<p>My son is very interested in Hampshire, but I was told by a friend to forget it. His son went there and the lack of structure has made it impossible for him to find a job or to be qualified for one. Any one have experiences like this?</p>
<p>Have you considered that your friend’s son may simply lack the maturity or drive to handle creating his own education? Perhaps he would have slacked off or floundered at any school.</p>
<p>Hampshire requires a student to be extraordinarily committed to learning and have the ability to manage themselves. College is what you make of it. Hampshire isn’t for everyone. Just because they do not follow the traditional grading system does NOT, i repeat NOT, mean you can ******** your way through your education. If your son is interested in discussion based classrooms, direct involvement with his professors, a small school, and creating his own major in essence, then maybe it is the school for him. Check out their website, the prospective student section really gives you a good idea of what the school is like. Definitely go for an interview and visit, sit in on classes, talk to current students. </p>
<p>Hampshire is known as the Graduate school for Undergrads. By your senior year students are doing basically a grad school work thesis, and if your son really commits himself to his work he will be far more qualified for jobs and/or grad school than most college students. Don’t write off a school by one account (or, on the flip side, choose one)! Make sure you really understand all sides of a school before you form opinions – good or bad.</p>
<p>Hampshire is known as the Graduate school for Undergrads. </p>
<p>^^ By whom (Hampshire is also known as “Camp Hamp.”)</p>
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<p>By your senior year students are doing basically a grad school work thesis</p>
<p>^^ Other schools make this claim too, and in most cases it is a bit of an overstatement (in some cases it’s just plain untrue).</p>
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<p>The lack of structure at Hamp can be a disaster for some students, but for others, it works just fine. I found the lack of structure unsettling (would not have suited my learning style) and I believe my D would flounder w/ unbridled choice, so Hamp is no longer on her list. OP knows his/her S best and should decide, based on his observations and reports of the Hamp curric (if OP is unable to visit), whether it is a good social/academic environ for his/her S.</p>
<p>RE nyc:</p>
<p>1) “[Known as the graduate school for undergraduates], Hampshire College guides students to be producers and creators of knowledge, rather than passive consumers…” - Hampshire’s Admission page (hampshire.edu)</p>
<p>2) VERY TRUE. Hampshire makes the point that almost any school will claim this, while their students prove that statement every day. Check out the Div III projects Hampshire has posted on their webpage (link: [Division</a> III Projects](<a href=“http://www.hampshire.edu/academics/10476.htm]Division”>http://www.hampshire.edu/academics/10476.htm)). Here is a quick definition of what is expected from a Div. III project (aka your Senior year) “Division III: Advanced Study
Students complete a major independent project a body of writing, art, or performance, scholarly or scientific research. Take advanced seminars. Teach classes. Mentor younger students. Enroll in graduate-level courses.”</p>
<p>I know one student was interested in music and spanish, so for his Div III project the school/him found a legal way for him to spend a semester in Cuba where he produced his own record album. </p>
<p>Also, Hampshire students are reguarly allowed and more importantly DO enroll and succeed in GRADUATE ONLY level classes at Amherst, Smith, etc when even the college’s own Undergrad. students are not permitted to.</p>
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<p>Anyway, i think the overall point is that Hampshire is not a school you can just sort of float by at. You either are extremely passionate about the college’s philosophy, or you hate it. The lack of traditional structure can really sink some students, while for others it gives them the necessary freedom to truly succeed. Go have your son (and you!) take a tour and have him spend the day with a student and going to their classes. That’s the best way to get a feel for the college.</p>
