<p>Hello! everyone,this is Haolu from China,shanghai. I'm applying to the two schools but dont quite know the differences between the two,for I live tooooo far away... maybe MHC is better on natural sciences? I dont know...could you guys that really LIVE there tell me sth about it? THX.</p>
<p>northampton > south hadley</p>
<p>i don't know about the schools, though.</p>
<p>Both are excellent schools. MHC does have a strong tradition of excellence in the sciences, but I'm sure Smith has excellent programs as well. The biggest difference would be the location. Smith is in a small town (Northampton) and has a smaller, more compact, campus. MHC is in a suburb with a more sprawing set-up. Both are very beautiful institutions. You can't really go wrong with either. Personally, when I visited Smith I didn't like the fact that the campus was so close to the hussle and bustle of Northampton. I found the tranquility of MHC campus was more appealing. Other people have said that MHC was too quiet and isolated for them, though I never found that to be a problem. Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks,Adeline,that really helps a loooot!
yeah,just through the viewbooks and websites, i find MHC's campus more appealing too,with upper lake and lower lake,prospect hill,etc...
and I guess MHC has a higher percentage of int'l students which is 15%!
hoho,btw,thanks to Gleech,I did actually think(or just imagine.) that Northampton was smaller than South Hadley...</p>
<p>Alrighty, well, I was accepted ED to Mount Holyoke, so for me to deny any bias would be disingenuous, but, both Smith and MHC were serious contenders for me. Had I not been accepted to MHC, I don't know that Smith would have been my second choice though, because the differences, for me, were significant enough to veer me away.</p>
<p>But like Adeline said, both are excellent schools, both in the Valley in the Five Colleges and are mroe similar than different in the grand scheme of things. </p>
<p>But here are the outstanding points which drove me to apply ED to MHC:</p>
<p>1) MHC has a population of about 2100, and Smith about 2400, but MHC seems much tighter knit and more community oriented.
2) MHC has a wider, more specialized and comprehensive set of foreign language programs...Smith's are excellent too, but MHC's better in my opinion.
3) Even though South Hadley gets a bad rap as being isolated, the bustle of NoHo was not alluring. However, I can't wait to go and visit NoHo on the weekends, it's just a 20 minute car ride. Since you haven't visited Smith, here's NoHo in a snapshot: hip, young, liberal small-town, the downtown right outside Smith is the main center of activity, with dozens of really cool coffee shops and excellent restaurants, neat shops, clothing stores and the like, farmer's markets on weekends and cool indie theatres. I love NoHo, love it. And as towns go, it beats South Hadley any day. BUT, I would rather reside in the calm that is MHC and visit NoHo when desired. South Hadley is South Hadley, but MHC then has the Village Commons with shops, restaurants and theatre all across the street. And yeah, the actual campus of MHC is MUCH nicer than that of Smith if you ask me. The buildings, the facilities, the landscape, etc.
4) I actually like the fact that MHC is a traditional liberal arts college with requirements, unlike Smith which has an open curriculum, meaning you can take whatever classes you like, as long as you have sufficient credit in your intended major. I think the mingling and experimenting in classes that may not be your favorite is important.
5) This is strange, but Mount Holyoke girls seems much friendlier, don't ask me why, they just do.
6) Classes are generally smaller and there seems to be more advising.
7) The bigger international student body of MHC was also appealing, along with the fact there is greater economic diversity along with ethnic than at Smith.</p>
<p>So those are just seven of a million reasons why I chose MHC over Smith. I think you could work well at either, again, they are similar and many apply to both. Best of luck!!!</p>
<p>whoa,thank you deroutefille,your post is awesome!! I do have a much clearer picture of what the two schools are like now,btw,MHC's equestrian center is appealing to me too!! I'm here writing why-MHC and I just fall in love with this school. and,CONGRATS on your early admission and hope we can meet on campus this fall ^_^</p>
<p>deroutefille, your number 5 interested me. Smith and MHC are my top two, and though I think Smith has more of the programs I want, I keep remembering how friendly everyone was at MHC. With your post, I'm beginning to think it wasn't just me. Anybody else have thoughts on this?</p>