<p>people im having a hard time choosin between the two college, lawrence uni or hampshire college.
can u guys help me out with certain facts abt the college. like their good things and the bad things.</p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>I'm afraid I've only heard negatives about Hampshire, and all secondhand. About 5 years ago, friend's D transferred out of Hampshire and back to her state U. While Hampshire advertises that you can create your own program of study, she found that it was difficult to get the guidance to do so. A friend of my D is a freshman there now and is planning to transfer out, I don't know her reasons. From a friend who visited recently with her S, she said that the facilities are extremely run down. </p>
<p>On the positive side would likely be that it is part of the 5 College Consortium, so you can take classes at Amherst, Smith, MH & UMass. Although that has a small downside too in that there is a free shuttle between the colleges, but the commuting time can make it difficult to take classes on another campus.</p>
<p>I would advise taking a trip there before you decide, choice of a college is very personal, and I may have a very skewed view of Hampshire.</p>
<p>switch-- I'm a freshman at Hampshire right now and I'm planning on transferring. What entomom said is accurate. If you have any questions feel free to PM me or ask me in this thread. On the other hand, I have a friend who's a freshman at Lawrence and she loves it.</p>
<p>First off, sorry for hijacking this thread a bit.</p>
<p>One of my best friends is a senior in high school, and in addition to applying to SUNYS she is applying to Hampshire. It is her dream school, but I am worried for her as I see and have heard pretty negative things about it. Entomom, why is your D. friend transferring/Mstar89 why are you transferring? I know everyone is different and college is what you make of it, but I think I should warn her before her family shells out money for Hampshire.</p>
<p>I have heard positive comments regarding Lawrence University; not so positive re: Hampshire. Beloit College in Wisconsin also, like Lawrence, gets great reviews-- although the application deadline may be today.</p>
<p>Defying, I just heard about my D's friend wanting to transfer over Christmas break. Sorry but I didn't get the reason why, only that she was planning to apply for transfers. If your friend is in NYC, it would be a good idea for her to visit Hampshire before she limits her options.</p>
<p>I'm transferring for a lot of reasons. Keep in mind that I'm obviously biased, but I know a few people there who agree with me. First, let me say that many people love Hampshire, but it takes a very specific kind of person. Before this year, I thought I was that kind of person and I was wrong, so I strongly urge you to spend a lot of time on campus before you make a decision. Do an overnight. Sit in on as many classes as you can. The admissions office will be very willing to help, mostly because they need as many students as possible to enroll--the annual budget consists of about 60% tuition from students as opposed to the approx. 5% at most other schools (I may be wrong on the numbers--this is just what I've heard, forgive me.) As you can imagine, this means the budget is very tight and the school really has no money to spare. Because of this, the buildings (of which there are few) are very rundown and dirty. There is no student center, theater, or concert hall. The lack of traditional departments means the whole place is extrememly unorganized. There aren't many opportunities on campus; motivated students generally have to go off campus to find EC activities and classes. Hampshire classes are extremely specific, with practically no introductory classes. It feels like all the classes are electives. Personally, I'm very worried that none of my credits will transfer to my new school because, even though I took some of the more normal classes at Hampshire, they still don't really fit into traditional college departments. I feel like, if I were to stay at Hampshire, I wouldn't be prepared enough in any field to go on to grad school or the professional world. Being able to choose your own course of study is a good draw, but it isn't really accurate. In fact, Hampshire students are so boxed in by how specific all the classes are that they often can't study what they want unless the go off campus, which can be difficult. Amherst College has a rule that each Hampshire student can only take 2 classes there. UMASS classes, are often difficult to get into, and Mt. Holyoke and Smith (especially) take a very long time to get to. The professors that I've encountered at Hampshire have all been good, but the academic structure makes it difficult for them to actually teach anything. You may be intrigued by the concept of using narrative evaluations rather than grades. I have been very disappointed by these evaluations, none of which have really said anything about my performance in the class, just generic things like "He did very well on..." There haven't been suggestions, indications on improvements, or what level they thought my work was actually at. I hate to admit, but I feel cheated by not getting a grade (I never thought I would say this, but I really miss grades). </p>
<p>Then there are the kids. I've found a few people I like, but mostly, the stereotypes are right. The smell of smoke (cigarette and marijuana) pervades most of the campus. Many students are apathetic about work, the world, themselves, etc. I consider myself to be very liberal, but the dominant feeling on campus is so radical that even I can't stand it. Communist symbols get painted on the sides of buildings very often. Despite the strong political feelings of many students, very few actually do anything about their beliefs. They just complain. </p>
<p>So, there's my rant on Hampshire. Don't take my word for it, though, you really should visit. Like I said, a lot of people absolutely love it, but you really need to know what you're getting yourself into. One last thing: It is extremely expensive (after room/board and other costs, it ends up at over 50k per year). To me, it is so far from worth the money when I spend most of my time on the campuses of the other 4 colleges in the area.</p>
<p>hey thank you for the posts... i am also not sure if Hampshire is the rite place for me.. i wish i had time to visit but lets see if i can go and do visit it sometime later.
on the other hand.. i hav a good feelin abt lawrence as well...
