Go In With Your Eyes Wide Open

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

I’m a parent of a current Amherst College student. I am also a former graduate of Amherst College. I’m writing because I don’t want to see this happen to you. In other words, I want anyone who is applying – or trying to decide whether to accept any offer of admission – to do so with their eyes wide open.

Academically, the college is top-notch, I repeat top-notch – with the caveat that many politically liberal students don’t appreciate hearing and/or respecting political viewpoints with which they don’t agree. If you go on a tour, I would specifically ask if the classes of politically conservative professors draw as many students as the classes of politically liberal professors. I would also ask about the percentage of liberal versus conservative professors. This should be important to you because you are there to learn and surrounding yourself with people who think just like you is not the way to learn; rather, it’s merely a way to convince yourself that your perspective is the “right” perspective. If you are politically liberal and enjoy activism, you will likely feel quite comfortable at Amherst. If you are politically conservative, you will likely not feel comfortable at Amherst and you should not expect a lot of support from fellow students. While I’m sure conservative students do exist, I know for a fact that some do not feel comfortable speaking up. Not necessarily because they are afraid, more that they are exhausted from dealing with the negative reactions from liberal students. This was not my experience when I attended Amherst. We had both liberals and conservatives and we discussed topics openly in or out of class.

If you are the type of student that is looking forward to socializing by going to many parties or having a choice about which parties to attend on any given night, you would be well advised to look elsewhere. Do not convince yourself that the social life is better than what’s being described because it isn’t – unless you are the type of person who seeks out smaller get togethers among people with a common interest, in which case it may be a good fit (that interest not being partying). There are many students there to study hard, which is admirable, who do not want to be disturbed by noise in their dorms. There is also a paucity of big spaces available in which to host larger parties. You are also required to get “party permits” in order to host parties. Repeat, you can’t have a party without a “party permit.” That is why several students, including my child, decided to spend all of junior year abroad, and plans to live off campus senior year.

The diversity is great and leads to excellent opportunities to learn from, and become friendly with, people of different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. This is truly a strength. The problems arise from the administration’s micro-managing of the students’ lives outside of class. Therefore, there are different strokes for different folks when it comes to housing options. Be sure to explore this in detail before committing to Amherst, especially if you are an athlete. In the future there will be changes to the room draw policy that will potentially negatively impact athletic teams for what the administration perceives to be the “greater good.” Make sure you find out what this policy is before you are recruited to attend by an athletic coach. You may discover that you and your ten teammates can’t all enter room draw together. Only time will tell. In addition, there may be more opportunities for students of color in certain sports which is good unless you are an athlete who believes your teammates should be picked based upon their athletic ability alone to field the best team. So be sure you understand the policies related to sports before you give up an offer from another college to play sports at Amherst instead.

For the parents out there, you are going to pay significantly more money to send your child to Amherst College where your child may have less rights than at a public institution. This may not seem important until your child is negatively impacted and finds he or she has limited recourse so forewarned is forearmed.

If you are economically disadvantaged and a person of color, Amherst is committed to diversity and helping you afford tuition so this may be a very good choice and the lack of social life (assuming that is something you seek) may be worth sacrificing. Right now, the social life – unfortunately – for most students revolves around being on an athletic team so if you aren’t on a team, not sure what you do. This is something to ask about when you visit but keep in mind that the people you meet when you visit are in a public relations role, including your tour guide. Don’t expect them to acknowledge the problems but rather expect them to say, “oh, yes, that was a problem in the past but now that we’ve built the Powerhouse the social life has much improved.” Dig deeper. Talk to current Amherst students that went to your high school or are friends of friends.

Bottom line: $70,000 is a great deal of money to pay per year for an education (especially considering the amount of actual class time per week) and if you have a chance to get into Amherst you likely have a chance to get into comparable schools that may have more to offer you outside of academics than politics. Again, the academics are top-notch and that arguably is good to have as your top priority. But not your only priority if you have one or more other choices.

2

Sounds like your child has had a rough go of it and I’m sorry to hear that.

My second year child has a very active social life at Amherst. It appears to me that most of her social life is indeed focused on smaller groups but also includes powerhouse events and school functions like the Fall festival, a couple of times a year she attends one of the team formals or the big Christmas party. Brunch in town, coffee with friends at Val, that sort of thing too.

Room draw… Ugh. She did OK in the end but the group of friends she went in with were all sophomores and wound up with such a low number that they had to wait for summer to choose rooms. Athletic teams and perhaps other groups, I notice, can engineer room draw with enough upperclassmen to give a group of sophomores a high draw number. Is that system what you are saying might be changed?

3

OP, I have no dog in this fight. Was your son on the cross country team?

4

Well said. The liberal left has taken over not just Amherst but many colleges and universities. Those who have other views are made to feel unwelcome and are tolerated as long as they are silent. It’s a disgrace.

5

Frankly, I think it’s harder for alumni parents that really enjoyed their experience at Amherst and were hoping to provide a similar experience for their children. All the alumni that I’ve discussed this with are on the same page in terms of being disappointed with what the college has become from a social point of view. Biddy Martin send out an email today suggesting that there will be “modest” changes to the room draw process – my “guess” is that large numbers of athletes on the same team will not be allowed to enter room draw together thereby eroding the Constitutional right of freedom of association.

Also my child hasn’t had a rough time of it socially in the sense of not making friends, she just wishes she hadn’t chose Amherst when she sees how much fun her friends are having at other schools that offer comparable academic experiences. She spent sophomore year getting off campus as much as she could to socialize with friends at other colleges. And often brought many of her Amherst friends with her.

6

Hm.

