<p>I think we’re agreeing on most of the same things, Nabokov. There is nothing completely unique to Amherst in courses and sports–very true. I was considering the situation from a solely financial basis. In order to get a great education, you would probably be spending lots of money at another college if it’s not Amherst. Not much of a difference there. But if you can learn a foreign language for free (or close to it), it doesn’t make much sense to invest all your Amherst time in the language. You certainly wouldn’t get as great of a foundation using Rosetta Stone, and you might not be stretched to your limits if you didn’t have someone like Professor Rabinowitz, but you could get pretty close. There isn’t any other subject that is quite like modern languages in that respect.</p>
<p>I’m still going to take a language at Amherst haha
I guess I enjoy playing devil’s advocate from time to time</p>
<p>Grading at Amherst is inflated. In many departments, it’s easy to get a B+/A- since that’s usually what profs curve around. Some departments definitely grade tougher than that, esp. if they are more quantitative in nature (or if it’s Black Studies which is notoriously tough). Also tends to vary by professor within the department (for example, wide fluctuation in the econ dept). Read the class reviews on Scrutiny and definitely talk to upperclassmen about which classes are relatively harder/easier. But also remember that grades aren’t everything at Amherst. For example, Sarat is known to be an erratic grader but you will learn A LOT from him. Every professor wants to see that you’re engaged in the class and the material and not just there for the grade.</p>
<p>As for getting a 4.0, it can be done, but to be brutally honest, the people I know who did have a 4.0 didn’t take classes that challenged them intellectually and/or didn’t take a wide variety of classes. If you’re determined to get the most out of the liberal arts by taking a wide assortment of classes, you should also be prepared for the fact that some styles of teaching, certain subjects and some profs won’t be your cup of tea and you might make lower grades. For me that was part of the experience, but I didn’t graduate with a 4.0. ;)</p>