<p>can i have some info about these schools for a possible international/globalization studies major... </p>
<p>Hampshire
Kenyon
Oberlin
Reed
Marlboro
Grinnell</p>
<p>what's social life like on campus? how are the academics? are the people friendly? would a degree from these colleges be respected for high caliber grad school admissions? are the campuses nice?</p>
<p>anyone know anything???</p>
<p>I want to apply to hampshire, but i'm also having a hard time getting any info. about the school. and they viewbook doesn't say much, so if anyone could give info on hampshire i'm sure both of us will apreciated.</p>
<p>Reed and Oberlin are probably the most well known/prestigious. All of them are known for attracting a slightly "hippy" student body (Hampshire the most and Kenyon the least). You can get a good education at all of them, but Hampshire and Marlboro are very unconventional. How much learn at those two depends on how much effort you put into learning. </p>
<p>Reed has a strong core curriculum and is known for intense academics. </p>
<p>Marlboro is REALLY small. </p>
<p>Hampshire benefits from the consortium with other nearby colleges (including Amherst and Smith).</p>
<p>Kenyon has a very pretty, Gothic style campus in the middle of NO WHERE. It is a highly regarded college in spite of the fact that is still seems sort of unknown outside the midwest. Kenyon offers a few very cometitive scholarships that require some extra paperwork and an early submit date. There is a prominent Greek scene.</p>
<p>Oberlin also has a very pretty campus, a little more sprawling than Kenyon's. It has a few small town amenities around it. Oberlin has a well known music program and a reputation for sort of artsy, granola kids. (I only mention that because when we visited it screamed at us.) Slightly less scholarship money available. </p>
<p>Those are the only two on your list that we toured and know about. My family has several Kenyon graduates - including my husband.</p>
<p>If you go to Ohio to visit I strongly urge you to visit Denison University too. It is close to Kenyon but in a very sweet little town and closer to a real city - Columbus. It has a very beautiful campus (I liked it better than Kenyon, but they are both pretty in their own way). Kids are really friendly, classes small and personal, a much smaller Greek scene than Kenyon and really great scholarships available. My son attends Denison and I have a write up about it here:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=159719%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=159719</a></p>
<p>Hope that helps you out a little.</p>
<p>hampshire is very 'different'- very non conformist students who are artsy, quirky, eccentric, politically very very liberal. intellectual. very laid back and friendly student body.
also, students dont get grades, they get detailed course evaluations</p>
<p>it is an excellent school: hampshire states that 85% of grads applying to grad schools get into on of their top choice programs, and 60% of alums hold a Masters or higher.</p>
<p>--I have recently been touring, and researching, alternative schools in New England and so the information is quite fresh in my mind.
--The five college consortium makes Hampshire an incredible school. You are going to a small college but have the resources of a large university (UMass) and of 3 other prestigious schools (Amherst, Smith and Mount Holyoke). Because there are no specific course requirements at Hampshire the students there are more able to take advantage of this situation than those at any of the other schools in the five college area.<br>
--Graduate schools are said to love schools like Hampshire, those that require a lot of independent study and give evaluations instead of grades, because they get a much more accurate picture of what kind of student they are admitting. The graduate school statistics from these types of schools are very good, in terms of how many get in and the caliber of the schools/programs to which they are admitted.
--The students at Hampshire seem to be very happy and involved with their work. While there is certainly a hippie contingent there, many of the students are from New York (and other large cities) and look more punk, or hipster, than hippie. They are definitely left leaning and not preppy, but they really aren't so "different" from the students at many other liberal schools such as Wesleyan and Vassar.
--Also, if you are interested in Marlboro and Hampshire, check out Nearby Bennington as well. It has a smart, friendly, supportive student body, a beautiful campus, and the very interesting, practical Field Work Term requirement. Of all the alternative schools I have visited in the past year: Sarah Lawrence, Bennington, Bard, Eugene Lang, and Hampshire, Bennington seems to have the most sociable, welcoming atmosphere. At all of the schools the students were very engaged in their school work and excited and eager to talk about what they were working on. I think that perhaps this is a function of their designing their own courses of study.</p>
<p>Yeah, Reed and Oberlin are amazing schools (also very selective). Hippy, but amazing.</p>