<p>Thank you so much, Keilinger! </p>
<p><em>^▁^</em></p>
<p>Thank you so much, Keilinger, for your detailed response!</p>
<p>Wow, Keilinger, thanks for all of the in-depth responses! I have a couple of questions of my own.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How do the students of different races/cultures respond to each other? Do they integrate for the most part? Or do you see mostly blacks hanging out with blacks and asians spending time with other asians? Are there a lot of cliques?</p></li>
<li><p>Have you seen any interracial dating? Is dating present on campus at all or are there just a lot of hook ups?</p></li>
<li><p>Can you elaborate a little bit about the hockey team and the penalty box? I’ve heard they’re a group to stay away from especially if you are a female. Is this true?</p></li>
<li><p>How are the bathrooms in general? Spacious?</p></li>
<li><p>Also, how are the dorms set up? Is one floor for guys and one floor for women? Does it switch room by room on each floor?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>“3. Can you elaborate a little bit about the hockey team and the penalty box? I’ve heard they’re a group to stay away from especially if you are a female. Is this true?”</p>
<p>nineteen121, what does this mean!? What have you heard?</p>
<p>My daughter is interested in Amherst. We’re visiting next week.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great questions, nineteen121! I am sure other folks are glad someone asked.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I’ve found Amherst students to be pretty open and friendly, but that’s not to say that people don’t tend to hang out with people who look like them. I’d be curious to see the extent to which this is true at other colleges… And I’m guessing it would be fairly similar across colleges with Amherst’s demographic breakdown. Colleges putting forth a concentrated effort to bring more diversity on campus will try to make that diversity work for its students, but such projects tend always to be a work in progress. For me, Amherst has been a great place to meet people from all corners of the globe. It may be harder to get to know people on a deeper level, but breaking the ice with Amherst students is unusually easy.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, I know quite a few interracial couples. Both dating and hookups, but I can’t really say which is more common.</p></li>
<li><p>I have no idea what this is about but can assure you that any stereotypes about particular teams are probably unfounded.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>By the way, the typical collegiate athlete that comes to mind for me when people talk about the stereotypical athlete doesn’t look very much like the average Amherst athlete. I don’t want to make blanket statements, but the distinctions between Div III vs Div I athletics is worth reading about.</p>
<p>Also, in the midst of all the press about Amherst’s misogynistic climate, I just want to say that I am a female who cannot imagine feeling any safer. Note that I’m not saying Amherst is 100.00% safe (it’s not), but I am saying that I am one of many women who never felt the need to question the safety of walking back to my dorm alone at late hours. Nor have I ever had to worry about my male friends.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Bathrooms… Are just like those at any other college. Administrative buildings tend to have nice bathrooms. It also just depends on what dorm you’re in. The freshman dorms are big and shiny, with bathrooms to match.</p></li>
<li><p>Almost all floors are co-ed. There is a single-sex floor in one of the freshman dorms and one for upperclassmen.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’ll be starting at Amherst in the fall, and I was interested in the substance-free dorms. I don’t drink or do any drugs. The video on the Amherst website makes it sound like these two dorms are wonderful for students who just want a quieter dorm and a place where they know that there won’t be a lot of loud drunken revelry. Is this the case? Do many freshmen live in these dorms? And are they mainly students who have had drug and alcohol problems in the past or are some students like me ? BTW, I don’t want to live in a tomb. I like to socialize and have fun, but substance-free fun. What do you think of these two dorms?</p>
<p>Keilinger, thank you for answering all of my questions!</p>
<p>Arwarw & Keilinger, a student from one of the five colleges told me that the men’s hockey dorm, a.k.a. the penalty box, has a bad reputation because of their parties. They were very cruel towards her and apparently all of the females who are into the party scene are warned about them. I don’t know - just something that I’ve heard and wanted more info about.</p>
<p>How’s the food?</p>
<p>Do a significant number of students attend sporting events? If so, which sports generally?</p>
<p>How’s the workload freshman year?</p>
<p>If you applied to other liberal arts colleges that attract a similar applicant pool (i.e. Middlebury, Bowdoin, etc.), what ultimately made you pick Amherst over them?</p>
<p>What don’t you like about Amherst? I’ve talked to a couple current students who say that they have zero complaints about the school, and I was wondering what your take is. :)</p>
<p>Thanks in advance!!</p>
<p>Wangma: Since almost every freshman is under 21, there are few parties held in the freshman quad and most freshmen will visit upperclass dorms for that. If you’re interested in sub-free, I think there’s one sub-free dorm for freshmen. You might want to check out this thread from 2011: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/amherst-college/1108104-sub-free.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/amherst-college/1108104-sub-free.html</a></p>
<p>Very few students that I know of has a drinking problem coming in, so my assumption has always been that students in sub-free housing chose it because they just aren’t into drinking.</p>
<p>Food is decent, same as at any other college. I’ve tried a lot of food at LACs, state universities, and Ivies; with the exception of Cornell, every school tends to have the same food. One common complaint is that there’s only one dining hall, but that hasn’t really bothered me. The dining staff is always open to students’ feedback and have added quite a few specific items based on comment cards received from students. In addition, Amherst hired a new executive chef 2 or so years ago and the quality of food has been steadily increasing since then. I sometimes hear freshman complain about the food, but they have no idea how good they have it! 
