Hi everyone,
I’ve been admitted to all three of these schools and was wondering whether anyone in this community had thoughts or experiences they’d be willing to share. I have yet to visit any of these schools (will be visiting in April) so I’m looking for as much information on the overall “vibe” as I can get! I also have the Traina scholarship at Clark and Presidential Scholarship at Vermont, and would love to hear about the overall rigor for non-stem majors. How difficult is it to maintain these scholarships? Lastly, are alumni well respected in the job market? I’m slightly concerned about this aspect of UVM, since it is a state school.
Thank you!
I have visited Mount Holyoke (official tour), Clark (local to the area), and have visited Burlington on several occasions but not toured the school. I guess my information is more about the physical environment and little about the academics of Clark and Mount Holyoke. Clark is a very urban campus in Worcester (about 200,000 pop). While the campus itself is nice, the area of Worcester isn’t the best but Worcester as a whole and Clark itself has vastly improved recently. The people I know (I’m a parent) and family know from Clark are very bright (my sister knows a Fulbright scholar that attended Clark undergrad). Very community focused (part of the Colleges that Care) and tend to be liberal leaning. Clark is highly regarded in this area but I’m unsure of reputation outside of the area. We are touring Clark next week with my Junior daughter so we are excited to learn more about their academic programs. Mt. Holyoke was daughter’s favorite tour so far. The campus is a very beautiful, rural New England campus. Though my husband was pleasantly surprised that there is a small area of shops, restaurants, and a movie theater across from the campus that was not there when he last visited the campus years back. The tour guide focused on the various academic programs in more detail than any other tour we have been on. My daughter liked that everyone didn’t look the same and the vibe seemed more academic. The campus is large in area but most of the buildings are not too spread out. Lots of green space. My daughter liked that she would be able to have a car on campus and liked the idea of the 5 college consortium. We did see a shuttle bus go by several times while we were there but the campus is a little further from Amherst and Northampton than I thought it would be. Burlington is a great small city with a bigger city feel with the all the shops and restaurants and the area itself with the mountains and lake is beautiful. My daughter has yet to visit but it is on her list. I really don’t much about their academic programs. A great list of colleges to choose from. I wish you the best.
Thank you for the information!