<p>i would like to know your reasons of applying to mount holyoke!
since it's on the top of my list....(however i'm having some doubts now about attending if i DO get in)....anyway, why did you choose mount holyoke?</p>
<p>I can tell you why my D chose Mount Holyoke. She wanted a school that was academically rigorous, but not overly competitive. In addition, she found the students to be exceptionally friendly, socially aware, and intellectually interesting. Also, she loved the campus which is magnificent.</p>
<p>I am a first year student at Mt. Holyoke and am applying to transfer for the fall. Mt. Holyoke is a great school but make sure it's the right fit for you. It is very isolated and the 5 colleges are not well integrated.</p>
<p>may i please know what exactly you mean by "very isolated"?</p>
<p>because i really would like to go to a college that's "happening"....not a dead campus...nor one that's "isolated" from everything else....</p>
<p>I guess it really depends. It's really easy to get around with a car. There are a lot of things happening in the nearby towns like Northampton (good food!!!) and Amherst. I don't know South Hadley too well, but I it's definitely not a party-town or a very exciting town. If you want to go a little farther, there's an ice-skating arena in Westfield, a mall in Holyoke, Six Flags in Agawam...etc I live close to MHC so I know where most of the things are. </p>
<p>In my POV, I don't think MHC is isolated at all. You just need to look around. :)</p>
<p>It really comes down to how much effort you are willing to put in to it. Parties WILL NEVER come to you at Mt. Holyoke, and it gets a little old going to someone else's school for them every wkend. It's also very very difficult to make male friends...Guys arent exactly looking for friends at parties. There's always the option of taking a class off campus etc but I still don't feel like it's the same. You don't share the common experiences of one school and I think a lot of the friends you make you don't make in the class room. I had a b/f at Amherst but otherwise had no male friends all semester. South Hadley feels like a prison to me, whereas my roommate thinks it's paradise. Totally depends. You really have to think about how big a town/city you relaly need.</p>
<p>My D had to be pried out of the car to visit MHC. Compared to Northampton (Smith), it appeared dead dead dead and isolated.
One of the big questions was to whether or not NoHo was big enough for her...it was and it is.</p>
<p>D would agree with Kitkat...the Five College thing is great on paper but it takes some scheduling gods to make it work.</p>
<p>I'm an ED-acceptee, so I might be a bit more biased. Here are some of my reasons:</p>
<p>1) Solid academics - Of course, MHC is a liberal arts college, so the class offerings focus more on liberal arts education; however, there are plenty of opportunities to take non-liberal arts classes. Their duel degree program with CalTech, UMass, and Dartmouth for engineering is quite unique for an all women's college. Also, they offer a duel degree program in nursing with Johns Hopkins. Overall, Mt. Holyoke offers solid liberal arts education with unprecedented opportunities in sciences.
2) Atmosphere - VERY, VERY strong sense of community. Since MHC is so "isolated," the atmosphere is very family-like. People are generally friendly and supportive. I personally feel that college is not just about getting a degree; it's really a time of intra-personal development, and MHC's environment is extremely conducive for that.
3) All-women's college - Mt. Holyoke isn't really a party school, and even if they do have a party, it's nowhere near the craziness of parties at coed schools. Since I wanted to focus on academics for undergrad, this was an important factor. As for not having a lot of opportunities to hang out with guys, that shouldn't be an issue if you make an effort. Five College Consortium makes it easy to connect with people from the coed institutions (Amherst, UMass, Hampshire)
4) GREAT Premed program - Rigorous curriculum and good advising in premed program is essential for anyone interested in medical school upon graduation. Also, their overall strength in sciences is also a plus. I do not recall the exact statistics on medical school matriculants from MHC, but the numbers were quite promising.</p>
<p>Mecurialgirl, well said. I think that you hit upon many of MHC strengths.</p>
<p>It's really hard to explain the relationship you have with guys at this school...you really just have to go here to know. It's very hard to keep up solid relationships b/c you have to plan every time you want to see someone. You don't become best friends with a person after meeting them once--this occurs after running in to them repeatedly, which is hard to do when you don't go to the same school. Even with my ex, it was such an event to see him and bc you are soo busy it's hard to coordinate your schedules. It's not like you could just say oh let's meet up for lunch-you won't have time. I came to MHC because I wanted a great education and wanted parties and social life to be supplemental...However, i'm finding the social life I do have to be very unsatisfying. It's hard to be happy with the academics when you don't have much else. On the plus side, I have made some great girl friends and it has been a bonding experience for us all, but I wouldn't go here again.</p>
<p>plus, the campus is simply gorgeous. the residence halls, too. :D</p>
<p>My oldest daughter graduated from MHC in 2004. My youngest is about to start at McGill next year, hence the name.</p>
<p>Overall, MHC was a great choice for H. The strengths are 1) community
