<p>feel free to ask away.</p>
<p>Does Amherst allow students to fashion their own "major"? I am very interested in History of Science, but there's no definite department that covers it. I guess it would be a blend of hard sciences, history and a splash of sociology. Is it doable?</p>
<p>Is Amherst one of those colleges where students go to class in their pajamas or sweatpants? Thanks!</p>
<p>from another current studen:
tkm256, yes Amherst does have the create-your-own-major option.
travelgirl18, people don't go to class in pajamas here, but there's a lot of students going to class in sweatpants.</p>
<p>I'm interested in Linguistics, but Amherst doesn't have it as a major...is there a way I could still major in it, either by taking classes at UMass, or the create-a-major?</p>
<p>amyloplast, I'm mildly interested in linguistics myself. I think you need a certain number of major classes to be taken at Amherst even for the Independent major. While a pure linguistics major is not exactly possible at Amherst, you could find a way to do a language major (with some language and philosophy classes taken at Amherst and actual linguistics at UMass). I will actually discuss this with my advisor in our next meeting so I'll keep you posted.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Sweatpants are good too. I just like to know that I won't be expected to look fantastic every time I go to class.</p>
<p>What do you hate about amherst?</p>
<p>Hmm...this is a tough one. I don't hate anything. There are some things that need to be improved upon like Valentine food. It's not bad just really monotonous. Sometimes you just have to order in or go out for variety. Right now I dislike how windy it is, but I can't do anything about that. My dorm is the oldest renovated dorm (1999), so I suppose I can complain about not having the same things as the newer ones. But then I think about my friends dorms at other schools, and my complaints pretty much disappear. The Spanish department is pretty weak, but they're really working on rebuilding it. The chair, Stavans, is amazing, and my professor right now is brand new and very challenging. Amherst is pretty much the best college experience, so my complaints amount to very little.</p>
<p>I hate how the fine arts department doesn't offer its courses in a logical sequence. But it's not that bad--it just means I'm skipping around.</p>
<p>that's pretty sweet.
I visited Amherst myself during the open house weekend, and so far, its my number one choice.
But in reality, it feels like you Amherst people are hiding something. Whenever I ask current Amherst students what they do not like about amherst, it always has something to do with the weather and food, which aren't too bad.
Doesn't the small atmosphere ever get stuffy? Are most of the people usually enjoyable?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I don't find the atmosphere restricting. Maybe it'll change in a couple of years? But then I'll be doing study abroad (whoohoo!), so that'll be a change of setting. And there'll be a different mix of students each year, so it will always be something new.</p>
<p>I spend time off campus as well, so I don't have that whole "bubble" feeling. I'm pretty much familiar with the whole county. It's easy to get to places, either with friends that have cars or the free bus system.</p>
<p>Most of the people are usually enjoyable. </p>
<p>There's nothing to hide... there usually aren't any things major enough to make a student want to transfer. The things we usually complain about is the food. You can get creative with that.</p>
<p>Um... trying to think of things I don't like so much...</p>
<p>I think the newspaper is a little sub-par sometimes, especially with its photos. And I don't like the newspaper's website. Oh, wait, that's only dislike. I can't come up with anything I hate.</p>
<p>
[quote]
What do you hate about amherst?
[/quote]
Chances are that you would get much more detailed and entertaining responses to this question if you reposted it over in the Williams forum.</p>
<p>Entertaining, yes. Informative/truthful, no.</p>
<p>Every parking space in town, even in back of buildings has a parking meter.</p>
<p>Good thing I don't have a car :D</p>
<p>Has anyone had a class with Prof. Servos? I'm interested in contacting him about History of Science.</p>
<p>hey, i just got accepted so I'm really excited! my problem is i applied to 8 other schools too, and i honestly don't have any "top choices" - i've always been more mellow about it because they're all amazing schools and i'm sure i'd be happy at any of them. unfortunately i'm now realizing i actually have to choose one of them in the near future. so...what made you choose amherst? what do you think is special/unique? and what's the general atmosphere like - i mean, i know it has a reputation for being a very intense school academically, but is it intense in a good way or do people tend to get really stressed out and competitive? is there an overwhelming amount of drinking or can i still have a social life if i don't drink? wow, that was a lot of questions. you don't have to answer all of them, just any comments you have would be great since i'm probably the most indecisive person ever. </p>
<p>oh also, do you think i'd get a better idea of the school if i came up and visited during the overnight openhouse for accepted students they're having in april, or if i just came up and did an overnight and sat in on classes on my own?</p>
<p>I GOT IN TOO!
woot.</p>
<p>D went to Diversity weekend for accepted students in April last year and called and said "This is it!" She also attended 2 others and didn't like those, but liked Amherst's. She loves it there!</p>