Over the winter break, I went back to Shanghai and met some close friends studying at universities in the U.S. (West & East Coasts), Canada, and Hong Kong. As we all just started our college journey, we shared about our first semester experiences. From these conversations, I’ve summarized some points that made Amherst College unique.
Disclaimer: These are my PERSONAL opinions. Everyone has a different college experience, so don’t rely on my perspective! Look out for other bloggers or students as well. 🙂
I. It is a REALLY supportive environment. ❤️
My friends were shocked when I told them I could sit in the professor’s office and do homework. I am really grateful that most professors host several office hours throughout the week to help students with course materials and other requests. Even though I only took classes with four professors last semester, I could easily reach out to other professors and schedule a time to talk about their research and/or address my concerns. The professors are all very willing to help guide my academic journey or even just chat about life. In particular, the Take Your Professor Out program is a great opportunity for us to interact with our professors outside of an academic context.
Moreover, we talked about mental health support resources and figured that Amherst was one of the few to provide free counseling sessions that meet students’ demands. Don’t underestimate the stress you might experience in college. It might be the first time you are gone from home for so long, living with people who you are unfamiliar with, dealing with college-level academics, making time to attend all kinds of activities, fearing to miss out on parties, etc. These can accumulate a lot of stress, so having enough mental support for students is essential for success in college.
Hence, I’d say that Amherst has a really supportive environment for students regarding academics and mental health.
II. There are SOOOO MANY activities!
This can be good or bad for someone who enjoys attending diverse activities. Good in a way that I could get exposed to many perspectives (and many good food) in a variety of areas from different people. But there were just too many to choose from and I could not attend all the ones I wanted.
My friends in Canada and Hong Kong especially pointed out that they did not have a lot of meaningful and engaging events during the semester. Most of them would not feel incentivized to attend any events unless they can be counted towards housing points (which helps you get on-campus housing in the next academic year). Thus, I am glad that most of Amherst’s events and programs are open to all students, free of charge, and are engaging and even inspirational for me in many ways.
III. Majors are not that flexible/innovative…
From my observations and experience, Amherst does not have many options for students who want an innovative or career-oriented major. Feel free to check out Amherst’s list of majors here. We mostly have “traditional” and broad majors that do not specifically train you for a particular career. My friends in Hong Kong, Canada, and some U.S. universities are pursuing very career-oriented majors that prepare them for a specific track. Hence, their classes tend to be more practical and hands-on.
In contrast, Amherst does not support the idea that higher education is only for career preparation. Instead, it should be a holistic development of an individual. However, this does not mean that we are posed at a more disadvantageous position in finding a job. As the world is developing rapidly, the types of people it requires change all the time. What really matters is the mindset and connections we developed in college, and I think Amherst is a really good place to start with.
IV. Food is actually fine!
You might have seen from elsewhere complaining about Amherst’s dining hall (aka Val). However, from what I talked with friends, Val is actually decent. Comparing our daily menus, I figured that Val provides a decent number of options with respect to our student size and needs. We should not compare Val to a 15,000+ student university because they definitely have more dining halls, hence more options. We would often have beef, salmon, or special dishes once a week. After surviving the first semester, honestly, I’d say you should not worry too much about not having enough to eat or not having good food… (but there might be some difficulties for people with special dietary needs or who have training till late night… contact Amherst’s dining services if you are concerned about it!)
These are some points I thought of bringing up in this blog for students considering Amherst. I hope it helps you to better visualize your life at Amherst!