Quality of life at LAC's

<p>Hello. I am relatively new to these forums, so please do not be mad if this is the wrong place to put this type of thread. I am a junior in high school and it’s about time for me to decide where to go to college. I find the process extremely difficult and stressful. I wanted to know about the quality of life, the campus beauty, the dorms, and the undergrad experience at the following colleges. It would help alot if you guys could help me here.
If it means anything, I am an African-American, enraptured by politics, and hope to be president.
Amherst
Bowdoin
Carleton
Williams
Swarthmore
Wesleyan
Connecticut</p>

<p>Datboyjj-- Just one old professors opinion but you need to do YOUR
homework on this one. Read up and then get back! FWIW</p>

<p>.02 David</p>

<p>Or, the OP can try posting on the different forums that they’ve listed. There isn’t always a lot of activity on this one.</p>

<p>I have visited Amherst and Wesleyan.
Amherst has a fantastic campus, beautiful and constructed in a great layout, avoiding long/cold winter walks to class. The facilities are in fantastic condition, including the dormitories. The single, and ubiquitous complaint with Amherst seems to be the quality of the dining, or more aptly, the lack thereof.
Wesleyan, in contrast, is not quite as nice. I think this originate in their lack of funds, relative to Amherst, and larger student body. This lack of resources translates into fewer study abroad opportunities and facilities that are not as well kept.</p>

<p>I’ve been to Williams, Wesleyan and Amherst and the biggest differences between them are their student cultures. Amherst and Williams are dominated by varsity athletics and the need for small campuses to fill virtually the same number of team sports as schools ten times their size. Wesleyan, because it’s slightly larger, can accomodate varsity athletics as well as have an extraordinarily rich student culture. Wesleyan has more ubiquitous places for socializing and deeper offerings in the performing arts, IMO.</p>

<p>Also, I think Wesleyan puts more money into research than the other two. A lot more.</p>

<p>D. is a first-year student at Amherst. Has had a wonderful experience thus far. The campus community seems very warm. The kids in her dorm, one of the smaller ones, have been pretty close from the beginning (very different from my older daughter’s Top 20 university, where she doesn’t know or speak to half the kids on her floor). Her friends are equally divided between sports teammates, kids who are not athletes, kids involved with different sports. Although everyone is very bright, the kids I’ve met all seem very “normal.”
The campus community is incredibly diverse–geographically, culturally, economically–and yet they’ve done a very good job of bringing students together. It strikes me as a very special place in that regard.
As a prospective student, she did an overnight at Williams and did not like anyone she met. The vibe struck me as cold with everyone trying to come off as an intellectual. This is obviously a very personal thing–Williams is no doubt a very fine institution.</p>

<p>Of the OP’s list we visited Bowdoin, Amherst, Wesleyan. </p>

<p>We did not like the vibe we received at Wesleyan(campus was ok). Afterwards we consulted my Nephew who is an Alumni and he didn’t have good things to say about the atmosphere either.</p>

<p>Our D’s overnight to Amherst was a mixed bag. She did not like the other visitors as they were too concerned with comparing resumes and preparing to network to Boston. She did not like her room host because she was too concerned about a party she wanted to attend and could not hide the fact that being a host was a burden. However, our D did like the campus, the dorms and she has respect for the school’s academic reputation so she did apply.</p>

<p>As for Bowdoin, we literally live 35 minutes away and have visited the campus and surrounding town of Brunswick ME. quite often. The campus’ layout isn’t the greatest but the facilities are quite good including the dorms and the dining halls. There are good eateries around the campus, the town is “school friendly,” and Portland ME. is only 35 mins away. Our D doesn’t want to go to school in Maine, yet she applied to Bowdoin so I guess that says alot about the school.</p>

<p>This thread has been thought provoking for me. S applied to Amherst and is waiting for the decision. My D is a sophomore at Pomona and I am on that thread quite often. I can tell you that from the discussions on the 2 different school threads, everyone can’t seem to stop singing praises about all aspects of Pomona. I just don’t read that at all from the Amherst threads. The Pomona thread is also much more active than the Amherst one, not that that is necessarily a good or bad indication. I am not getting particularly good vibes about Amherst - S applied because his sister suggested he add one LAC to his list. From what I am told food at Pomona and the Claremont colleges is almost 5 star quality :)</p>

<p>Amherst is a very beautiful campus, classic New England with brick dorms ringing a central green quad that encourages outdoor social contact between dorms (think frisbee). When my son attended, that was “Freshman Quad” so I assume that’s still the way it’s organized. Following freshman year, there are other dorm options, including some older gracious Victorian homes on the edge of campus that are language theme houses. Long ago, those were fraternities which are no longer allowed at Amherst.</p>

