Hamilton College Top Questions

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Hamilton is fantastic; I love it here. I think the size is perfect, and we have a really great community feel. Although people often complain about the weather, it is by no means a deal breaker.

I absolutely love Hamilton College. Prior to actually coming to Hamilton, I'd speak with alumni or student and they'd all go on about how great the school was, and how it would be the best 4 years of my life. Initially I took it all as them trying to "Sell" the school, but after being here for a year I see exactly what they meant. It's provides a great sense of community; both an intellectual and social community.

I love Hamilton, and so do most of the students. It's so small that it really feels like a strong community. Hamilton professors really care about the students and will make themselves available to meet, and I have friends at Ivy League schools who can't say the same. Yes, living in the village of Clinton can make you a little stir-crazy, but you will make some amazing friends because everyone stays on campus. Hamilton is a school of incredible tradition. We just had our bicentennial, so yeah, we've been around for awhile. Class & Charter day is probably every student's favorite tradition, and it is the highlight of the year. On this day, the last day of class in the spring semester, afternoon classes are cancelled and the entire campus celebrates. Other fun student traditions include the Silent Disco every semester. I'll always remember this one time during freshman year, when I was walking to the dining hall behind some football players, and one started excitedly speaking about how excited he was about a paper. That's Hamilton for you...

I have one semester remaining at Hamilton and I have absolutely loved my time there. Even before I got there, I knew I was going to love it when I interviewed. My interviewer had been away from Hamilton for decades, yet she remembered so many details of her experience and spoke very highly of it. I think the best thing about the school is simply the people- students, faculty and staff. Every student gets along if you give them the chance, and professors are extremely helpful if you see them outside of class (something I definitely recommend doing). And believe it or not, the custodial staff are probably the kindest people you will meet on campus. I like the open curriculum with a stress on writing and oral communication, as it lets students truly explore the liberal arts (which I have done) while building a solid writing and speaking base. However, one thing I would change would be to strengthen the writing requirements because there are no actual course requirements. It seems like students can sneak through the writing requirement without actually improving (if they choose to) over their time at Hamilton. Coming from a graduating high school class of 70, Hamilton is the perfect size for me. It seemed huge when I got there, starts to seem smaller over time but I still meet new people every semester and even every week. Hamilton has an excellent reputation, so people usually seem to be very impressed when I say I go to Hamilton. Coming from Pittsburgh some people haven't heard of it, so I am also used to explaining "it's a small liberal arts school in upstate New York." I spend most of my time in KJ, which is the academic building housing economics, government, sociology and anthropology. It also doubles as a social student center with comfy chairs and tables and a friendly atmosphere, so it is a great place to spend time. Hamilton is located in Clinton, NY and I couldn't ask for a better college town. It is small, has just a few restaurants, grocery store, liquor store, etc... and the rest is residential. Some people have asked me about safety at Hamilton and in Clinton, and I paused because I have never even had to think about it, which is one great aspect of Hamilton. Having dealt with the administration personally, I think less highly of them than most. I feel like Hamilton preaches a tight-knit community all around, and I do not feel that the administration offers that in some circumstances. In terms of controversies, there was a student who used racial slurs at a recent sporting event against a visiting player. I think the school has taken appropriate action in notifying the campus multiple times the potential ramifications of such an action, and they certainly are doing everything they can to prevent anything like that from happening again. Regardless, tons of school pride from most, if not all, of the campus. Sporting events are usually littered with students and it's great to see professors at them too. I often see students painting faces and chests buff and blue (even in our cold winter), which speaks a lot about how much we support each other. I think the fact that there are no strict course requirements is pretty unique, but I have found it to be one of the best aspects of Hamilton. One experience I will always remember was painting chests with friends to attend a swim meet. The team loved it, and the coach even sent us personal thank yous and we have continued to support the swim team since. They might not get as big of a crowd as other sports, so we find it a really fun thing to do. I have heard students complaining about the workload, but it is certainly manageable, especially if your high school has prepared you well for it. It is incredible to look back and see how much progress I made year to year, and I really think the key is to develop relationships with professors. It benefits both student and professor, during class and down the road, and their main purpose is to help students.

Make the campus your oyster. There are countless opportunities made available to you but you need to take the initiative to do something, really, anything.

a little small (run-ins with last weekend's hookups WILL HAPPEN) but its great walking around campus and seeing a ton of people you know. there's a real close-knit community here and everyone's extremely friendly town-gown relationship is great, despite the smallness of Clinton, NY. the little shops in the town are all cute and great for a few hours of window shopping. a lot of people have never heard of hamilton, but those who have know it's a great school academically. we tend to live by the work hard-play hard mantra up on the hill, and the administration has little problem with this. virtually no one gets in trouble for partying unless there's property damage or something else pretty severe. food on campus is good with generally nice variety. there's a diner on campus that's amazing and open til 5am on weekends for those late night snacks hamilton tends to have a sarcastic sense of humor, even the admissions office. we have a weekly paper dedicated to sarcasm and satire (The Duel Observer), students with a dry sense of humor, and teachers who enjoy cracking jokes in class

There's a lot of things to love about Hamilton, from the beautiful campus to the open curriculum, and I'd be hard pressed to pick just one to talk about. I'll try and cover more of that later. I think Hamilton's a great size, for one, because you never feel like you've met everyone, but you also never feel like there's too much competition for the opportunities on campus - you don't have to be lost in the crowd unless you want to be. In terms of surrounding area, Clinton has a nice small college town sort of atmosphere. Most people who actually want to do something off campus head about 15 minutes away to suburban-shopping-center New Hartford, or to Utica or Syracuse, so there are still options if you want to get off-campus. Also, it's very common among Hamilton students is a strong sense of belonging on the Hill. Even after we graduate, we continue to feel a connection to and real fondness for Hamilton.

In the end, Hamilton was the best fit for me. When I think about things that I would change, they end up being quite minor. Sometimes I wish we were a little further south and out of the snow belt, and sometimes I wish we were D1 athletics. Still, looking back I would choose to attend this wonderful place over and over again.