<p>rhcp07: Sadly, there are people here who take this place for granted. There's a small faction of sentiment that absolutely hates it here, and I can't for the life of me tell you why. Go figure. It exists but is miniscule.</p>
<p>wen2hu:
The economics department is great. I've run into a few hard graders but everyone is brilliant and innovative as a whole. Professor Barbezat, the dept. head is a fantastic teacher. There are, unofficially anyway, different levels of 'majoring' in Econ, as there are both regular and "advanced" (math intensive) Micro and Macro classes. So the Econ major is as challenging as you make it. I highly recommend the Econ dept, it's wonderful.</p>
<p>The LJST dept has its ups and downs. Professor Sarat is a great guy... if you're on his good side. He's very demanding, and the major's prereq's are NOT easy classes by any means. I don't know much about the actual major.</p>
<p>The Math dept has some really good professors, the two I'm most familiar are Starr and Leise. I had Leise for multivariable calc. She's one of those people that think math is actually fun, which makes it very challenging but as engaging as crunching numbers can possibly be.</p>
<p>I'd highly recommend going to Amherst website, looking at the departments' homepages and seeing their major requirements, faculty credentials, etc if you're already seriosly considering though majors. Then again, I came into Amherst planning to double Econ/LJST but instead chose Econ/Music, so anything can happen, keep your mind open.</p>
<p>As far as the 5 college thing goes: It is as present or absent as you make it. My freshman year I didn't use the 5 college system at all. This year I'm taking a class at Smith and it's really advantageous. There are certain classes such as the korean I'm taking that are only available at one of the colleges, which makes it really handy. If you're an elitist, this also means other students can take your classes at their leisure as well. I don't see it as much of a problem, but maybe it is for you -shruggs-. I don't see many downfalls to the 5 college setup. It gives you more classes, more libraries, more parties, more college-aged people in the area, etc. Two thumbs up.</p>
<p>CAC119: Taking a class at Smith was kind of awkward at first. Maybe it was paranoia, but I felt like I was getting the "get off my campus you MAN you" stare from a lot of Smithies. But the girls in my class are fine, hospitable, whatever. I've actually made a few cool friends, so it worked out.</p>
<p>Social life is... an interesting subject. I'll try and give you the most brutally honest answer I can. There are a lot of Smith and Mt. Holyoke girls on the Amherst campus on weekends. As a whole, they are regarded as 'desperate', 'male-hungry' women looking to score and spend the night. Sucks, I know, but that's stereotyping for you. There's the semi-known saying that goes around "Smith girls you marry, Holyoke girls you hook up with, Amherst girls you talk to"... whatever that means to you. Basically... the women from the all-female schools tend to be a little objectified in our neck of the woods, but that kind of reverses poetically when guys are at MHC or Smith.</p>
<p>Hope I helped.</p>
