Also how do you feel about isolation. Many people on student review say there’s nothing to do and after a while it just gets to you. What do you do for fun and do you ever feel bored? @FireflyLights
@hellokitty679 The thing about feeling isolated is that it’s very personal - what feels isolated, too small for some would feel just right to someone else. I’ve never lacked for things to do on campus - there’s a lot to get involved in (sports, music, religious life, clubs, student government, etc.), so I would presume that when people talk about feeling isolated, they’re talking more about the surroundings. Much of the social life is low-key, which I love. It’s not super loud and party culture isn’t predominate. I sometimes miss the ease of living in a city, but having so much to do on campus or in the consortium and the fact that if you’re taking a rigorous course load you’re spending a fair amount of time doing work. I’ve never felt bored. But people need a different amount of stimulation, and I freely admit that I want less than many people. I think South Hadley’s location makes it easier to focus on academic work and the internal life of the campus.
One thing to consider when reading student review: it’s very heavily skewed negative, because dissatisfied people are more likely to seek out places to vent. I’ve been reading some of these reviews, and a few of them are just ludicrous. It’s an objective fact that Mt. Holyoke’s educational quality is not an F. (Also, uh, has student review not updated their site design since the 1990s? It makes my eyes bleed). There are some valid criticisms (it is very liberal, and some groups are intolerant of dissenting opinions - but this is a campus of 2,000, you just stop hanging out with people like that and seek out new people) I flatly disagree with some of the statements that are presented - it is not competitive at all, as far as I have seen, and the person who rated the social life as an F but says they found a fabulous group of friends is contradicting themselves within a single sentence. It’s frustrating for me to see some of the overblown criticism. There are a few gems on there, though. I’d steer clear of the ones that grade anything as an F, those tend to be the worst exaggerators.
@FireflyLights thank you SO MUCH for your advice/commentary. I love Mount Holyoke but looking at the StudentReview website seriously made me reconsider the college. I thought if that many people felt isolated and felt like transferring then there must be something wrong with the college. But I swear it all makes sense now that you’ve explained the reasoning behind the commentators. Thanks again! I look forward to my visit this weekend.
@hellokitty679 Glad I could help! The campus might be too isolated for you - but that’s something only you can figure out, and a campus visit is a great way to do that! Hope you enjoy it!
My daughter has never complained about feeling isolated or bored. In fact, just the opposite. Large dance parties with boys and red cups are short PVT bus up the street at UMASS. Hipster North Hampton is just a little further. You can also take shuttles to the Holyoke mall for retail therapy, if that’s your thing. MHC campus has an abundance of offerings from knitting circles to squash to "walking dead and GOT marathons.
As afar as the health center. Our experience is very good. My daughter had medical emergency which required an ambulance ride to the hospital (her first ER visit ever). The MHC staff was top notch with communications and follow up care.
Some more information about the new dining system is available (link at the bottom of post), including a timeline of construction. For all incoming firsties, in the (fairly unlikely) event that you get placed in Wilder, there’s going to be a lot of construction noise that will primarily affect you. If that’s going to bother you, you might want to initiate a room change early in the semester.
The timeline is thus: construction of the addition will begin over this summer (2016) and continue through December. Blanchard operations will continue as normal. The next phase of the renovation will commence over next summer (2017) and the building will reopen in fall of 2017. The top two floors of the renovated building plus the new dining addition will open in January of 2018, with the bottom floor of opening in March of 2018. Presumably the older dining facilities will close permanently during December 2017.
Why do you say it’s a fairly unlikely event? Is it not usually assigned to first years?
It’s a small dorm (only 101 students). Res Life reserves a certain number of rooms in each dorm for first years, but since Wilder is so small, the statistical likelihood of being placed there specifically for any individual person is small (also, one floor is the multifaith living and learning community, so if you’re not interested in that then the supply of rooms is further constricted). All of the older dorms on the green are like that (well, the Rockies are bigger). A lot of firsties will be in McGregor, which is the first-year dorm (somewhat out of the way, but gorgeous views of upper lake and window seats), Prospect (views of lower lake and a dining hall, but thin walls and small rooms), and 1837 (long walk, but gorgeous views).
HI, I am from India too. I’ve been accepted for fall 2016 and wanted to know more about MHC. If you have already joined, what would you recommend or say?
@ggrats2 I don’t think that me waxing poetic about about what I like about the school is generally very helpful, since what I’ll talk about and what you want to know don’t always really line up. Is there any way you could narrow your question down a bit? There’s a lot to say!
@Let’sDance I just wanted to chime in about helpful teachers in bio. My daughter has had the most amazing experience with her bio advisor. He is a mentor to her, and through him she has had incredible off-campus experience with the best people in her field (entomology). He gave her the keys to her own lab space within the first week of her freshman year. He’s also been very helpful as an advisor both academically and personally. She made the mistake of taking three heavy-duty lab courses her third semester and had a rough time: he was there to help. I NEVER had such a great connection with a professor in college and I feel she is really blessed to have this experience.
I have a question. What does GPA look like at MHC? I’ve heard at other schools there is grade inflation/deflation. What is the case at MHC? Are the majority of pre meds able to get good enough GPA’s for med school?
@hellokitty679 I wouldn’t say that MHC has grade deflation, but some people feel it. It’s the shock of going from high school, where grades are greatly inflated, to college. A lot of it depends on the professor (I had and will have again a professor who sees a C as a good grade. And grades will that in mind.) And from someone who’s father in on the admission committee at a highly ranked med school, there is more than just GPA. He puts a ton of weight on the MCATs.
@greengriffins25 Do you feel that some subjects, classes, or majors have tougher As than others? In most schools, there’s a class or two that has a rep where you’re lucky if you survive.
@Pheebers I do feel that there are some. Like with most colleges, orgo is one of them. I’m a geology major and we have two classes like that, and a professor that your lucky to get a C.
If anybody’s interested, you can watch the construction of the Blanchard addition on a webcam: https://www.mtholyoke.edu/communitycenter/live-webcam
Hello! What is the computer science department like at MHC?
@cheeesecake99 From what I can tell, it’s pretty great. My roommate’s found the instruction to be great, she really likes the small classes and the close attention. She’s also interested in all the five-college collaborative research, which I gather is excellent in Computer Science. One problem she’s encountered is issues getting classes in the intermediate level (though she’s considering a double major and so has a bit of a tight schedule), because the number of people wanting to take classes in the department has grown so much and so rapidly.
What were your test scores, GPA, AP scores, extracurriculars, etc. when you applied? Did you apply RD?