mstar89: is it possible to be in contact with ur fren in lawrence, wud luv to ask a few questions hehe</p>
<p>mstar,
Thanks for your thoughtful and honest review of Hampshire. Good luck on your transfer apps!</p>
<p>Lawrence is awesome! I'm hoping to transfer there next year as a sophomore. Would you be transferring in as a sophomore? We'd be in the same class hehehe. Well, I obviously really like Lawrence... have you visited? It's an awesome school, I live only three hours away so I visited over winter break and interviewed. It's a really awesome, friendly community.</p>
<p>Uhh... well, I don't know what you do or don't know. It's really academic, which find to be really positive but some find it to be well, really negative. I really love the school; it's tiny (about 1500 students) but it's twice the size of my current college (yeah, I know.) I like the weather! I don't know where you're from, but if you're from an area with mild or warm weather, be in for a shock. It can get reaaaally cold... but I personally love it so yeah. Hahaha. The con's amazing, of course. Umm... I don't know what else to say...</p>
<p>Well, I'm really big on activism, spec. feminism. I'm currently in NYC, on a trip to go to different feminist organizations. I've met many different awesome people and different places and I'm REALLY super excited. I'm glad I'm here. But although I really like how academic it is (esp. b/c my school is definitely not), what I hate is that it is, well, a bit politically indifferent. Understandably; everyone is focused on their academics so there is no time for that. But yeah, I don't know. It kind of bothers me because activism is BIG in my life. It really is. That's probably the thing that bothers me the most. As well as losing the women's college advantage (yes, I currently attend a women's college lol.)</p>
<p>I can follow up with more information. One of my guides around the city is actually THE Jennifer Baumgardner (she's a Lawrence alum. She worked for Ms. mag, wrote Manifesta, Grassroots, is coming out with a book later on this year called Looking Both Ways: something something, etc. She's pretty amazing.) and we are due for a conversation about Lawrence. She really loved it there, so that should say something, since she is a definite activist. Yeah. GL!</p>
<p>hey Joycelene,
when r u transfering to lawrence.. im plannin to for the Fall 2008. i rlly hope i get in..
and btw r u in NYC rt now.. i am in NJ but its rlly close to NYC just abt 45 mins drive..
and wow lucky you got a lawrence alum guide.. wish i could talk to her abt lawrence as well hehe</p>
<p>I am transferring out of Lawrence.....too cold. small town. ****ty dorm</p>
<p>hmm.. now theres a different opinion..
why u transfering.. r those the only reasons or u hav some else reasons as well</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm hoping to transfer in for the Fall '08 semester as an incoming sophomore. And yup, I'm currently in NYC, in Manhattan. It's pretty exciting :) Yeah, I'm hoping to talk to her tomorrow in particular since I think it would be the best opportunity to speak to her about Lawrence and her opinion. I do adore the academic environment (serious, intellectual, etc.) but I feel like I'd be sacrificing my activism by doing so and I want to get her opinion in particular, being as she's a committed Third Wave feminist and we have very similar interests and career paths and I think she'd know better than anyone haha.</p>
<p>And yeah, Lawrence is HELLA cold, btw. I'm from the Chicagoland area and ADORE snow but yeah, it's really freaking cold. If you can't handle winter weather or hate it, it's probably a poor choice of a school.</p>
<p>And Appleton definitely isn't very big but I suppose coming from where I'm from, Appleton is awesome. My school is very isolated from the downtown and any nearby attractions (two mile walk to CVS and that is the closest thing) so a car is a necessity but it isn't as much at Lawrence since it's right by the downtown. I suppose coming from living near a major city it'll be a readjustment not being able to go, "Oh, hey, let's go to the city for the weekend," or something, but I've heard that a lot of the entertainment comes from within the campus rather than from outside of it. (Another thing that I enjoy about Lawrence, being as I go to a suitcase school where more than half of the students leave on the weekends and the other half who do stay don't leave their rooms.)</p>
<p>I'm interested about the dorms, though. I found that the dorms I looked at were not that bad. They aren't as nice as my dorm, which was disappointing (esp. since I live in the crappiest dorm on campus -- but it's awesome!) but dorms at my school are really big and nice (the incredibly poor and illness-inducing food is the tradeoff, though. Yuck!) I'm planning on visiting probably in a couple weeks when I'm back in the area and definitely after I'm done with school here and if I get in and all that sort of thing and check all of them out myself but I'm very curious.</p>
<p>thank you for the testimony, mstar89...I'm looking at small, alternative LAC's for the first time ever after transferring from the large private school. </p>
<p>After doing a little research I was immediately seriously considering Hampshire. I still am, but with much much more caution. The poorly executed evaluations and "revolutionary" communist tags ruin it for me - I'm very liberal myself but from what you've written, everything seems to be for show.</p>
<p>That said, what are colleges that do perform what they preach?</p>
<p>Hampshire is one of the colleges that I'm applying for transfer. I'm planning to transfer in fall 2008. I thought, because of it's location (Amherst), Hampshire could be a great college to go to.</p>
<p>mstar89 said that "The admissions office will be very willing to help, mostly because they need as many students as possible to enroll--the annual budget consists of about 60% tuition from students as opposed to the approx. 5% at most other schools (I may be wrong on the numbers--this is just what I've heard, forgive me.)". I applied for the financial aid (as an international student). Does Hampshire gives a lot of fin aid for international student?</p>
<p>SpecialAgent,
When I think of schools similar to Hampshire, I think of: Reed, UC Santa Cruz, Wesleyan, Oberlin, Lewis & Clark, New College of Florida, U of Oregon, and Evergreen State College (bias to west coast schools as I'm more familiar with that area). However, whether or not they practice what they preach, that's another question.</p>