<p>Hey all,
I applied to Hamilton because of it's strength in writing (and at the prompting of both of my parents, who are both alums). I'm definitely less mainstream than either of my parents, and Hamilton is probably the most "traditional" school I'm looking at (my other choices include Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, to name the quirkier ones). Anyway, considering Hamilton is fairly selective, and it's reputation for writing, I thought it would attract some bright, creative kids...or is it really just a bunch of preppy frat boys?</p>
<p>I applied to Hamilton also and am anxiously waiting until march for the news. I have heard that Hamilton is relatively on the preppier side, but it doesn’t mean that most of the kids there are pretentious or anything. if you look at the stats, i think the ratio of public school applicants to private school applicants is 60:40. So yeah, there are lots of private school kids but the majority come from public schools. and from what i have heard during the info session, Greek life isn’t very popular on campus, they don’t even have a house for themselves. so there really isn’t a “bunch of preppy frat boys” on campus. i too applied because of the open curriculum and strength in writing in speaking. there are lots of quirky kids there too! hence the “Hogwarts at Hamilton”, and when i went for the tour, i saw a guy dressed up as a cow chasing another guy. i mean that’s quirky. my tour guide also explained the dark/light sides of campus in which the dark side is where lots of the artsy people live and the light side is for the more traditional students. so i wouldn’t consider it too preppy.</p>
<p>Oh, the Hamilton stereotypes debate. Yes, there are preppy people here. Yes, there are artsy kids here. Pretty much everyone is smart, regardless of their stereotype, and pretty much everyone is friendly to one another, again regardless of their stereotype. I have friends that run the gamut from athletes to frat boys to choir kids to nerds to well-dressed fashionistas and more. I think you’re really jumping the gun by thinking that someone being preppy translates to that person being dumb. That is completely not the case here. I personally am not very preppy, and if I had to choose a stereotype for myself, I guess I’d say I’m a music and science geek, but that doesn’t automatically mean I’m smarter than the preppy kids. </p>
<p>As for Greek life… yeah, it’s mildly popular, with I believe only about 1/3 kids being in frats or sororities. I don’t really know much about sororities (they’re not my thing), but on the contrary, the frats here are totally awesome. I have tons of friends who’re in frats, because here, the traditional frat-boy image is debunked. These guys are genuinely cool and nothing like what you’d imagine a frat boy to be. And yes, they don’t have housing, but they tend to live together regardless. </p>
<p>In summary, try not to be so quick to judge someone by their appearance. There are people of all flavors and stereotypes here and I doubt you can spend four years here without having some friends in all the stereotypes. </p>
<p>P.S. Yessss Hogwarts at Hamilton is the best! So much fun. You must totally do it if you come here.</p>
<p>and i wouldn’t necessarily categorize the private school kids as the only preppy ones, i come from an extremely preppy area and the majority of kids go to the public high school. aren’t most of the frat parties open to the whole campus as well?</p>
<p>yeah i know. i mean heck, Greenwich,CT is as preppy as any town can get, but the majority of the kids go to Greenwich High School. I just meant that there is a fair share of preppy kids, and quirky kids. I didn’t mean that all the private school kids are the preppy ones, and public school kids were the normal ones. I just meant that there’s a mix and the school isn’t at all too preppy. the frat parties are open to everyone, i think the frats are the ones that host most of the parties.</p>
<p>When I visited, I felt like campus was a nice mix of preppy and eclectic. As a hopefully music and poli. sci major, this blend was what made me choose to apply ED.</p>
<p>on a semi-unrelated note…
Hogwarts at Hamilton = LIFE.
That should seal the deal on Hamilton, hands down!</p>
<p>can someone explain this Hogwards at Hamilton thing for me? sorry I’m pretty new</p>
<p>[Hamilton</a> College - Features - Hogwarts @ Hamilton for Halloween](<a href=“http://www.hamilton.edu/Spectator/102607/features/Hogwarts_at_Hamilton.html]Hamilton”>http://www.hamilton.edu/Spectator/102607/features/Hogwarts_at_Hamilton.html)</p>
<p>sounds very cool.</p>
<p>that honestly sounds like one of the most wonderful things ever created.</p>
<p>Yeah, pretty much all frat parties are open to all.</p>
<p>and HOGWARTS @ HAMILTON is phenomenal. I don’t know who lacigam is, but I guess we were both in it this year at least. It is so much fun, despite how tiring it is. Maybe that was because I had to be super duper energetic with my part…
It’s really wonderful too because everyone who tries out gets in - there are always Harry Potter characters to be filled.</p>
<p>Vonnegut24, the best I can tell you is to check out the facebook groups for each of the classes. If you read through the 2014 bio’s you will find a group of really awesome students with all sorts of different interests!</p>