<p>That was my point - - Hampshire refers to itself as the grad school for undergrads, but that is not a commonly held belief/opinion. I’m not saying that Hamp is a bad school, just that the grad-sch-for-undergrads is no more than the standard puffing that is increasingly common as colleges and universities attempt to distinguish themsleves from the pack as schools compete for academically solid full-pay students.</p>
<p>As for Div III projects, again, not particularly unique. Lots of schools now require capstone/thesis type assignments and those assignments are often impressive (and more scholarly than producing an album - - even one produced in Cuba). </p>
<p>Yes, Hamp students enroll in courses at Smith and Amherst, but it’s interesting that the Hamp students enroll in far more off-campus courses than the students at the other 3 LAC (Smith, Amherst, MHC). This one-way traffic (from the less compet school to the more compet school) is quite similar to Barnard students enrolling in Columbia classes. </p>
<p>Indeed, when D visited, the adcoms touted taking coures at the neighboring LACs as a way Hamp students interested in grad school could demonstrate their academic prowess. And two recent Hamp grads confirmed that taking Smith/Amherst/MHC courses key in their grad school admissions success. </p>
<p>And lots of Smith/Amherst students successfully complete “grad only” level courses - - just as D2 a hs senior is currently enrolled in a college course. You are entirely incorrect to suggest that Hamp students are permitted to enroll in higher numbers, are somehow better prepared or more “successful” in those courses than the colleges’ own undergrads.</p>
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<p>At Hampshire, as is the case at any college/university, if one is bright enought one can float by. But I do agree that applicant families either love or hate the Hamp absence of traditional structure. And I thnk Hamp is one of the few schools where one can truly get a feel for the campus during a brief visit.</p>
<p>Mas030, you might want to search the Hampshire for board for posts by “ALF;” I always found his posts helpful (and the threads where he posted containg several pages of responses).</p>
<p>Nephew graduated from Hamp is is quite gainfully employed. D #1 is there also. While the H is worried about her employment, I am not. But you can get a great college education many places so its not a problem if Hampshire isn’t right for your student. It definitely is very unstructured and students have to set up and coordinate their coursework and their committee themselves. If that is a potential issue then by all means look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Ditto, I know many Hamp alumni who are employed in “straight” jobs; I also know those who have opted for more free-lance, creative careers.</p>
<p>What I have found most interesting is that, as a group, the Hamp students/alums tend to be more affluent and a less economically diverse group that at other LAC (especially the neighboring three). Each of the two recent alums to whom I referred in the earlier post worked for a year prior to attending grad school. Each had a very cool/creative jobe, but each was heavily subsidized by his family.</p>
<p>“This one-way traffic (from the less compet school to the more compet school) is quite similar to Barnard students enrolling in Columbia classes.”</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound very similar to me, seeing that the fact is as many courses are taken by Columbia students at Barnard as vica versa. Particularly given the # courses available to be taken at Columbia, vs. the total # courses offered at Barrnard.</p>
<p>^^ Not what my students report; virtually none of the Columbia students take course at Barnard, and access to Barnard courses/facilities is not generally touted as a benefit of attending Columbia. And again, according to student reports, the flow of traffic has little to do with the number of courses offered at one institution vs the other. By that logic, the primary traffic flow in the valley would be from the 4 LACs to UMass, which I do not believe to be the case. </p>
<p>One important difference: The 5 consortium schools are quite collegial. Smith/Amherst/MHC students do not complain about the presence of Hamp students (or vice versa) the way Columbia students complain about the Barnard students attending Columbia classes.</p>
<p>1) Barnard students take a higher proportion of courses at Columbia, but the total # taken at each institution by the other’s students is about the same.</p>
<p>2) The flow of traffic has plenty to do with the relative # courses offered.