2) academics and 3) teacher/student relationships. The students really become a community, perhaps because of the "isolation". The students are supportive of each other and accepting of differences. The academics are first-rate- small classes and serious students, in fact, I think they work too hard!! Finally, my daughter had wonderful interactions with almost all of her profs- they knew her personally. During her junior year in rural South Africa, the campus was closed by riots and police/dogs were called in. Her prof called us at home to reassure us and to set up a plan of study for the time the College was closed. This doesnt happen at large schools. </p>
<p>MHC has great resources, from lender cars to video cams. Food appears to be great- my daughter is a vegan and always had multiple options.</p>
<p>The downside is that the administration cares less and less about student opinions. The cost is also outrageous at 42K per year.</p>
<p>Overall, my daughter came out of MHC a great woman who can think and analyze issues and policies with logic and intelligence. She is confident and out-in-the world. She needed a small, woman's college. She did take classes at Hampshire and UMass and found traveling not too bad. </p>
<p>Chuck</p>
<p>Chuck, thank you for sharing your D's real world MHC experiences. I think MHC is a great school for students serious about academics and wanting to establish a long term community.</p>
<p>My dd was accepted at MHC but it does not offer her major (Russian language). She would need to do some of her language work at other colleges. How difficult will that REALLY be (versus consortium on paper)?</p>
<p>Alan: Thanks for your comments. During graduation week, my d. and about 15 of her friends ( from CA, Alaska, Pakistan, all over ) invited the parents to meet in a lounge of their dorm, Mead Hall. The students sat in the middle of the room and the parents outside, in a circle around the students. They had a large ball of yarn. The student holding the ball said what they appreciated about their parents and friends and then threw the ball, holding on to the yarn, to a random parent, who said what they loved about their daughter. Then the ball was tossed to a student. At the end, the whole room was wrapped in a web of yarn. Community doesnt come any better than this. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Lifetime relationships were made.</p>
<p>Boxmaker: I think it would be hard to major in a subject not taught. It is possible to take courses at the other schools, but the bus system is not always accomodating to difficult schedules- a private car, after the first year would be a great help. It takes some work, but it is also great to experience other colleges and meet new people. Also be aware that some classes can be hard to get into in the consortium as schools often give most places to their own students.</p>
<p>Chuck</p>
<p>As a recent grad of the school I have to say that I loved it there! My older brother went to UChicago and then transferred to Middlebury and he always talked about how a rural campus really fostered a sense of community. I couldnt agree more! I was involved in everything at MHC and loved every minute of it! The students are amazingly brilliant, the faculty and administration is available and supportive. Because the community is so close knit everyone actually cares what happens on campus and within the school.
I definitely felt like I had the best of both worlds: parties and college life on campus and off if I chose to attend (perhaps a little too much my freshman year :-p) but I could also find quiet space if necessary. I cant give enough positive feedback about this school, my two younger sisters also attend
and yes, those holiday cards do include matching sweatshirts. As for the Russian language issue, they definitely offer it! My first-year roomie took it for two semesters!</p>
<p>Hi Adeline,</p>
<p>Thank you. I have always believed that the best endorsement for a college was its students. College rankings dont come close to capturing the essence of a college compared to students who have attended the school.</p>
<p>Adeline -- Thanks for the comments on Russian language although I'm not sure it will work for my daughter. She completed 4 years of HS Russian, including two of IB Russian. She tested SL (not HL) but received a "7" on her exam (highest score awarded). She sat in on an intermediate Russian class at the University of Minnesota (local school + lots of merit $ although MHC is her first choice) and the professor told her that she would be in the University's advanced language classes. I know that MHC has a couple of Russian language faculty -- we're hoping that she might be able to work out something between independent study and/or one of the other colleges. (Keep your fingers crossed and hope she gets enough aid to attend MHC -- we're still waiting to hear!)</p>
<p>Kitkat,</p>
<p>What year are you in school, and where would go if could do it over again?</p>
<p>boxmaker,</p>
<p>i'm a smithie who's taken 2 mount holyoke classes (plus one each at Amherst and Hampshire...I'm going for the full consortium with my UMass class next fall!). </p>
<p>IF the school allowed your daughter to do a major with all outside classes (I don't know their rules but I think it's unlikely), she'd have to plan VERY carefully. The Smith-Mount Holyoke bus ride takes about 50 minutes, and it takes more than half an hour by car. It's a little less time to the other schools, which are kind of in between Northampton and South Hadley. <a href="http://www.pvta.com%5B/url%5D">www.pvta.com</a> has bus schedules online. </p>
<p>I spend a a LOT of time on the bus; I find that having a class off-campus means giving up an entire morning or afternoon on class days. (and when I have evening econ exams at Amherst and can't get a ride, I spend 3.5 hours on the bus in a single day...ugh). But all my classes have been really good, and I'm glad to have done it.</p>