<p>My daughter is interested in MH. She had a tour and an interview and really liked it. I'm concerned because there seems to be next to nothing in the town. The only thing I saw were the shops next to admissions. Is that all there is in South hadley?</p>
<p>South Hadley, to my knowledge, is pretty small, and I think you saw most of it. On weekends, I think a fair amount of people travel to the larger cities of Northampton and Amherst, which are both about 30 minutes away. I can't speak about Amherst, but Northampton is filled with restaurants and quirky shops and is pretty delightful. :D</p>
<p>True, South Hadley isn't much. Fortunately, the PVTA free bus takes students between the five colleges. They can easily get to Amherst (which I find charming) and Northampton. With a bus change, can also get them to Route 9 where there is a mall and box store strip malls. My daughter is a rising junior at Mount Holyoke. Granted, she's loving the city life this summer during her internship in D.C., but she seems to keep very busy up at school. </p>
<p>There are many clubs on campus and the students can join clubs at the other schools. The debate society is very active. In fact, the National Tournement will be held at Mount Holyoke next year!</p>
<p>Amherst and Northampton are both delightful towns. I wouldn't worry too much about there not being much to do in South Hadley itself. I'm hoping my daughter will look at MHC when the time comes so I'll have an excuse to visit the area on a regular basis (at least for 4 years). Also, I think it is a great school.</p>
<p>There is TONS to do in Amherst but if she wants a real city, Boston and NYC would be the next closest thing.</p>
<p>She doesn't need a big city - but a restaurant or two, a coffee house would be nice to walk to.</p>
<p>She'll be fine then. Across the Street is the Village Commons, which houses a coffee shop (Thirsty Mind), a deli-style restaurant (Tailgate Picnic <a href="http://www.tailgatepicnic.com/)%5B/url%5D">http://www.tailgatepicnic.com/)</a>, a casual restaurant (Johnny's), and I think a Chinese and/or Mexican restaurant. There is a very nice upscale restaurant (Food 101). Odyssey Bookstore and a a movie theater are also there.</p>
<p>Though my daughter grew up near and spent a lot of time in New York City, she loves the location of MH and doesn't mind the smallness of South Hadley. She expected to spend more time in nearby towns, but now a junior, there is so much to do on campus she still finds plenty of stimulation right there. She is very social, but also pretty focused and I think she appreciates the "retreat" feel of MH without a lot of distractions. (The campus is gorgeous!)
<a href="http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/com..._Princeton.MOV%5B/url%5D">http://www.mtholyoke.edu/offices/com..._Princeton.MOV</a></p>
<p>South Hadley is totally fine. We have two coffee shops right on campus that are very popular, and in Village Commons we have a movie theatre, several restaurants, the Thirstymind coffee shop that's very popular, a huge independent bookstore where we also get our textbooks, boutiques, and lots of other places. The Tailgate has a lot of grocery items -- I buy my eggs there, for example -- so that's handy. We also can use the PVTA for free, which everyone does, and there's a shuttle that goes to the Big Y plaza down the street on Thursdays and Fridays for $1 a ride. That plaza has a Friendly's and several other businesses and shops in addition to the grocery store.</p>
<p>There is ALWAYS something going on on campus. People rarely feel the need to leave unless they're going to one of the other colleges or going to the mall via PVTA. I wouldn't worry about it. :)</p>