I have a kid at Bryn Mawr and my impression from her experience and from conversations I’ve had with other parents is that Haverford and Bryn Mawr function as one. It’s relatively easy to get to Penn (30 minutes on train) but BMC/Haverford students generally wait until they are juniors/seniors to exercise that option.
Swarthmore to the BiCo is 30+ minutes on a shuttle, so effectively if you want to take a class at the BiCo you need to block an hour on either side which can make scheduling a challenge. Swarthmore to Penn apparently takes longer on public transportation than BiCo to Penn but I don’t have the particulars on what’s involved. A friend I know that teaches at Swarthmore has told me that it’s relatively uncommon for students from other consortium colleges to take classes there.
I think that the benefits of most consortia are more imagined than real because once students get to campus, most if not all of their needs met where they live. The modest inconvenience of a half hour commute to get to a class on another campus may not be that attractive when there are abundant options close at hand. The Claremont Consortium seems to be an exception to that rule because the campuses are very close to one another. Within the Quaker Consortium, the BiCo works because of proximity. Similarly in the Pioneer Valley, Amherst College and U Mass are close together but it takes more effort to access Smith or Mount Holyoke. I’m not saying it can’t be done. It just requires a bit more effort and planning.
Idaho is lovely. There are parts I’d avoid on cultural grounds, but overall I’m just centrist enough to be able to live peacefully in E Washington, Idaho and Montana. It would require ignoring a few things, but I’d do fine otherwise.
This was our distinct impression too. D did an overnight visit (athletic recruit) and her hosts made it pretty clear that Haverford was like an extension of BM and visa versa. In fact, they took her to a party at Haverford on her visit.
I loved BM and part of me wanted my D to choose it. And it is IMO the loveliest campus I’ve come across. Just a stunning place and great school. I’m such a fan of the women’s colleges.
I also find the Amherst/Umass combo compelling at many levels, if you can get into Amherst as it presumably allows relatively unfettered access to the UMass business school, and a broad diversity of academic settings, options and research. I wonder, however, how it plays out in reality. Research would seem to suggest the Amherst crowd is preppy/snobby/sporty and taking a significant number of classes ay Umass will be socially frowned upon… any insights out there?
I think anyone at Amherst who is smart enough to take several UMass classes over mealtimes (required to get a pass to the UMass dining hall) would be considered a genius by his or her peers.
A couple details that are probably unimportant to anyone reading this, but first semester all classes must be at Amherst College, and with the exception of one specific class not offered at Amherst College, the premed committee does not look favorably on premed required classes taken at other consortium schools.
The issue is whether they would consider them “vocational”. IIRC I remember reading about someone having a problem with that, and most likely I read it on CC so theoretically it’s there.
My daughter has zero interest in any business classes, so we never looked into it.
Also, after I am guilty of furthering this side conversation, can we get back on track? My 21 grad had limited visits because of Covid, and my next one is a 25 so we have a couple years before it heats up. I check out this thread to live vicariously through the rest of you. Someone help me out, I’m on college search withdrawals!
Here is the info I found regarding credit for classes taken at Five College Consortium: course interchange program
I wonder if with Covid having moved classes online if students took advantage of this more or less? Not sure. What I do know is that I asked D18 earlier in the early years why she hadn’t taken a class at another campus and she said, “You don’t go to Amherst College to take classes at other schools.” Which I think you could take Amherst College out of that sentence and fill it in with any other school your kid loves (and my kid 's Amherst).
Since then she has taken an online class at Umass in their linguistics department. So, the opportunity to take a class in a top ranked program and the ease of online may have made it easier to jump at the chance.
I don’t think there would be any snobbery if kids take a class at other schools. I just think there are very appealing, interesting courses offered at Amherst College and the chance to make friends where you live, makes it an easy decision to stay on campus.
Thank you so much for your assessment of U Oregon. It is on my kid’s list, but it is a financial reach for our family. Do you know much about Oregon State? OSU would probably be more of a financial fit for us, but I don’t know how it compares to U Oregon.
I can actually contribute a tiny bit to the main topic.
University of Puget Sound, a school that doesn’t get much love here.
We did an Olympic Peninsula vacation this past summer. It was really early for D25 to do a visit, but she loves the PNW, so we decided to visit UPS while we were in the area because I don’t know if she will get a second chance before she actually is applying in a few years. Unfortunately my son’s flight into Seattle got messed up, which necessitated a schedule change. So instead of doing a tour/info session, we did a self guided walk around in the early evening.
It was the first time D25 had set foot on a LAC. She has been to our state flagship and the local directional U several times. Even though we didn’t get the full experience, it confirmed her initial thoughts, that she could see herself somewhere that size. Little indications that things are pretty liberal on campus, which I expected but gave some comfort to my budding SJW.
I did caution her that it is really early, and that mostly I wanted her to be thinking about types of places she wants to be, or more importantly types of places she does not want to be. She could see herself there, and honestly I won’t be surprised if 3 years from now we are thinking it may be a good fit for her.
Not a small bonus, we saw more than one dog on campus. So at least in the summer evenings, it is populated by her people!
And Amherst, like some of the other NESCACS, is able to pull pretty good athletes who likely had some D1 opportunities (usually lower end). Amherst is a little more spotty in terms of specific sports as compared to, say, Williams, which tends to be competitive in pretty much everything. But the good Amherst teams are very good and competitive. Their women’s soccer program, for example, is no joke. You need to be really good to play there, and it’s not a stretch I wouldn’t think that Amherst varsity soccer as a team could probably run with U Mass Amherst soccer, and I’d almost bet the farm Amherst has more than a handful of players who could play for the other school.
Southofthereiver: Good luck to your daughter. For some reason, the Planning, Public Policy, and Management major is in the College of Design (with architecture, my daughter’s major), probably because of the “planning” part. I’ve heard very good things about the major and that it is well-regarded on campus. I encourage her to apply early. It’s early ACTION, rather than early decision, so she is not bound to attend, but it’s just nice to know about admissions by the holidays.
This school always makes me smile. Back in the dark ages when I was applying to schools, they sent me my favorite college promo material, titled rhetorically:
“How does Puget Sound?”
I don’t know why, but I always thought that was hilarious.
University of Puget Sound is one of those schools I was hoping we would get to visit when our S19 was looking. It seemed like a neat school with a beautiful location, but it got knocked off the list based on weather (my husband is not a fan of the PNW climate) and I have still never been to Washington State.
's Amherst).