Does anyone actually love Amherst?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

I know this is inflammatory but hear me out. Ignoring those who graduated 5 or more years ago, most of the people I’ve spoken to have been very dissatisfied with the school’s social life. Academically the school is great; it’s not too difficult and it’s still a good balance of being challenging.

However, the only thing to do on weekends is get drunk and go to parties. I’d normally be fine with that since that’s a typical college experience. However, the parties here are DREADFUL. If you’re not on a sports team there’s basically no outlet, especially after banning greek life. Also, I’d typically believe my lack of love for Amherst as being my own problem. However, I’ve talked to so many nonathletes who feel the exact same way that it amazes me the administration does almost nothing for the social life here.

2

This is clearly a problem with Admissions. Why do they keep admitting so many non-athletes who do not know how to party?

3

As a point of comparison, Bowdoin’s “college house” system (which was installed to replace fraternities, and which utilizes the former frat houses for student housing, parties) has been quite successful (and inclusive).

4

Completely agree, the social life is probably amherst biggest drawback… The only parties on campus are held at the socials, which are basically just suites that upperclass athlethes live in… and the main parties are thrown by teams such as football, lacrosse, hockey which creates an extremely mysogonistic atmosphere.
Prospective students should know more about the social scene here before coming to amherst and being severely dissapointed

5

Powerhouse?

6

Are there any other currently enrolled Amherst students who would like to chime in?

7

I’m also interested in hearing about current student experiences. I read on a different site (can;t recall which one; probably very anecdotal) that Amherst is fun if you are part of a team, but can be exclusionary otherwise.

8

I am the parent of a 12 grad. She was a “social” person and the member of a sports team, and yes while they did party together, is that any different in those who are in choral groups, theatre or any type of students that have like interests getting together? As long as there are other students that share your same interests on campus, what is the problem? If you were at a big football school but didn’t give a crap about it, could you not find others that felt the same? EVERY school is going to have different cliques of students, and you can find your tribe at any school.

To answer your question “Does anyone actually love Amherst”, yes, my daughter loved every day that she was there.

9

I guess I don’t get the appeal of big parties. D would much prefer to hang with two or three friends than be jammed into a small setting with 30 or 50 or 70 people she doesn’t know, doesn’t have anything in common with, and doesn’t trust. I assume she will be able to make friends with others like her. The one thing she doesn’t like is cliques and had hoped that the college arena would be unlike high school in that way…from reading some of these smaller LAC threads, you might think they were just an extension of high school. Amherst is a big reach for her but I think regardless of where she ends up (most of her choices are small LACs) I think the social life will be what she makes it.

10

Based on the comment above, it seems that it may be you who would prefer that D not go to big parties. If that’s the case, please remember that at 18 years old she would probably benefit from making these decisions on her own. Its part of growing up and developing independence.

11

What? How did you infer my parenting style from my post? D gets invited to large parties every weekend and chooses not to go. She has also been invited to two proms and has chosen not to go. Apparently her peers enjoy her company, invites are plentiful, but she picks and chooses, preferring usually the small, intimate gathering. I am as far from a helicopter parent as you can be without being charged with neglect LOL. She has been making ALL her own decisions nearly the last year, some with parental guidance, some without. I find your post very misguided, offensive, and more than a bit arrogant.

12

My son, C’17, is not an athlete and my son loves Amherst!

I agree with GA2012MOM; …" you can find your tribe at any school" Amherst included. Athletes socializing together are no different than computer science, choral, theater, math or any group of students with like interests getting together. My S’s friends are composed of various groups of Amherst students based upon his interests, which along with it’s academics/professors is one of the aspects he loves most about Amherst.

Powerhouse opened this year at Amherst, an all-inclusive facility bringing the Amherst community together, “a raw industrial chic space now provides ample volume for gatherings, dances, parties, a capella rehearsals and other live performances, catered dinners and receptions, student meetings, art exhibits, coffee house evenings, panel discussions or talks, pub nights, outdoor barbecues or picnics, movie screenings, farmers’ market or food truck nights…” A friend visiting my son from Columbia referred to it as “Amherst’s very own private social club” He loves it.

