<p>Hi. I’m currently a freshman at Vassar applying to transfer to Amherst. My basic intellectual interest is in the Arab world’s history, politics, religion, etc… The thread about the poli sci department was very informative, but I haven’t seen anything like it for other fields I’m interested in. </p>
<p>My first question is therefore what are the religion and history departments like?</p>
<p>Second, as part of my interest in the Arab world I’d like to study Arabic at Amherst. How is Amherst’s Arabic program? </p>
<p>Finally, I just read the thread about the underground fraternity. How big a part of the social scene are off campus fraternities at Amherst? </p>
<p>Religion and history are excellent. Arabic less developed than some other schools, but certainly present. I don’t think the so-call fraternities are much of a factor at all unless you seek them out.</p>
<p>Weak. The only faculty member teaching Arabic courses at Amherst is a “five-college lecturer” (non-PhD) temporary appointment. Amherst offers just two years of Arabic instruction, no minor, no major.</p>
<p>Compare to:</p>
<p>Swarthmore</p>
<p>Five faculty. 2 tenure-track PhD professors. Three lecturers, who handle the conversational sections. Three full years (2 semesters each) of Arabic are offered every year, plus additional advanced Arabic through literature courses. Arabic is the second most popular language. There is an interdisciplinary minor in Arabic Studies. Special majors and honors majors in both Arabic Studies and Arabic.</p>
<p>Williams</p>
<p>Three faculty. 2 tenure track and one visiting profess. Three full years of Arabic are offered.</p>
<p>Pomona</p>
<p>Also very weak. Just two years of Arabic offered at Claremont McKenna College. One Professor, one visiting lecturer.</p>
<p>Middlebury</p>
<p>Four faculty. Two tenure track professors (one is a linguist) and two visiting instructors. Four years of Arabic are offered.</p>
<p>Tsakashvili, there is something called the Five College Mentored Arabic Program available to Amherst students but I don’t know much about it. Might be something to check out, though.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who replied. 'rentof2, the Five College Arabic program seems like a pretty good option. As long as there’s some way to study the language for four years, which the program seems to provide, then I’m happy. Here’s to hoping, and thanking, anyone else who replies.</p>
<p>Quick question…Why are you transferring from Vassar? I’m applying there. I totally understand if you say Amherst is wayyy better than Vassar (haha), but I’m just curious.</p>
<p>Should a student want to pay Amherst prices for courses at a mid-tier state univerisity (#106 in US News), UMass-Amherst has one Arabic professor on the faculty - a history PhD. Although the department says they offer three years of Arabic instruction, only two years (Arabic I and II) were offered this year.</p>
<p>There is the self-taught language program that includes Arabic. The “mentor” for the Arabic offerings is an Italian professor.</p>
<p>Taking courses at UMASS is a horrible value for Amherst students, who are paying $39,000 in tuition versus $12,000 in-state or $20,000 out-of-state at UMASS. It would be folly to think that, on average, a course at UMASS is anywhere near the quality of an Amherst course, with quality including the professors, the students, the level of discussion, class sizes, and institutional emphasis on undergrad teaching.</p>
<p>I agree that if Arabic language and studies is your primary interest, there are probably more well-suited schools to apply to. There would be quite a few other options that have more concentration in that area. Georgetown is certainly the most well-known for its program, but American is also very popular. Both are probably quite a bit easier to get admitted to, as well.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you want to go to Amherst just because you love Amherst for all the great things it has to offer, then you can certainly put together something for yourself there with the resources available. </p>
<p>It just depends on what you’re looking for.</p>
<p>miss_murd3r: As I said my primary intellectual interest has become the Arab world. At Vassar it really isn’t possible to study the Arab world in great depth. The Arabic language program terminates after 2.5 years, there is no permanent Islamic scholar on the faculty, and very little from other departments. Vassar is a great school, and I strongly urge you to attend if you’re accepted. However, in the specific area I’m interested in, Vassar really cannot provide me with an opportunity to pursue my intellectual interest.</p>
<p>Amherst does have opportunities to study the Arab world in full. There is a permanent faculty member in the religion department speciailizing in Islam, Tariq Jaffer. The history department offers opportunities to study the Arab World’s history that are at least as good, perhaps even better, than those Vassar offers. Amherst’s curriculum in general also seems to offer more courses than Vassar’s curriculum that touch on the Arab world or Islam, such as “American Diplomacy in the Middle East from the Second World War to the Iraq War.” </p>
<p>I am taking into account what both intresteddad and mythmom are saying. However, it’s worth noting that the Arabic program is only one part of my intended academic program. As I said, I’d like to study the Arab World from many perspectives, as well as a historical one. Amherst’s religion and history departments are excellent, as 'rentof2 noted, and from what I’ve seen they can give me a better opportunity to study the region than Vassar’s could. I thus won’t be paying, “Amherst prices for courses at a mid-tier state university.” Instead I will be paying Amherst prices for Amherst classes, that may be supplemented by one or two classes at UMass. Moreover, the chance to study Arabic for four years at all is significantly better than the opportunity I currently have to study it for only 2.5 years. </p>
<pre><code>From my perspective, I am therefore not jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Your concerns are of course valid, and I am quite grateful for your time and thoughts. This response is simply to elaborate on my reasons for filing a transfer application to Amherst, and to respond to some interesting points that have been raised Thanks to all who have replied and anyone else who will reply.
