<p>I have heard from some that there is a great mix of backgrounds and personalities but from others that it is too preppy. Any perspective?</p>
<p>I'm going to second this question...I too have heard conflicting things, and am very interested to find the truth.</p>
<p>You're going to hate this answer, but it all depends on what you are looking for and your perspective. Being a soph at Amherst now, I can tell you I have very few preppy friends. I tend to dislike ultra-preppiness so I choose to avoid it, and I can do it quite easily. I have a nice core of really nice, down-to-earth diverse blah blah blah friends that I spend the majority of my time with. They are from all parts of the world (NY, Cali, New Zealand, China, Midwest, Maryland, etc) and really give me a good sense of the 'real world' even in what, at times, feels like an isolated environment.</p>
<p>So, if you like preppy, by all means find those popped collars and pink shirts on campus. If you're like me, and stay away from them like the plague, you're not alone by any means here.</p>
<p>thanks for the perspective.</p>
<p>blaze:</p>
<p>It sounds like you are saying that the answer to the original poster's question is, "BOTH".</p>
<p>That's the sense I get from looking at the statistics for Amherst.</p>
<p>Amherst has a long standing reputation for being the 'preppiest' of the small elite LACs. We have legacies, we have kids from Westchester, NY, Connecticut, rich suburbs, etc. Hell, I'm one of the Westchester kids. So the preppy kids exist. </p>
<p>Our current president, Tony Marx has basically made it his mission to admit and incorporate more diverse, low income, hard working students into the student body. So, for those who want the diverse atmosphere, slowly but surely your numbers are increasing</p>
<p>Considering that over 50% of the kids are on some form of FA, the non-preps are int eh majority and growing!</p>
<p>but sometimes the preppiest-looking kids are actually FA</p>
<p>At Amherst, we go for the eyes and always pull the shanks the first chance we get.</p>
<p>Well, no, seriously, preppiness at Amherst is generally avoidable. If you get the bad luck to get someone you really don't like in your classes or in your dorm, the above methods work fine for dealing with them.</p>
<p>Amherst is historically a preppy school and that is where its traditions and history lie so if you discriminate against all those considered Preppy don't go there just as if you were a klan member thinking of applying to Howard (probably not a good idea).</p>