<p>Divisions, no "freshmen, sophomore, etc" year, apparently no majors, what? Help please.</p>
<p>Division I is a 1-year exploration of courses from a wide range of disciplines. In some ways, it is similar to the general education distribution requirements for Bachelor’s degrees from other colleges.</p>
<p>Division II is a 2-year development of a ‘concentration’ by taking a series of courses designed to learn about the concentration and related disciplines. Students must work with a faculty committee to develop an approved Div II plan, and that committee must sign off on the plan when it is completed.</p>
<p>Division III is a 1-year ‘capstone’ project for the student’s chosen concentration. It may involve some courses, but it is mostly a research or performance project. The Div III proposal must also be approved by the student’s faculty committee, and those professors provide guidance and final approval.</p>
<p>In many ways, the Division system is superior to the Freshman- Sophomore- Junior- Senior- based systems, because the latter merely refers to periods of time. If you take a year of courses, you can now call yourself a Sophomore. Instead, the Division system is based on accomplishing goals. I listed the times it typically takes to complete each Division, but those are only guidelines. Each Division is completed when you complete your plan to the satisfaction of your committee.</p>
<p>Course grades are replaced by written narrative evaluations of student progress and performance. These evaluations are commonly in-depth and detailed, and provide much more guidance to a student than a simple letter grade. Most students end up taking a few courses from the other consortium colleges (UMass, Smith, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke), and those courses appear on a Hampshire transcript with the assigned letter grades.</p>
<p>To the uninitiated (myself included), the whole thing might seem a little too loose, undisciplined and/or uncoordinated. In many ways, however, the Division system is more tightly-regulated than pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at a more typical college. Elsewhere, you start taking courses, perhaps under the auspices of an adviser, but you can go through a year or two before someone starts asking you about your ‘major’. At Hampshire, your adviser(s) start asking this question right away, and by the end of your first year, you will have to develop a plan to develop the knowledge base to pursue your area of concentration. It is true that there are no predetermined majors, but that just means that you have to develop the details of your ‘major’ in concert with your committee. This is particularly useful for student who want to pursue interdisciplinary concentrations; they can put together a Div II plan to do that. At more traditional colleges, interdisciplinary students work on the requirements for a ‘minor’, and it can be awfully tough to pull this off if the major and the minor are from unrelated disciplines.</p>
<p>Hampshire has a relatively high attrition rate for a small liberal art college, and I suspect that this is because too many students think that a lack of predetermined majors or letter grades means that they can do whatever they please. In fact, it is quite hard to keep up with the paperwork, forms and deadlines required to navigate one’s way through each Division. Also, there is no template provided for completing a ‘major’ - you have to come up with it on your own. Finally, if you slack off in your courses, you may find yourself to be the recipient of a stinging evaluation that may feel a whole lot worse than a simple ‘C’ grade.</p>
<p>@ALF - so how would Hampshire be for a student who isn’t into weed or alcohol?</p>
<p>Both of our kids went to Hampshire; one who partook of ‘substances’, and one who did not. The one who did not had a great time anyway. She started out in a substance-free dorm hall, where everyone signs an agreement not to use in their residence, or be under the influence while in their residence. This worked out great and she made many friends who she still hangs out with (our daughter graduates this May). There seems to be many opportunities for social activities, both organized and unorganized, that do not involve alcohol or drugs. </p>
<p>Having said that, drug use and alcohol are clearly widely available and prevalent. I don’t know how if there is more drug use at Hampshire, compared to other liberal arts colleges; I suspect that there might be.</p>
<p>There are a bunch of comments about drug and alcohol use in <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hampshire-college/618010-800lb-gorilla-room-hampshires-imae-stoner-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hampshire-college/618010-800lb-gorilla-room-hampshires-imae-stoner-school.html</a> and <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hampshire-college/654764-marijuana-more-notes-our-vist-hamp.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hampshire-college/654764-marijuana-more-notes-our-vist-hamp.html</a> threads.</p>
<p>Thanks Alf; most of the thread you directed me to was 2 years ago, and things can change dramatically in 2 years, although things can stay the same. I will review, but I would love more current input on the drug/smoking/alcohol scene from anyone involved.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether or not this is meaningful, but over the last two years, Hampshire fell out of the Top Ten “Reefer Madness” schools in the Princeton Review college rankings. </p>
<p>I will ask our daughter if she thinks drug/alcohol use is up/down over the last 4 years.</p>