</code></pre>
<p>P.S. If anyone like miss_murd3r is interested in Vassar, feel free to PM me. I’ll try to answer any questions you have to the best of my ability and in a timely manner.</p>
<p>In response to 'rent of 2, yes I want to to go to Amherst for all the things that make it great. The Arab World is what prompted me to leave Vassar. I chose Amherst because I believe that it is one of the few places that can provide an overall education that is as good as or better than Vassar’s. This is precisely why I didn’t pick other places like Georgetown that might have a fuller Arabic program. I don’t think Georgetown’s general education is as good as Vassar’s, much less Amherst’s. I know people who have gone to Amherst, and they unanimously say that the quality of instruction and personal attention given to students at Amherst is virtually peerless.Amherst’s students and faculty also seem to be some of the most talented and interesting people in higher education today. Being able to have access to an educational experience of that caliber, and being able to work with an exceptionally talented faculty and student body are some of the many other reasons why Amherst appeals to me, in addition to its programs on the Arab World. As always, thanks for the replies, and I’m glad to here that Jaffer is “da bomb.”</p>
<p>I’m scratching my head. You say that you want to transfer from Vassar because the opportunities to study Arabic and the Arabic world are limited. Yet, you are considering an (admittedly excellent) college that has made less investment in Arabic and Arabic studies than the other top LACs you could be considering. </p>
<p>You say that you would have the opportunity to study Arabic for four years, but that’s the point. You don’t have that opportunity at Amherst because they only offer two years and they don’t have a single full-time faculty member teaching it. Nor does Amherst have Middle Eastern or Islamic studies program.</p>
<p>I don’t care one way or another, but it seems rather peculiar. It’s like saying that you want to study engineering and then applying to colleges that don’t offer engineering.</p>
<p>This is particularly relevant to transfer applications because they are going to want to hear very specific, well-researched reasons for transfering from a current college student. That’s going to be a tough pitch saying that you are transfering to have better opportunities for Arabic studies when you are applying to a college that is notably weak in those areas. It would be a lot more powerful if you wrote something, for example, about wanting to dig deep into Arabic studies and being blown away by the opportunity to be a part of War News Radio, doing a radio report on de-bathification in the Iraqi parliament:</p>
<p>Interesteddad is a fervent proponent of Swarthmore and posts here regularly to beat the drum, so while I agree he makes some good points regarding Arabic studies, understand it is part of an ongoing crusade. Not sure why the crusade … but there it is.</p>
<p>I don’t care one way or the other. The odds of getting into Swarthmore as a transfer student from Vassar are very slim. It would be especially unlikely if someone suggested a love of geology as the reason for transferring since Swarthmore is notably weak in geology.</p>
<p>I pointed out two other colleges, Middlebury and Williams, that have both invested heavily in building up their Arabic programs. It would be one thing if we are talking about a known strength of Amherst or even a field where Amherst was about the same as the other top schools. In this case, we are talking about a specific weakness at Amherst.</p>
<p>I suspect that the reasons for wanting to transfer to Amherst have nothing at all to do with a lack of Arabic at Vassar and may have nothing to do with academics at all. That’s cool. Amherst is a great school. BTW, the transfer application deadline for Amherst is a week from tomorrow.</p>
<p>'rentof2: Just to clarify my own position – I think Amherst is as fine a college as there is in the US. I wouldn’t push any college above it.</p>
<p>However, in this case I do agree with interesteddad. Even if it’s possible to piece together a program, it would make more sense to choose one of the schools that have a stronger program in a known area of interest.</p>
<p>As the mom of a child pursuing a “small” major, each extra course, faculty member, semester of a language (also a language based major) makes a difference in choices, the breadth and depth of the program.</p>
<p>If being at Amherst trumps the actual offerings in the program, well, that’s valid, too, as you say. It just reads as a slightly uninformed choice, which as ID says, may be influential to the transfer committee.</p>
<p>For myself, I have no problem with an “Amherst or bust” attitude since I <em>do</em> think it’s an awesome school. However, in advising a young person who has posted on a board, my considerations still seem valid to me.</p>
<p>OP: Good luck to you, and my you find all you are looking for. I certainly did not mean to be argumentative.</p>
<p>These are all good points. Interesteddad, the lack of opportunities to study Islam, Arabic, and the Arab World at Vassar are indeed why I’ve applied to transfer . There really aren’t any ulterior motives. I’d appreciate it if you believe that I’m telling the truth here. As for Middlebury I haven’t applied because I feel that their general education isn’t as good as Vassar’s. I know that they’re considered a good school, particularly at languages, but they don’t strike me as offering a general education as good as Vassar’s. From what I’ve heard from friends who are there, they seem to over focus on several departments such as economics and languages, at the expense of many others. Amherst does provide a general education that is not only as good as, but arguably better than Vassar’s. It also does provide an opportunity to do four years of Arabic and study Islam and the Arab world in greater depth than I could at Vassar. This means that it is still a step up from Vassar in terms of allowing me to study the Arab World. </p>
<p>I have also applied to Williams and Swarthmore because of their strong general education and excellence in these areas. If I’m lucky enough to get into any of those places and Amherst, and that would admittedly be extremely fortuitous, their programs in those areas would certainly be something I’d consider when making my decision. Ultimately, because of the opportunities it provides to study Islam, Arabic, and the Arab World, and because of its excellent curriculum and community, I still think applying to Amherst was the right move. I certainly hope I’m lucky enough to be admitted. Thanks to all who replied.</p>
Just loves him.</p>