<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>