<p>hey monster,</p>
<p>I am a current second-year student and completely sub-free. I haven’t had any significant problems. I will say that I’m not much of a partier – just not my style 
– so I can’t honestly comment on what it is like to be sub-free in those sorts of situations. But generally speaking, the Hampshire student body is one that values respect and tolerance of differences in identities and lifestyles, including sub-free and sub-friendly. There are so many different “niches” to find here that a healthy social life is most certainly possible if you’re not into substances. There are kids whose idea of a fun Saturday night is getting smashed, of course, but there are also kids whose idea of a fun Saturday night is baking or attending an open mic or playing Super Mario Bros or performing Shakespeare. Something for everyone. :]</p>
<p>Yes, there’s lots of recreational drug use on campus, and it’s definitely irritating to have my window open, enjoying the fresh air, only to be hit with a nice strong whiff of pot. This unfortunately happened even when I was living on a sub-free hall. To be honest, though, the cigarette smoking bothers me much more than the pot. It is appalling how rampant cigarette smoking is on a campus that supposedly prides itself on being “green.” But that’s another rant entirely.</p>
<p>Hi Disco girl (great name!). My older son is also a second year student and is not sub-free. That said, he’s very respectful of folks who are - I think you nailed Hampshire and their tolerance to differences. I’d also say there’s no way that he could handle the workload he has and be stoned all the time. He’s always busy - he’s in the theater department. So thanks for commenting.</p>
<p>He feels as you do about the cigarette smoke. Ugh.</p>
<p>Agh I hate cig smoke as well</p>
<p>girlcanDisco - nice to hear that there’s a sub-free community. My D is sub-free, has been admitted for next year, and is very, very interested in Hampshire. One of my main concerns is if she can have a happy social life there as a sub-free person.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I’m also a second year student at Hampshire, also sub-free. I do attend parties every once in a while, and I have no problem being sub-free at them. Mostly, I get a lot of respect and understanding from my peers. I know quite a few people who are sub-free (Hi, girlcanDISCO!, among others), just as I know quite a few who are not, this doesn’t discriminate who I spend time with, and I don’t think it happens the other way around either. Also, every weekend there are programs and activities in sub-free spaces, and other sub-free activities in other spaces.</p>
<p>I think I have a good social life, I definitely have a happy one. I think Hampshire’s reputation is not entirely deserved. Yes, there is a drug culture, but I don’t think it’s any different than the drug culture at other colleges. I know from my own experience visiting other colleges and from discussing the topic with friends at other colleges that Hampshire is not that different.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions about anything I would be happy to answer them! :)</p>
<p>Can any of you current Hampshire students give me an idea of what the nerd level is on campus at Hampshire? We have a son who is into math/science, may want to go into environmental engineering or something like that – and I’m just curious how big the somewhat socially inept/video gamer crowd is like at Hampshire? Like many of you, he will be sub-free…</p>
<p>I would say that the nerd level is very high. I always associated the ‘nerd’ label with math and science geeks, but Hampshire has lots more students who are nerdy about other things. I guess that I have broadened my own definition to include anyone who is overly interested in a particular field to the point of awkwardness. For instance, there are a whole bunch of drama and art nerds who behave pretty much like math/science nerds.</p>
<p>ha ha ha Alf - you nailed it! My son is a total drama nerd. He was at home for a few days pver spring break and one of his friends came over - they were down in the “man cave” playing Mouse Trap - remember the old kids’ game? That just cracked me up. </p>
<p>We picked up our son today (en route for a college trip with our younger son) and took him to dinner. Hampshire always feels “just right” to me. I love that place!</p>
<p>There is actually even a ‘Gamer’ hallway (F4) in Dakin House. If you want to see the definition of “Nerd”, just read the self-written description for that hall:
<a href=“https://hampedia.org/wiki/Dakin_F4[/url]”>https://hampedia.org/wiki/Dakin_F4</a></p>
<p>Hey, how would you think a religious person would fare in this school? Given that she is open-minded and respectful towards other people’s differing views.</p>
<p>My sense of Hampshire is that it’s very tolerant towards everyone. Can she do an overnight with a student? We found that very helpful for our son which ultimately helped him make his final decision.</p>
<p>Oh, actually I’m the student. But I’m an international student so I don’t think I can visit the campus 
Hampshire seems like such an interesting place to learn and I have a gut feeling that I’ll thrive here but I’m just really worried about the drugs&alcohol culture and wondering if there is any religious support available. From what I’ve read so far, drug use seems rampant. O.O I really hope Hampshire is as open-minded and tolerant as people put it out to be-for the majority AND the minority.</p>
<p>@truecolors- The drug use in hampshire doesn’t seem shady and violent, just laid back.</p>