Hi everyone, I hope you are well! In this blog, I’m going to talk about different study spots on campus, and rank them from most social to least social. Different studying calls for different environments – I know sometimes I prefer to study with friends, but other times I need absolute silence. There are places on campus for the entire spectrum. If you have any questions, please email me at sgoldsmith24@amherst.edu!
Most Social
For very social places to study, I recommend the Science Center lobby, the first floor of Frost Library, and Val. Val sitting is an activity near and dear to a lot of Amherst students, and describes when one plants their belongings in Val and works there for several hours. When I was studying for the MCAT last semester, I would get to Val right when they open at 7:30 and sit for seven hours as I worked through a practice exam once a week. Now that I’m really focusing on my thesis, I often spend several hours there reading and writing and getting coffee every now and then. I like Val sitting because whenever my friends come into Val they can stop and sit and eat with me. It makes it very easy to see my friends without much planning.
Mid-Social
For some quiet conversation, I recommend studying on the second or A-level (one floor down from lobby) floors of Frost, and in the Mead Art Museum, and in the Beneski Museum, where it is quiet but not silent. I like the two museums especially because you are surrounded by art and natural history. It creates a nice ambience.
For absolute silence
Sometimes, you need to sit in complete quiet and keep your head down and work on a paper that is due in two hours. Or study for an exam that you have later that day and have barely touched. For situations like these, I like to work in the basement (known as the Catacombs) or the third floor of Frost, or find empty classrooms in various buildings to sit and work. I’ll often look in Chapin or Fayerweather for those classrooms, mostly because they are close to me. I LOVE the religion library in Chapin – it is a beautiful room, and very quiet.
Thanks for reading! Please email me with any questions!