<p>I’m a high school senior from Wyoming looking at liberal arts colleges across the nation, and I’m also currently applying for a Questbridge scholarship. Out of all the Questbridge colleges, I’ve narrowed my choices down to Amherst, Bowdoin, Princeton, Wesleyan, and Vassar. I’d like to major in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing, and possibly minor in Visual Arts. What makes Amherst stand out among the other colleges, and would it be a good choice for my major? I’d love input from anyone on this matter.</p>
<p>You’ve got a really solid list there, so it’s hard to go wrong. I can’t comment on your specific major, but I’ll list some of the main reasons I chose Amherst over similar liberal arts colleges like the ones you’re looking at. Assuming you can get a pretty great education at any of those schools, here are things that make Amherst stand out:</p>
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<li><p>Open curriculum. Having no class requirements gives you such flexibility. It means you don’t have to waste time in fields you will absolutely never use (for me, mathematics) and you’ll never have to give up that course you really, really want to take in order to fill some other requirements. It also makes it easier to double major.</p></li>
<li><p>Great location, great housing. Amherst is neither too isolated nor too overcrowded. The town is really cute and has some good restaurants and stores, but it’s also small and cozy. If you like big cities, Boston and New York City are reasonable driving distances away. If you’re outdoorsy, Amherst is near to great hiking and sporting locations. As a plus, Amherst’s dorms are really spacious and well-kept, even in comparison to other top schools. </p></li>
<li><p>The Five College Consortium. Having four other colleges (one the huge UMass) in the nearby area gives Amherst some big advantages. It means you can take classes, join clubs and attend events at any of these schools, and because there is such a big college-age population in the Valley, it means cool bands and speakers are more likely to come to the area than if the tiny Amherst was all on its own. UMass is the closest to Amherst, and if you want to you can mooch off of some of UMass’s big university resources while still enjoying the intimacy and benefits of Amherst’s small community and personalized education. </p></li>
<li><p>Diversity. In recent years, Amherst has made a huge push to try to provide extended financial aid to all sorts of different students. This means that Amherst’s student body is one of the most diverse around, with low-income students, internationals and people of many races. This was a plus for me because I didn’t want to go to a school where everyone was the same or came from similar backgrounds…different students make for more interesting classroom learning.</p></li>
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<p>Anyways, those were the big four for me. Good luck with your applications and hopefully you’ll be happy wherever you end up!</p>
<p>Open Curriculum: You are not obliged to take any course–besides those required for majors and one writing-intensive first-year seminar.</p>
<p>Five College Consortium: The cultural, social, intellectual, and academic resources of four other colleges–UMass, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith–are at your disposal.</p>
<p>Amherst’s distinguished alumni: Scott Buchanan (helped found the Great Books program at St. John’s College (MD)), Richard P. Wilbur (second Poet Laureate of the U.S., now co-teaches a seminar on composition), Robert Fagles (translator of classical epics, The Odyssey, The Illiad, The Aeneid), twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, etc.</p>
<p>Robert Frost taught at Amherst for twenty-two years in the early twentieth century, and ever since then and even before then, it has had a tradition of being home to a superb faculty: <a href=“https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/english/faculty[/url]”>https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/english/faculty</a></p>
<p>And, lastly, Amherst is one of few superior colleges that pays particular attention to Questbridge scholars.</p>
<p>I’m a rising junior at Amherst and I love it. The English department is great; Richard Wilbur has even been co-teaching some classes! But do note that only 3 creative writing classes can count toward the English major (out of a total of 10 required classes). You can still do a thesis in creative writing, though, and there’s also Playwriting available through the Theater department. I’ve only taken 1 visual arts class - Basic Drawing - and it was great, but it is hard for freshmen to get into.</p>
<p>The financial aid is incredible at Amherst. Obviously, if you’re doing Questbridge that already helps a lot. I’m leaving in a couple of weeks to study abroad in Rome, which probably wouldn’t have been possible if I’d decided to go to a different school with less aid.</p>