My daughter I think has narrowed it down to Hamilton and one other college. Hamilton has been nothing but very nice to us. They recently made us an incredible offer. We have never been able to visit and it is a total unknown in our area which makes the choice more difficult.
My daughter comes from a very unusual background and I want to make sure that we choose the right school academically and where she will be accepted socially. While most adults are fascinated by where we are from and her background , when she went to some of the different colleges meet the students chat groups, she felt like she had to be very careful about what she said because some people just would not talk to her.
If anyone is willing to private message me I would appreciate it. My daughter is going to be a Science major language minor and would like to keep up even if just a club or activity in music and the arts. My daughter has no interest in sports (she was in a sport in high school but no college she applied to had a team).
Sure I’d answer whatever you want to ask. My older son just graduated last May as a chemistry major and my younger son is a freshman (at this point he’s thinking he’ll major in economics or mathematics). I think I have a pretty good handle on Hamilton.
Just remember how the school markets itself. “At Hamilton you can study what interests you, be accepted for who you are and what you believe, and prepare to be the person you were meant to become.” I think the school lives up to that.
I’m also a bit worried about racism or classism on campus. The dearhamiltoncollege account on Instagram is a bit scary… I’ve definitely heard that the administration is not good with race issues, but I’m not sure how the students are
It’s hard for me to comment with much credibility on race relations on campus since I’m not a student and neither of my sons are minorities. I’d like to think that at a place like Hamilton everyone is treated equally.
One of my son’s good friends on campus is a minority from a lower socioeconomic, large urban area. I’d be curious to speak to him one day how he feels about racism on campus. Another good friend is a girl from his high school who is a minority so I could always ask her. She grew up in a mostly white suburban town so she may offer a different perspective.
If you’re really curious to get some different opinions on campus I think contacting some of the clubs on campus that deal with race issues, such as the African Students Association (Presence), Asian Student Union (Presence), Athletes of Color Initiative (Presence), Black & Latinx Student Union (Presence), Feminists of Color Collective (Presence), just to name a few. There are e-mail addresses for all those clubs in the links I provided.
If you might be open to a suggestion, @pumpkinnoodles, consider researching the words and actions of Hamilton’s administration independently. Then draw your own conclusions. To further this idea, consider seeking courses in philosophy and political theory at whichever college you choose. Every student at Hamilton who desires an intellectual foundation for their sociopolitical opinions should take Classics 201 and Government 276, for example.