The socials are resident halls and any student can enter room draw requesting to reside there, not just athletes.
S commented on the fact that the (athletic teams) parties are open to other Amherst students and not exclusive to athletes alone.

Students can become involved in the myriad of activities Amherst offers and can join one of the committees the administration has established for student input regarding campus social activities.

My son would agree with NEPatsGirl that (college and) social life will be what you make it. That’s one of the magical things about college.

My son applied to larger universities and small liberal arts colleges and has never regretted his decision to choose Amherst.

“Does anyone actually love Amherst”, yes, my son C’17 loves Amherst!

13

My son (who was not an athlete) loved it as did his friends. Some of his friends were substance free. He wasn’t but I doubt he was an aficionado of big parties.

14

Son is a Junior and yes he LOVES Amherst! Our other child is at a bigger Ivy and the experience has not been nearly as positive .

15

I’m a sophomore non-athlete, and I absolutely LOVE it here. I also agree with @GA2012MOM. Just because you aren’t an athlete doesn’t mean you can’t find a group of people that enjoy the same things as you do. Yes, there is a large athlete-nonathlete divide. But that doesn’t mean that one is necessarily better or worse.
And there are PLENTY of things to do in Amherst. Geez. I’ve been rock climbing every other week, cycling is amazing here, there are MANY MANY FREE trips throughout the year that the outing club hosts (caving, ziplining, ice climbing, skiing, etc.).
Amherst will be what you make of it, and I absolutely am having an awesome time here. I have great friends and profs, I can really do what I want when I want (music, sports, outdoors stuff, labwork, etc).
Honestly, if you don’t like it here b/c of the party scene, I’d say stop complaining about lack of good parties and social life and whatnot and find other things you enjoy.

Also, the only parties at Amherst are NOT only at the socials. There are parties at Marsh, Newport, and some of the other upperclassmen/theme dorms that are actually pretty good - they just won’t happen as frequently as the Socials, and also you’ll need to know people to be invited obviously.

16

Speaking as someone who did subfree for two years, I never felt there wasn’t enough to do at Amherst–there was always too many things to do. I don’t like large parties or the “socials scene”, so I didn’t seek those out, but there were always other social events to go to: game nights, close friends spending an evening together over a few beers, birthday parties, intramurals, dinners in town, even just chilling in the dining hall for 2 hours chatting with everyone who passes by. Very very few people were actually isolated–there were spaces for all types at Amherst–all types, even the most socially awkward. The two people I knew who were I felt were more isolated (out of the 500 I got to know) were very arrogant and dickish–actually, they still had people to hang out with. Almost everyone I knew came out with a very close group of lifelong friends.

I must say the segregated campus (athlete/non-athlete divide) is a thing though. But as another poster put it, there was no “pecking order”–no one group is superior to another. If I had to do it over again, I would have tried joining a more diverse group of clubs, to get to know a broader group of people. And maybe lived in the Zu for a year. Haha…

17

I think the main issue is that if you’re an athlete, you get an immediate group of friends, without really trying. If you’re not an athlete, while there are like-minded people, it takes a lot more effort to find them. If you’re not naturally outgoing, it can be a bit of a struggle to find your group. Furthermore, after the first month or so, people tend to settle into their groups and routines, and it can often feel like people become a lot less open to making new friends. If you’re an introverted, shy person, the environment can seem exclusionary. But, then again, it different for every person. Still, I would definitely recommend talking to as many people as possible during the first few weeks and trying to hang out with others even if it feels uncomfortable or like things aren’t really clicking, because unless you seek people out, you can easily sort of fall under the radar.

18

@Sapphire24 appreciate your comments but not sure you answered the crux of the thread. Do you love Amherst?

19

At the moment, no. But as I’m only a rising sophomore, I hope that that opinion will change as I grow more comfortable there.

20

Thanks @Sapphire24 for your honesty. Can you tell me whether you were in substance-free? I felt the all freshmen quad and single cafeteria would encourage friendship building…so your comments kind of scare me.