<p>My D really liked the atmosphere at Hampshire when we visited, as well as the philosophy and course listings.</p>
<p>I was not impressed with the physical plant--facilities, condition of the dorms; that didn't bother her. Then we went to tour Smith. For about the same (insanely expensive) COA, Smith has MUCH better facilities and resources. And with the Consortium, it seems like a better barain to go to Smith and take some classes at Hampshire. (D is interested in psych., gender studies, cognitive/neuroscience science)</p>
<p>It is true that Hampshire does not have impressive facilities, particularly in contrast to Smith, MoHo and Amherst. I think that the 4 LACs in the 5-college Consortium are all going to give you a very different experience. Obviously, two of them are limited to women, and Amherst may be beyond the reach of most students.</p>
<p>I think of Hampshire as a special place, where students have much more involvement in developing and planning their educational goals. There are only a few schools like this, and I think that it has proven invaluable to my recently-graduated son and currently-enrolled daughter. Hampshire encourages multidisciplinary education, which can be a big plus for more eclectic students with a wide range of seemingly disparate interests. For the right kind of student (self-motivated, persistent, activist, diverse interests), Hampshire can be a wonderful college. For the wrong kind of student (lack of the qualities noted in the previous sentence), Hampshire would be a poor choice.</p>
<p>It is true that Smithies can take Hampshire courses, but it isn’t always easy to get into popular classes on other campuses. As a result, most courses only have at best a handful of students from other campuses.</p>
<p>Your daughter should look into Cognitive Science courses and research at Hampshire - I think that they are doing some very interesting work. Both Smith and Hampshire have interesting gender studies curricula.</p>