If college A offers Russian, but college B doesn’t, then all students who want to take Russian will be taking it at College A and not college B. This is, IMO, the primary reason that Barnard students take Columbia courses. The other reasons, eg scheduling convenience, apply equally to students at both schools.</p>
<p>By direct analogy one reason Hampshire students take many courses at other colleges is because Hampshire offers relatively few courses.</p>
<p>quote from website: “In a typical year, there are 6,900 Barnard student course registrations at Columbia, and 6,300 Columbia student course registrations at Barnard.”</p>
<p>I happen to think that Hampshire is a wonderful college for the right student. We currently have two kids there and they are doing spectacularly. The 5-College system has worked really well, allowing our son to take obscure language classes, such as Wolof (W Africa); and French composition/literature. Hampshire classes are generally well-designed to encourage independent thought, class participation and in-depth writing.</p>
<p>Having said that, Hampshire is definitely not for everyone. As others have noted, successful students must have enough maturity, independence and dedication to design a 3-year course of study (the first year is somewhat more traditional, taking about 8-9 classes across a required range of disciplines). </p>
<p>The drop-out rate seems higher than similar SLACs, owing in part to the rapid realization on the part of some students that, “no grades” and “no majors” by no means translates to “no work”. In fact, I think that in some ways students’ feet are ‘held to the fire’ earlier than at other schools - about halfway through the first year, advisors start questioning students as to where they think they are going, and how are they going to get there.</p>
<p>The grad school comparisons are somewhat apt. Our son is scheduled to graduate this May, and he is a little stressed out right now over the quantity of research and writing that lays ahead of him in order to complete what amounts to a very substantial senior thesis.</p>
<p>As for a job after graduation, the jury is still out on that one. I think that our son will be well-prepared to take jobs as a community organizer or service learning abroad coordinator. He will be able to point to field experience and internships, backed up by good recommendations from professionals in those fields. The jury is still out on how well he will be viewed by grad school programs, but I should think that he will be able to easily prove his facility for research and writing.</p>
<p>Your son should definitely visit for at least overnight. Hampshire has such programs for prospective students. He should talk to current students, particularly those studying in fields that are of likely interest to him. You or he can send me a private message here for specific questions and/or to get the names of some students to email/call.</p>
<p>I also note some of the discussion above deals with students taking courses at more competitive schools in the consortium. It is certainly true that Smith, Mt. Holyoke and Amherst are more selective than Hampshire, but UMass is certainly not, and the bulk of courses available to Hampshire students are there. Granted, most Hampshire students favor the SLACs in the consortium, as opposed to the R1 University, but the library and other resources, not to mention the access to courses that you will rarely find in any SLAC are invaluable.</p>
<p>I agree w/ ALF, Hampshire is a great school for the right students - - just as Smith, Amherst, Harvard, Brown, Juniata and Wooster are the right schools for the right students. Likewise, independent thought, class participation, a writing-intensive curric, strong advisement and a grad level senior research project are common among top tier (ie: usnews top 100) LACs. Still, Hampshire is Haverford, Hobart or Hartwick, but that’s ok – each serves its community of learners well.</p>
<p>As for OP’s concern, I don’t really see a correlation b/w Hampshire’s unstructured curric and (un)employability. But OP should be aware that a liberal arts education, whether at Hampshire or a more selective school with a more traditional curric/structure, is not intended to prepare students for a particular job or career. Indeed, the absence of pre-professional training and first professional degrees (with the notable exception of teacher certification) at LACs is one of reason some families prefer universities. Smith for example, has a great engineering major, the college does not, however, award an undergrad prof degree such as the BSEE (BS in Electrical Engineer), which UMich, URoch and other universities do confer. Moreover, some LACs (true for Smith, not sure about Hampshire) even limit the number of pre-professional courses for which a student can receive credit.</p>
<p>OP should go with his gut. If he has concerns, Hampshire is probably not the right school for his son - - a fact that need not reflect poorly on OP’s son or Hampshire.</p>
<p>Thanks. My son did go and stay over and loved it. Now we are just waiting to hear from them.</p>
<p>Hampshire College is at the top of my list. Sounds amazing. :]</p>
<p>I suspect that students for whom Hampshire is the “right choice” know it themselves. My S has visited Hampshire 3 or 4 times (yes, we were a bit obsessive – fortunately we don’t live far away!) and fell in love with it each time. When he stayed at an overnight for EA accepted students, he texted me in the morning and said “We can send in the deposit now!” without having heard from all the schools he applied to. With a school as unique as Hamsphire, I think it’s sort of a gut feeling. I know that when I was 17, if I had visited Hampshire, I would have known right away that it was NOT for me. But my son knew right away that it was the place for him – and I knew it, too. He will be starting there in the fall and he’s practically counting the days.</p>
<p>As far as why HC students take many classes at the other schools, to me that’s a no-brainer – the other schools are larger and therefore have more classes to offer. I don’t see it as students from an “inferior” school trying to take classes at a better school.</p>
<p>Several Hampshire students have told me that they can usually easily spot Hampshire students taking classes at one of the other institutions, because they are generally more vocal and more willing to engage with the professor, when compared with the ‘native’ students.</p>
<p>Those types of generalizations are rarely true - - and if you read the Smith board or the women’s college boards, it’s hard to believe that Smith students are second to any in the Pioneer Valley when it comes to speaking up and engaging (even challenging) the prof.</p>