Amherst College Top Questions

Not at all.

Some of them, but Amherst is truly an extremely diverse college.

students are not generally awkward, but i think we console ourselves after a night of mayhem or an embarrassing moment by saying that we are all awkward. preppy/rich? sure, there are kids like that, but there's also a ton who's not.

Some of the professors remain from the old amherst era. And it does feel like everyone around you, for the most part, is either way richer than you are or, these days with Tony Marx's campaign, way more poor. The liberal thing is much more true- conservatives have voiced feelings of ostracization. But so has everyone else.

I'd say that, to a large extent, the stereotypes listed above can be found in a very large chunk of the student body. I'd say the majority of the school doesn't fit that mold. However, there are enough arrogant, boarding school pedigreed Abercrombie and Fitch lovers to really stand out at such a small place.

These stereotypes capture the basic idea of Amherst with a few exceptions. The academics are predicatably strong, with a committed faculty and determined students. Athletics are a large part of life on campus, with about a third varsity athletes (and the majority of the rest play intermurals and/or take pride in their classmates athletic achievements). The vast majority of the student body are openly liberal, but their are some quiet conservatives. The students are more diverse racially than people assume, and a large portion of kids come from public schools.

Any generalization about Amherst is untrue. There are some rich kids, a few hippies, some brainy nerds, and people who think they are huge partiers, but the parties at Amherst are nothing like those at a bigger school.

For preppy and cocky, I would say its probably true for just over half the student body. For liberal, It's true for 99{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of campus, and there is only one conservative professor left, who is probably going to retire soon anyways.

On the whole, absolutely not. Amherst students are a diverse, hardworking, fascinating bunch. People who you might associate with this stereotype--legacies, maybe some athletes-- are intelligent, motivated, and bring a lot to the school, as does everyone else.

No, many students, especially those who participate in some sport are also involved in many extracurricular activities.

Yes.

I think the reason it's hard for students on campus to have relationships isn't actually because we're bad at it, but because it's such a small school, so we have limited choices.

There are a lot of studious kids

They are absolutely exaggerated. Amherst students are fairly typical of college students generally and liberal arts college students in particular. There is more diversity on campus than people give it credit for and people are more tolerant than you may hear. As for stereotypes about athletes, etc, they are just a misunderstanding. I think that people who don't play a sport hear that someone is a recruited athlete and automatically assume that person is far less intelligent when in fact even just from casual observation I would say athletes tend to be at least as smart and hardworking in school as the average Amherst student.

No, these stereotypes are not correct. Yes, the people who play sports here are smart, but they do not fit the "jock" stereotype. People who do and do not play sports mingle here much more than is thought

Many of them are rich and preppy; many of them are not. There is no sense of exclusion from groups, however, based on one's background. The people who claim Amherst students aren't intellectually interesting are the ones who are not interesting. My friends come from every part of campus life (jocks, nerds, artists, intellectuals, etc), and nobody has ever turned away from a debate because they're uninterested. I find that most students are highly intelligent and will readily engage you in discussion on any number of topics. Those who say otherwise have simply cornered themselves in a minority niche of uninteresting people, and have made no effort to make other friends in the college community.

Not at all. While we may be elitisit, we are not elitist about our background or to eachother, but instead elitist about our school. We are proud that we go to Amherst, and we do not like to keep it quiet. THe kids here are also extremely diverse, both racially and economically, thanks to our new, hip president Tony Marx (he is an icon on campus).

for the most part no

Not really...part of the student body is made up of rich white kids, but Amherst works hard to attain not only racial but also socio-economic diversity. The financial aid is generous enough that it can be hard to tell that some students come from low-income backgrounds, because they don't necessarily have to work more while at Amherst.

The smart one is and the other two not really but some people are like that, but you'll find that at all places