<p>The diversity of the campus, evident from the statistics, translates into real friendships. He had close friends from up and down the economic ladder and around the globe. Of the students I met while visiting, no two were alike. Each was unique and seemed to offer something different to the community. There’s a big emphasis on contributing to the college community with one’s ideas and interests. In conversations, people give more than they take, if that makes sense. The people I met were positive, intelligent, with a wry sense of humor, not cynical. My son was not in athletics, but concentrated in the performing arts. As part of the Concert Choir, he and others toured and performed with other college students in Japan and Hungary - places he’d never have seen if it weren’t for the college.</p>

<p>Essential to know about Amherst is the relationship of the campus to the Town of Amherst, and beyond that, the Five College Consortium. Amherst campus itself feels like a little world-of-its-own, but in a 5-minute walk you’re in downtown Amherst. A good description of that town: a typical block is: cafe, bookstore, restaurant, bookstore, cafe. It’s very much a college town. Three colleges (of the Five College Consortium) use that town as their own: Amherst College, Hampshire College and the very large University of Massachusetts (pop 30K, I think) situated about a mile from Amherst College. My son felt that the small population size of Amherst College never felt claustrophobic because when he walked into town, there were immediately hundreds of other students doing things from other colleges in town. Beyond that, there is Smith College and Mt. Holyoke College, all connected by a free shuttle bus; those are all-women’s colleges. My son always took a course at a different college each semester which got him moving onto other campuses. Smith’s campus is particularly beautiful, designed by Frederic Law Olmstead (Central Park); Mt. Holyoke has some old Gothic buildings that impress. Cross-registration between campuses was encouraged and very manageable. In addition to being elsewhere some days for a class, there’s a steady stream of people participating in EC’s from one college to the next every evening. Performances and guest speakers draw people from every campus to every other campus. Son planned his day by checking the Amherst College calendar website, then the Five College Consortium calendar. Amherst College was definitely “home” with plenty to do, but there was much more beyond it to choose from at the other 4 places. </p>

<p>“Town-gown” relations are very positive between the colleges and Town of Amherst. There’s also a large town park that is right on the edge of Amherst College and across from Main Street. That’s where the Town stages many weekend outdoor festivals and events in Autumn and Spring, attended by all. Fifteen minutes by bus (30 in traffic) is the City of Northampton, home to Smith College. Northampton’s main street is much more edgy, radical and progressive than the Town of Amherst which is chill and smooth by comparison. So there’s a nice contrast, close at hand. Choose your evening.</p>

<p>So, while most of son’s friends, EC activities and time was spent on the campus of Amherst College, which he found beautiful and inspiring, he never got tired of it because of the Five College Consortium. From the small and well-identified LAC Amherst College, he had very easy access to other college populations that total 35,000 or so. (Excuse me for not looking up the numbers, I’ll leave that to you). So it’s Small within Big. Son was always doing something, every evening and weekend. His own evenings centered on hard-working and demanding rehearsals, performances for theater and music, his majors. On his way, he’d stop in on parties on the Amherst campus. He’d stay an hour, socialize and then be on his way to begin rehearsals. I got the impression (could be wrong…) that mostly athletes and STEM majors were having the big parties, because their days begin early in the morning and their majors didn’t require evening attendance, unlike Performance majors whose departments always schedule evening rehearsals. Point is: his social life worked for him; he had plenty of acquaintances in a wide circle and felt comfortable to drop by briefly on those parties. His own really close friends kept similarly active as he did, busy with activities every weeknight. Everyone in all the majors studied very hard, but that was assumed. The coursework is top shelf. </p>

<p>He had a great experience there. What I most remember was him saying that whatever problem came up he could always find someone from administration to talk with and find a solution. He found it a very humane and responsive community, the opposite of a cold bureaucracy. </p>

<p>The food at Valentine hall is described by all as very boring. The only advantage is that everyone on campus eats only there, so it’s easy to find friends or arrange mealtime meetings there. One way he coped was getting an off-campus job and eating takeout approximately once weekly from the Main Street of Amherst to get a bit of spice and variety. If you can live with dull food, it’s not bad food…just not enough change in menu for today’s students, it seems.</p>

<p>Wow u guys are amazing people. Thank you for taking some time out of your life.</p>

<p>paying3tuitions - thank you so much for your description of Amherst. My son applied there at the last minute and we never did have a chance to visit. Now I feel much better about his choice. Hopefully he’ll get in and we’ll be making a visit in April!</p>