The difference is amazing and the staff at Val has received some well-deserved awards from the student body to recognize their efforts.</p>
<p>Sports: Parties are more popular than sports games for socializing, but football and basketball games are very well-attended. Homecoming every fall is a big deal with thousands of alumni coming for the game.</p>
<p>Workload: Depends on where you’re coming from, I guess. Generally tough but not impossible. Freshman year is a good time to go to office hours frequently and learn how to ask for help if it’s not something you do currently. You can kind of pick your workload at the beginning of the semester, too, when you’re getting syllabi from professors and what not.</p>
<p>Of the LACs and small colleges I applied to, I seriously considered Dartmouth, Haverford, Middlebury, and Amherst. Amherst gave me the most financial aid (in addition to Middlebury), but what sealed the deal was how comfortable I felt when I visited, the great professors, the intimate feel of the campus, how open everyone seemed, the trails beyond Memorial Hill (crazy beautiful in the fall!). LACs tend to be more similar than different so sometimes it just comes down to the little things…</p>
<p>What I don’t like about Amherst: the remote location, paying for plane fare and the shuttle from the airport (I travel between coasts more often than most people)</p>
<p>Thanks so much Keilinger! :)</p>
<p>To be fair, one of the few things I’ve heard Amherst students complain about is food. It’s not as good as it is at other colleges (for instance, read about the food at Bowdoin).</p>
<p>There’s more info here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/amherst-college/1082287-truth-about-amherst-food-must-read.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/amherst-college/1082287-truth-about-amherst-food-must-read.html</a></p>
<p>arcadia, I wonder if that thread, now two years old, is still relevant. See Keilinger’s remark:
</p>
<p>Okay, here’s one from a year ago:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/amherst-college/1293019-beware-amherst.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/amherst-college/1293019-beware-amherst.html</a></p>
<p>If you read through the thread Beware of Amherst, there were almost as many people who found the food just fine as there were people who didn’t like Val. For some students, complaining about Val has become a bit of a ritualized practice (think Amherst’s version of Swarthmore’s “misery poker”), but the food is truly not that bad. If you prod current students long enough (or at least 10 seconds) I think that most would say the same.</p>
<p>Also, some people on the two threads griped about the early closing time, but students can take food back to their dorms without a problem. Staff are understanding and will provide disposable utensils if needed. Not to mention the numerous late-night free food events on campus. IMO, not much to complain about, but everyone is, of course, entitled to their opinions. I have no doubt that Bowdoin’s food is better than Amherst’s, but I am discriminating eater (read: picky! haha) and have yet to starve.</p>
<p>How would you rate the Freshman Orientation week and activities?</p>
<p>Do non-art major students take art classes? How challenging are they?</p>
<p>nineteen121: Both the CEOT (service in the community) and FOOT trips (exploring the Berkshires) are popular. People generally report having amazing experiences on these incredibly well-run trips. There is also an option to stay on campus while these trips are running, and activities are planned for those who choose to do that. IMO, either the CEOT or FOOT trip would be more valuable for most people. Many meet their close friends at Amherst on these trips and there’s something about being in close contact with the same band of people for 2-3 days running that makes just makes you really start feeling a great sense of belonging with the Amherst community. If you have any specific questions about my FOOT experience, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>zolotaya: Yes! The great thing about Amherst is that you will be encouraged to take classes across all disciplines! Within the Art & Art History department, there are courses geared toward those who have never taken an art class before. Because more advanced classes have more pre-requisites, my guess would be that most upper-level seminars will be majoring students, but no class at Amherst is ever restricted to majors with the exception of those with the title Senior Seminars or Thesis. Students interested in art also have a great opportunity to train as a docent with the Mead Art Museum on campus. And there are always talks and social events held at the Mead. <a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/museums/mead/[/url]”>Mead Art Museum | Museums | Amherst College;
<p>Thank you! Do non-trad age students tend to interract among themselves or they are often friends with trad. age students?</p>
<p>How are the bonds between each class? Do you feel as though you know everyone in your year pretty well?</p>