<p>I'm really interested in Mount Holyoke. I'm just wondering what the overall attitude of the school is. How would you describe both the academic experience and the social experience? I would like to double major in Psychology and Politics if it makes a difference.</p>
<p>@meticulous198 My daughter is attending MHC this fall. She looked at a lot of colleges and really fell in love with it. I would say the “overall attitude” is a very welcoming, friendly, supportive one, with a strong sense of community. Studies are taken very seriously yet the environment is definitely a collaborative rather than competitive or cut-throat like you find at some peer schools. Professors overall seem to be truly invested in teaching and being very accessible to students (ie they aren’t there just to do their own research, they really WANT to teach…)</p>
<p>She was really impressed with how engaged and passionate the students were. She loves the campus, and that the school is part of the 5-college consortium so there is a lot more to do locally than just what’s offered on the MHC campus (although that seems pretty vibrant, itself!) Northampton is a cool town, and you can take the free bus both to classes and cultural or social events at any of the other schools.</p>
<p>The community seems very open-minded and accepting, with a wide range between some very liberal feminist types and much more conservative women. There are a lot of international students, in fact, my D has requested to be roommates with a girl she met on the “accepted students” facebook page who is from Uzbekistan. There is a very strong sense of community. There are some very sweet traditions such as “M & Cs” (“milk and cookies”) in the evenings for a study break.</p>
<p>MHC also just instituted a new program where EVERY student will get funding for a summer internship, which is very cool! And most people also study abroad at some point.</p>
<p>Politics and Psych seem like a perfect thing to study at MHC. I would highly recommend you visit WHILE SCHOOL IS IN SESSION so you can get a good feeling for what the school is like. Good luck!</p>
<p>I tease my D, a MHC alumna, that her school didn’t need sororities, that the entire school is a sorority!! By sorority I mean the element of sisterhood. Students there seem to bond and have very fond memories of their time in So. Hadley. D is from the northeast, but has close friends from all over the country and world.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys. Your comments were very informative and assuring 
</p>