<p>Hello all! One of the reasons Smith is my top choice is because it participates in the Five College Consortium. But I'm a bit concerned about the relative ease of signing up for courses at the other colleges. Is it difficult? Are there buses/shuttle that will take you to the other campuses? Do students normally take a course at one of the other colleges every semester? </p>
<p>Also, has anyone had experience with the Five College Supervised Independent Language Program (FCSILP)? I'm interested in taking Urdu or Dari (supervised). Is it a highly selective program?</p>
<p>Signing up for classes isn't that hard. It can be a little annoying because you do it on paper instead of computer and the course listings for other colleges can be posted kind of late (or at least that was the case in 2006 when I graduated). The registrar's office keeps a list of all the classes other students have gotten approval for, and you can automatically take those. Other courses require permission, which is pretty easy to get (some 'pre-professional' classes, like nursing or business at UMass, are NOT transferable for Smith credit).</p>
<p>There are buses to go to the other campuses. In order of how long it takes to get to each campus (fastest to slowest): Hampshire, UMass, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke. It's also a pretty easy bike ride to all but Mt. Holyoke when the weather's good, and while the bus might be a few minutes faster you can multitask--exercise and getting to class!</p>
<p>Most students don't take classes off campus each semester, in part because it can be hard to schedule the travel time into your schedule. But more people SHOULD make the effort. I took 2 Mt. Holyoke classes, 2 Amherst classes, and a Hampshire J-term class and just meeting new people and getting off campus was great. </p>
<p>Signing up for classes and the shuttle to the other campus' is pretty much as stacy described it. I kind of liked my shuttle to Amherst (1 hr each way) because it was two hours of totally undistracted reading/studying I got done, but because of the time committment, taking a five college course can be tricky. Still, I know some students who take nearly all five college courses, others who have never taken one, and several who are in between. </p>
<p>One thing to note that while the shuttle is a little lengthy, it's also free. And to UMASS you can take an express bus that gets you there a little faster (to Amherst though, you have to take the local). </p>
<p>Five college participation can also vary by major. For example, film studies students really need to take classes at the other schools because Smith in and of itself does not have a strong enough film studies program to sustain interest (in collaboration with the other schools, it becomes very interesting). I also have heard that Smith doesn't offer anatomy, so some students take it at UMASS though I don't know if that's true or not. </p>
<p>The Five College language program is not very selective, as far as I know anyone who wants to take the classes can. That being said, they are geared towards a VERY independent learner, so you probably won't make much progress towards actual fluency unless you really are good at learning languages independently. They can be fun and very interesting, but unless you're extremely dedicated they don't stand in for a full fledged course. Also, there are sometimes weird credit restrictions for those courses, and each college has its own rules about awarding credit for them.</p>
<p>My daughter is currently taking a French class at Amherst. She loves the class and the professor. The ride to Amherst is long, but she biked when the weather was nicer. I don't think she had any difficultly getting that class, but she was unable to get into a class she really wanted at Hampshire. She's trying for another Hampshire class next semester, but doesn't know yet if she's in.</p>
<p>I took a class at UMass my sophomore year and I'll take my seminar at Mt. Holyoke this spring. The commute isn't too bad. I registered for the Umass class by paper but I think you can do it online now (I haven't read all the above comments). </p>
<p>The only problems you might have would be if the class is in the spring - not all the colleges let out at the same time and you might have to stick around longer than your friends (my UMass class ended two weeks after I was finished at Smith, but it wasn't a problem for me as I also worked Reunion, so I had something to do when I wasn't studying :P).</p>
<p>Thank you all for the replies! This has alleviated my worries tremendously. I'm sure Smith has all the classes necessary to quench my interest -- but it never hurts to look farther, ya know? Also, I like the idea of meeting students from other colleges and just walking about exploring new campuses. </p>
<p>Another question I'm itching to ask: Is Northampton pedestrian-friendly? Can I walk from town to town? (I live in TX, and this is not possible here. We have interstates connecting adjacent towns)</p>
<p>Northampton is pedestrian-friendly. There are plenty of opportunities for pedestrians to cross the streets unharmed (though the motorists may not be very fond of them) and Smith is located right off of Main Street, so it's easy to go shopping or to restaurants downtown.</p>
<p>I guess it would be possible to walk from town-to-town, though it might be a bit of a hike and I've never tried it (the farthest I've walked in the area was about a mile, and I was still in Northampton). There is a bike trail to Amherst, which I've also never tried.</p>
<p>Northampton is very pedestrian friendly (the cars will stop for you as borgin mentioned, which was unnerving for me at first), and it's easy to walk into town. To get to the other towns though, you really need to take the bus (it's free between the five college towns), or bike. I mean, you could walk, but it would take you awhile and you'd probably be walking on the side of the highway. Also, i doubt anyone would go with you and it gets dark and cold very early in that part of the world. </p>
<p>If you have a car, you can get to Amherst college in about 20-30 minutes if there's no traffic (there usually is), but first years aren't allowed to have cars on campus, so you'd need to think about where you would park it (street parking is neither free nor easy to come by in Northampton). If you're taking a five college class you can sometimes hitch a ride with an upperclassmen or you can take the bus easily.</p>
<p>It only takes 10 minutes to get to Amherst from Northampton - and there's only traffic if someone takes the dreaded bridge, but there are other routes. </p>
<p>The bike trail is lovely. I've walked between Amherst and Northampton before, but it's a trek. Only for lovely weather days.</p>
<p>Well, I usually take hte bridge and it seems to take me about 20 min, but I rarely drive as well (because the traffic is stressful that way, as you noted). </p>
<p>The point is, it's smarter to get a zipcar membership, or become friends with people who have cars, than try and have on yourself. The area is friendly enough to the car-less to make it unnecessary.</p>
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Northampton is pedestrian-friendly. There are plenty of opportunities for pedestrians to cross the streets unharmed (though the motorists may not be very fond of them)
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I think that there is a formal but not widely announced Synchronized Crosswalk Team, wherein member carefully time their entrances upon the crosswalk so just as one person or group is clearing the crosswalk, another has set upon it and is too far along for the halted vehicle(s) to proceed. I think it's a sport, the object of which is to see how long you can keep the cars not moving....</p>