Well, here’s the forum for those waitlisted, accepted, or denied to Hampshire…
Waiting to hear. It’s so hard not knowing when, exactly, they’ll release decisions!
Scratch that–my son has been accepted!!!
Congratulations!
BTW, Hampshire (because it hardly ever does anything the way other colleges do) describes students by their INCOMING year, as opposed to their graduating year. So, newly-admitted students will be listed as “F16” (admitted in the Fall of 2016). And, they will list you as “P16” (Parent of a student who was admitted in 2016).
- Al Friedman (P06 and P09)
Thank you! I went to Reed myself, so I’m totally down with colleges that make a habit of non-conformity! 
We also found out this morning that my son has been accepted to a jazz conservatory program, so at this point he really needs to do his homework about what Hampshire has to offer to musicians (it looks as if it has quite a bit, although it wouldn’t be as intensive as a conservatory), and think about where, exactly, he really wants to be. His passion is jazz (and other music as well), but he’s also a really good actor and has a lot of other interests.
Congratulations @AsMother! Be sure to attend one of the accepted student days. That sealed the deal for my son. He’s not a theatre person (at all lol) but he took his freshman seminar last fall, in playwriting (among many choices students have for required 1st semester seminar), from a professor in the theatre department and loved it. I believe for the right type of student, Hampshire is a unique learning experience that would be difficult to duplicate elsewhere. Feel free to PM if you have any questions.
Thank you so much, @Snowdog ! I think that it would be a wonderful place for him. We’re trying to figure out if we can get him up to the Accepted Student Day, or perhaps arrange an overnight, but the scheduling will be tricky–it’s a busy month! Our main question is whether he’ll be able to continue to work on his first love–music–as intensively as he’d like to when he’s there. It looks as if they have some great classes and ensembles at Hampshire and at some of the other schools,but I’m wondering what options he’ll have in Div II and beyond for independent study, etc. (He was also accepted by one jazz conservatory program, and waitlisted at another one, so he also just really has to figure out on his own how he wants to proceed, although he’s definitely interested in Hampshire. So great to have choices!)
Anyway, I will definitely be in touch when we have some more specific questions! Thanks again.
Be sure to look at all the courses of the Five Colleges. You can go on The Hub at anytime and look at all of the courses available for the current or immediate past semester at all 5 schools.
It was important to my son not to spend a lot of time on liberal arts distribution requirements. One month from now, he’s done with those and will have a ton of flexibility to design his course of study with the help of selected advisors. Best of luck to your family in making your choice!
It really looks as if he would have a lot of great classes to choose from, from all of the schools! He, too, is concerned about getting too pulled away from his main interest by other requirements, although he’s also interested in a lot of other things, and I think that Hampshire would be a great place to REALLY learn about the things he cares about, more on his own terms. It’s very helpful to know that your son had the same line of thinking about the requirements, and, I take it, is still loving Hampshire!
He’s got some serious soul-searching to do over the next month. It’s such a relief to be past the waiting-for-decisions phase!
I’m surprised that no one else is posting here! There are a LOT of what seem to be very happy campers on Hampshire’s “We Got In!” Facebook page for this year. It really does seem to be something close to heaven for the right students. (I still kind of wish that I’d been focused enough to go there back in the day, although I was also very happy where I ended up!)
CC generally appeals to the competitive demographic with regard to the college admissions process. Pages and pages if you want to obsess over how to get into the Ivy League, Hampshire appeals to a different crowd 
Hi AsMother - I’m the proud parent of a recent Hampshire grad. He’s an '11 (so graduated in 2015). Hampshire was the perfect place for him. He’s a theater kid through and through and like @Snowdog situation, he wasn’t crazy about getting caught up with a bunch of requirements. He thrived at Hampshire, loved the theater program, and took classes at every school except for Smith. One of his mentors is a professor at Amherst College - he took probably 1/3 of his classes at Amherst. I think he felt that being at Hampshire was best of both world - a small college with small classes but it had the advantage of all the other courses at the other four colleges. He has good friends at the other schools as well. I agree with Snowdog re: CC being very focused on getting into the Ivies and top 20 LACS - something my son didn’t care about at all. If you have questions at all, I’m glad to help too.
Thank you, @BTMell ! Nope–we’re definitely not in the “obsessing about how to get into the Ivies” crowd either! I will definitely pass what you and @Snowdog have shared about your sons’ experiences at Hampshire. This is the fun part!!
If your son would like to speak to my son, I’m sure he’d be happy to chat. Just send me a PM.
Hi all-
My son is attending Hampshire this fall ('16) and I’d love to pick the brains of any current Hampshire parents about advice for dorm planning. Specifically interested in rug size for Merrill singles? I read a Dakin parent’s advice that 4x6 was too big, but Merrill has an extra foot each direction so…will they accommodate 4x6?
I’m not a current parent, but my daughter graduated in '13, and she was a Dakin/Merrill Residence Intern for a couple of years. A 4x6 rug should be fine in the floor space of a Merrill single room, depending on how your son sets up his room. Even in the worst-case scenario, a sliver of the rug might stick under the bed.
Have you seen the Merrill House floor plans that Hampshire provides?
https://www.hampshire.edu/sites/default/files/housing/files/MERroomdiagrams.pdf
Most frosh end up in Dakin. We had a 6 x 9 in my son’s room under his desk. Just pick up the feet of the bed and put part of it under the bed if necessary.