Hi all. We are trying to narrow down our LACs and it’s come to Haverford or Amherst. Any suggestions? Thanks 
Major? Budget? Any aid? Plans after undergrad, if any?
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What majors? Need access to a major city?
Both are small LAC’s in upscale suburban villages, but Amherst is farther from major cities. Haverford has a commuter train into Philly, and a hyper left-wing atmosphere, hence the strike debacle this fall. Both are members of consortiums. Bryn Mawr is very close to Haverford, but Swarthmore and U Penn are a schlep to get to. Amherst is very close to UMass Amherst (big flagship state U), but a schlep to get to Smith, Holyoke, or Hampshire.
Amherst is far from conservative, but Haverford is very liberal. Amherst is considered one of the top, if not THE top, LAC’s in the country, whereas Haverford is considered to be just a smidgen below, in terms of ranking. If costs were the same, and departments for prospective majors were the same, and said student doesn’t need easy access to a major city for certain amenities or tertiary healthcare centers, and said student wants easy access to a large university for obscure course offerings that are more likely to be found at a very large institution, then I would go with Amherst.
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Regarding academics, you might want to consider how these schools’ compare by their U.S. News selectivity ranks, which reverse the order of their main rankings. This is how they appear in the context of other top-10 NLACS by this measure:
︎1. Pomona
︎2. Harvey Mudd
︎2. Haverford
︎4. Amherst
︎5. Hamilton
︎5. Swarthmore
︎5. Williams
︎8. Barnard
︎8. Bowdoin
︎10. Washington & Lee
Amherst is in a great location and Northampton - a free shuttle ride down route 9 - is a wonderful college town (where smith is). The town of Amherst is nice too.
I’d definitely pick Amherst.
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They are both small schools, but Haverford is super small. Would that be a positive or negative for your student?
Amherst College is my favorite, but here are things to compare:
Amherst College offers the Five College Consortium and Haverford has the Tri-College Consortium, which open up additional courses and opportunities to consider.
Amherst is further to Boston than Haverford to PA if getting to a big city quickly matters.
Amherst has approximately 500 more students on campus and with UMass Amherst so close that adds another 30k students to the town.
Haverford was one of my top choices. But alas, I was put on the waitlist. Have you visited? That will definitely help you make up your mind. I favored Haverford because it didn’t appear as cliquey. I loved the campus and surrounding area. And the proximity to Philly was a plus for volunteering and internships. Also, it seemed a lot easier to get research opportunities for a STEM major because the atmosphere was less competitive for these positions and probably also because there are less students. Amherst does have more resources overall for its students because of its huge endowment. I’d say it depends on the student’s priorities and major. The vibe at Haverford seems to be more relaxed imo. Amherst seems a little more intense. Also, watching YouTube videos about student life at these colleges are helpful. It does appear that students are very happy at both schools. And I do think Amherst is more prestigious and has a better alumni network/career opportunities. Tough choice. Good luck!
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I just read an older post from last year which may help as well.
We didn’t have the opportunity to visit (COVID-19). Haverford’s proximity to family is a plus. But, Amherst offers the preferred major. Thank you for all your input.
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Amherst has a brand new STEM building on campus to facilitate the integration of sciences by encouraging more interaction among faculty in different sciences as well as among students.
Seniors get single rooms in the old fraternity houses; frats were shut down decades ago. Our student tour guide said that it helps seniors concentrate on their senior capstone projects.
Having UMass practically down the street makes the town of Amherst a really vibrant, bustling place - the quintessential college town. And all those courses at UMass gives Amherst students the best of both worlds.
The bike path between Amherst and Northampton is one of my favorite bike rides. Takes about 45 minutes and opens up a whole other world.
First-year seminars, a requirement for all freshmen are awesome.
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Both are in the throes of a transition to greater diversity. The fact that Amherst has so far avoided the polarizing headlines recently experienced at Haverford may be a reflection of its ability to throw more money at potential problems (when in doubt - hire another dean, create another course, pay for more internships. SOP.)
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Tough choice. Much more similar than they are different.
Is it going to bother you that Haverford is super small? Will it bother you that Amherst isn’t next to a city? Maybe go with the vibe. In general, I’d say Amherst is more diverse and has somewhat more creative/quirky students than Haverford. Of course, it’s bigger. Use Niche to help you. They have student reviews that can give you an idea of the student vibe.
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Thank you all. Will definitely look into Niche.
Interesting that OP has not shared any information about the interests of the student applicant.
If interested in student comments, try Unigo dot com.
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Thanks. We’ll take a look.
Funny, I have the opposite impression of the students as far as quirky goes–definitely quirkier/nerdier at Haverford–more self-selecting applicant pool b/c of the Honor Code. After all, Haverford has varsity cricket, no football, Amherst has football, no cricket, LOL.
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@thegrnfam What are your student’s feelings re SJW (social justice warriors)? While both schools lean left, I think that there are higher proportion of Haverford students actively engaged in social justice, even before the strike. There is a long history of activism which is connected to the college’s Quaker roots. I would recommend that you spend time reading both schools student newspapers: Haverford has two, The Bi-Co News https://bicollegenews.com/ and The Clerk, http://haverfordclerk.com/
The Amherst Student https://www.amherststudent.com/
Good luck with your decision.
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That’s good to know.
Full disclosure: I’m a Haverford grad whose D’20 chose Williams over Haverford (among other schools) and didn’t apply to Amherst (which I loved when we visited). She’s artsy and a humanities person and felt like Haverford was more STEM and social sciences oriented, although she loved the new VCAM (Center for Visual Culture, Arts, and Media).
While she liked Amherst’s open curriculum and location, after our tour she said that she didn’t love the vibe, felt too bland. Of course had she had a different tour guide with a different group of prospective students, she could have had the completely opposite reaction.