<p>I'm currently making my list for colleges to apply to, and I'm stuck between two colleges: Hampshire College in Massachusetts and Hamilton College in New York. I was wondering if someone could shed some light on things they enjoyed/disliked about either college so that I can make an informed decision.</p>
<p>Just so you know, I am definitely interested in a liberal arts education, and I'm looking for a school that has great teachers, has a diverse set of classes, clubs and experiences, and also isn't extremely clique-ish. </p>
<p>Could you explain a little why these two among 30 top east coast LACs stand out to you? I ask because at first glance these seem like an unusual pair for a student to pick as favorites … Hampshire on the hippy non-conformists side of things with Hamilton being on the traditional preppy end of things; pretty different vibes to the two places I would think.</p>
<p>One of good friends goes to hampshire and i looked into it myself. A few things to know is that it is very unstructured and the student essentially designs their major. Also Hampshire uses evaluations not grades. Hamilton is definitely more traditional. I would visit the two colleges if you can, that would help alot. It also depends what your interests are, in terms of what you want to major in. If you are very creative, artsy etc… Hampshire is very good for that, while lets say you would want to go into social sciences, Hamilton may be the better approach. Look at both college’s courses and fauculty to help you make that decision</p>
<p>D is going to Hampshire in the fall and not really hippie-ish at all. She actually went to the events to see if a “meat eating, leather wearing, hunting, member of an upstate New York farming community” would feel comfortable and she did. It has a lot of iconoclastic students (and teachers) I imagine, but what impressed her was the creativity and ability to build the college experience she wants (animal husbandry, animal behavior with a side of ecology). She wanted to craft a program that was challenging, but also not filled with the weeder/boring courses that are often part of a sciency kind of major’s prereqs. We’ll see how it works out. (She wants to be a librarian so a traditional science program is not necessary.)</p>
<p>(Of course D is a different kind of person- RPI was also on her list.) If you care about guys in dreadlocks with different color nail polish as student leaders, this would not be the place for you. But if you could care less what others do, as long as you get to do what interests you, then Hampshire deserves a deeper look.</p>