...play ultimate! Just kidding, play whatever you want, but seriously...</p>
<p>And then there is Quidditch!</p>
<p>Oooh, I'm gonna be a walk-on Quidditch player :D</p>
<p>Same here!</p>
<p>Can anybody help me with the name of shuttle services between Bradley airport and Amherst please? Thank you.</p>
<p>I did find one, the Valley Transporter, but was wondering anyone's experience as far as reliability etc. Thanks.</p>
<p>GA2012mom, I think we are both sending off new students to AC this August. We also live a long way away, but in the NW. Is your daughter going by herself? I'm trying to figure out what to do for my son. I'd really like to go with him for the first time, but it's so expensive to get another RT ticket for me, plus rent a car, motel, etc. I'm wondering if he could get there on his own, and I could ship what he needs from home to arrive there ahead of him.</p>
<p>'rentof2, I sent you a pm.</p>
<p>You might check out Seemo shuttle as well.</p>
<p>D has used Seemo and Valley Transport. Both are reliable.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>are there a lot of koreans at amherst? </p>
<p>if not koreans... just asians in general?</p>
<p>Percentage-wise, 11-12% of students identify as Asian/Pacific Islander, which doesn't include those who chose not to identify their ethnicity. There are also usually a few international students from Korea in every class. Anecdotally, there seems to be a reasonably sized Korean population here.</p>
<p>Sparke, I'm actually a korean freshman here. there are about 15 koreans (2 international) in the freshman class, and most of us hang out together on a regular basis (this doesn't seem to be the case for the '10 and '09 class though). As for other asians, most of them are chinese exchange students.</p>