Hi–I’m a high school senior looking at a few schools in the Northeast. Currently I’m trying to decide if I want to apply to a very possible school for early decision or hold out for other schools, including Hampshire. What I want out of a school is good academics with a more creative course structure (like Hampshire–with no structured requirements), LGBT friendly, a friendly, open-minded, smart student body, kind teachers with a close student relationship, and with animal behavior courses (a very unusual request, the other top school I’m looking at is Franklin and Marshal which is the only other school that fits my needs with that major). I really love Hampshire. I know it has a reputation for being really laid-bak and hippy-ish, but everyone I know who has gone there says that isn’t true. I want to know if I’d be happy at that school, but my number-one fear right now is Hampshire has a very low freshman retention rate, somewhere in the low 60%. Does anyone know why that is? Should I be concerned about people’s happiness at the school, or its legitimacy? I just want to know the main reason for people’s transferring or dropping out, and if it should affect my opinion of the school.
Where did you get that retention rate number, because I have never seen such a low number reported for Hampshire? I think that the current retention rate between first and second year is 82%, which is a little higher than it used to be; I saw 78-79% figures a few years ago.
Still, probably more 1st-year students do not return than desirable. I think that Hampshire’s curriculum is more demanding than some students realize. The lack of course grades or established majors may be mistakenly translated into a lack of rigor. Also, students are expected to be well-motivated and assertive in developing their concentration. I think that kids who think of Hampshire as a laid-back hippy-ish school (which it is in some ways) can get a rude awakening when a lot of academic demands are placed on them.
Depends on your stats – if they are strong enough, you could apply RD to both, and make up your mind after accepted student visits if you get in.
Looking at more sites I’m finding numbers much closer to those you’ve mentioned: 80-82%, which is more reassuring. I do have some apprehension regarding kids who don’t take the school seriously. I certainly don’t want to have classmates who are just attending Hampshire because they expect an easy ride, or later on employers who will expect that, having attended Hampshire, I will have the same mindset and academic abilities. I’m glad to hear that such students receive a rude awakening.
I’m not worried about getting in necessarily, I just really want to finish the college process as early as possible given that I have such a small list of schools I want to apply to. I’m just curious as to a (relatively) lower retention rate for an accredited liberal arts college.
80% freshman retention is extremely low for a “good” school
Yeah that’s what I’ve been afraid of…
You really need to make these determinations by talking to students and faculty rather than analyzing statistics, parsing percentage differences in retention rate, and listening to strangers on the internet, some of whom may have little to no firsthand knowledge of the school. I just returned from parents’ weekend and can tell you what I see with my freshman son’s workload - if you don’t take it seriously, you’re not going to make it. It is possible that some students arrive thinking Hampshire is easy and leave when they learn it is not - I don’t know. I would just advise you to visit and see for yourself what you think.
Hi - my son is a recent Hampshire grad. He thinks a big part of the problem is that kids see “no requirements” and equate that with “easy”, hence much of the reason many don’t return after freshman year. I agree with @Snowdog - you have to be very self-motivated in order to do well at Hampshire. My son loved it and had an excellent experience there. He ended up taking classes at four of the five colleges (he didn’t take a class at Smith) and found that really worked for him. He had wonderful faculty support from within Hampshire and also had a couple of mentors from Amherst College and Mt. Holyoke. You should visit, try to do an overnight with a student and talk to students who are there. It’s a unique school but when it works, it’s pretty much perfect. My son had an excellent experience and can’t imagine being anywhere else.