7

I think that’s a little extreme. The Constitution doesn’t guarantee athletic teams an 8 room suite in Jenkins. If so, then I guess my kid’s freedom to associate was impeded by the room draw system as it is now.

My kid really enjoys her social life there - it includes parties - so I don’t think you can extrapolate your child’s experience to all students. If that’s not what you’re trying to do then apologies.

8

I don’t think there’s a dearth of party schools in the universe, so kudos to Amherst for going the other direction!

Choice, everybody’s got choice. How welcome would a tree hugging abortion rights activist be at Brigham Young? If politics, color, whatever, has to be apportioned “properly” at every school, where will alternate views flourish?

My D is not at Amherst although we toured there. The college she attends has language houses and I was asking her about possibly moving into one next year. She said it definitely wouldn’t be the ______ House because that’s where all the parties are. She said anytime you hear of a party on campus, that’s where it is, and she has no desire to live in a house like that.

Sounds like OP’s D would have been happier attending elsewhere. Sorry, but I never heard anyone judge a top notch school on their parties.

9

I just read the email. It did sound like there might be some limit on teams all in one dorm. We’ll see I guess.

Ironically given the complaint about political diversity, my kid just left a speech on campus, given to a completely full house, by Jeb Bush :slight_smile:

10

OP, I don’t get it. You’re mad that Amherst is no longer as socially conservative as it was when you attended? That she doesn’t have enough party offerings to attend? That she may be restricted by lottery room assignment constraints? That she may have to play her sport with “students of color” who she feels are beneath her athletically - or some friends of hers who didn’t make the team? Please elaborate.

11

Wow, the OP’s post made Amherst sound pretty good to me!
One of many things I valued about my time at Williams was that each freshman entry/ upper class housing group was a microcosm of the college, with people from all walks of life. It was a great opportunity to get to know others well who are different from you in some respects and similar to you in others. Diversity is a good thing in a dorm or on a sports team, I think!
Smaller get togethers were always my personal preference.
But for those who enjoy them, I imagine there are still parties at Amherst and within the five college consortium.

12

I do recall an article in the NY Times (perhaps last spring), reporting on giving to colleges, and a good portion of the article focused on alumni discontent with the current goings on at Amherst.

13

Yes, @wisteria100 : https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/us/college-protests-alumni-donations.html

14

A full reading of the article may be illuminating, don’t miss the part about the smallpox blankets;
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/us/college-protests-alumni-donations.html?_r=0

15

Sounds like OP and child didn’t do their homework and didn’t choose a college based on fit, making the mistake that Amherst wasn’t the same school it was in parent’s day. What school is?

Not all schools are right for all people. It’s in the eye of the beholder and the eye of the beholder in this thread seems very conservative.

Perhaps a transfer would be a good idea. Pepperdine comes to mind. Gorgeous ocean views. Or Washington & Lee.

16

This is the letter the op refers to: https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/president/statements/node/673083

17

Didn’t read the report attached to the letter posted above but the letter itself sounds well thought out and analyzed. I’m all for a focus on community and academics rather than athletics. My viewpoint reflects my opinion that athletics gets too much weight in academic institutions in this country.

18

I’m going to ignore the political potshots taken by certain responders, which merely proves my original point.

I believe my original post encouraged prospective students to do their homework and not to rely upon the responses they get from the tour guide or admissions representatives. My point was this isn’t a good fit for someone who wants a robust social life that entails larger parties on a regular basis and that type of person should be aware of that. If a student doesn’t want to attend larger gatherings and likes what Amherst has to offer socially then by all means, they should apply because it may be a good fit socially as well as academically.

As far as athletics, I was disappointed that Amherst ever started to recruit seriously. One of Amherst’s strengths when I attended was that the vast majority of athletes were not recruited and most people tried out for a team when they arrived. This represented the value of competing in sports not to field the best team but to play sports for other important reasons, like sportsmanship and working together toward a common goal. The social life was not dominated by teams at all, there were no “closed” parties and there were numerous social options every single night of the week. Going to football, basketball, hockey games, soccer, etc., was fun and students would attend with their friends in large numbers to support the athletes. We supported them happily.

These students are under a lot of academic pressure, self-imposed and sometimes from their parents. While they make look like adults their judgment is still developing and they need some down time. For some that may be taking a bike ride, a walk, listening to music, socializing in small groups, having a cocktail party or playing beer pong. To each his own but students applying to Amherst are entitled to know the reality, which may be great if it’s a good fit and not great if it’s a bad fit.

19

Yes, looks like tickets sold out quickly.

20

@Purple&Black, I support your message and think it was well articulated. I don’t want to reduce your observations to a matter of a political divide. No school is going to fit every student and people have different priorities in what they seek. My youngest daughter attends a school that gets lots of negative attention on cc and even though she is very happy there, those criticisms deserve to be taken seriously. Her happiness doesn’t negate or invalidate the unhappiness of someone else.

My eldest transferred from a school where she was very unhappy. Ironically, she sounds like the flipped image of your child. Much of the difficulty stemmed from the dorm she landed in as a freshman which turned out to be the dorm where all the teams were housed. She, and 14 other kids living in that one dorm (~20% of the dorm I think), left the school at the end of that year. For them, social connections were elusive and the socializing was all about large parties featuring lots of alcohol. Mind you, her experience doesn’t mean that the school is a bad place to be avoided at all costs. It means that the kids and parents needed to look much more closely at the environment there and the ways in which to avoid what she experienced.

It’s easy to bash the OP for “not doing her homework” but the reality is that it isn’t always easy to get a good handle on the reality of life at the school. This poster is helping future parents and kids to do their homework. I very much appreciate the post because it provides a different insight into the life of the school and allows those who might be considering the school to add it to their thought process.