<p>Midd is about 5.5 hours away from New York, and it would have been difficult for me to visit home/for my parents to visit me. Amherst is 2.5 hours away, which is much more manageable. I have difficultly walking, too–I heard that Midd is a crackling cold Winter Wonderland most of the year. Midd’s campus is enormous, just huge, and it would have been a twenty minute walk for me between classes. I sat in on four classes at Midd–Italian, film studies, philosophy, and art history–and they were all great, very interesting. Midd also ranks top on several of Princeton Review’s lists–for academics, selectivity, quality of life, top-notch professors, best classroom experience, best food, etc. There are also a lot of “beautiful people” at Midd, and most of the facilities are spacious, clean, and impressive. Every student I spoke to was so “chill” and friendly, eager to talk about why Midd meant so much to them. It really was a tough choice for me, and now I understand why Midd has such a high yield rate–45 percent–relative to other top LACs.</p>
<p>I loved Midd, and I was ready to man up, tough it out, until I was accepted off the Amherst waitlist on May 8th. When I had visited the Amherst campus, and the town of Amherst, I was so impressed with both, and I just felt as if I belonged: I wanted to be there. Everything was simply beautiful and amazing. It felt and looked like a college to me, more so than Midd did. I judged that life would be tough enough for me at Amherst, academically and socially, but it wouldn’t be a bitter struggle, as it might have been at Midd.</p>
<p>In my opinion, Midd loses to Amherst only in terms of size (campus and student body) and location. Some may say endowment, but I received nearly identical FA packages from both.</p>
<p>kwu - my son is still on the waitlist at Amherst. He thought about applying to Midd but when we visited it was -5 degrees w/o the wind chill! He loves Amherst and hopes to get in even if it takes until August.</p>
<p>Hey so what did you decide to do?
Did you actually go to Amherst?
If so, what are you majoring in and what are you doing about International Relations?</p>
<p>The Midd facilities are more beautiful and more recently updated. Midd has an Olympic sized pool,(Amherst has only a 6 lane pool), totally new fieldhouse/athletic complex with connected ice rink, track etc. The campus is large for a LAC, but still intimate and has a coherent feel. They have their own ski hill-it’s not cold for nothing-ten minutes away and a bus there daily. </p>
<p>I’m glad to hear your story, Kwu. It explains some of your answers. I think Amherst is a great school, and between Amherst and Midd, only a fool could be unhappy at either one. For the lucky people with a choice, visit both and you’ll know where you fit in better.</p>
<p>Just an obsewrvation about the dining hall situation: Amherst the town in which Amherst the college sits has within walking distance and within the 5 college area, a culinary selection of restaurants, fast food joints, foreign food made by natives from the appropriate country to even satisfy someone from NYC. I have been to mIddlebury (I’m a parent) and believe me, the selection of rest. is NOT even close. I never knew a kid going to school who ONLY ate at his/her school’s dining halls.</p>
<p>I know how you feel about the IR major issue. I wanted to major in IR, but still chose Amherst over several other prominent schools for international relations. I decided instead to participate in the 5C program after reading their requirement. I found them to be very comprehensive. Besides, having looked into the requirements of several graduate schools (like Princeton) I found that a good basis in any of the social sciences, as long as there is a strong emphasize on analysis would be sufficient. Plus, Amherst has that great LJST program that is also very appealing. I’ve read their catalogue, trust me there are a lot of options for someone that wants to go into IR. (Some of the classes that intrigued me: Global Legality, Representing and Judging the Holocaust, Modern Indonesia, Argetina, Brazil, Chile: Film and Politics of Democratization, Russian Politics Past and Present, Women and Politics in Africa, Cuba: The Politics of Extremism, Case Studies in American Diplomacy, The Political Economy of the Petro States: Venezuela Compared…and the list goes on and on)</p>
<p>When I visited Amherst I got to eat at Valentine several times and was impressed with the quality of food. I am sure that any cafeteris food gets old after a coupleof weeks, but there was a wide variety for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was also nice to see their array of vegan and vegetarian options.</p>