Hamilton College Top Questions

The best thing about Hamilton is the small, close knit environment. You are able to form very close relationships with professors and get extra help when needed because of the small student body.

Our school is small, which is good because it ensures that you will have small classes with professors who are always available. One may say that some professors "live" at the science center. When I tell people I go to Hamilton, I either get "oh, where is that?" or "Wow. Great school!". It depends on the person, but most professionals and people who know anything about schools know how great of a college it is.

The only thing I would change about Hamilton would be its location. If you took Hamilton, picked it up, and moved it to a warmer climate, it would definitely be a utopia.

If I could do it all over again, I'd probably have gone to Boston College. With that said, Hamilton has been a great experience for the most part. I think the location of the college is too isolated, creating an intense party scene (and all the good and bad that goes along with it - including a rumor mill you wouldn't believe). Oddly enough, for such a small community, there isn't as much school spirit as I anticipated. I know a lot of this has to do with the fact that we are a Division III school, but I'm always disappointed at the number of students who come out to support the athletics and the arts. In recent years, we've been trying to find ways to get more students involved in Hamilton spirit, such as making a "Social Traditions" committee that organizes and promotes campus community events. I think this is a great addition to the school and really appreciate the work that they do. Hamilton as a whole is a little bubble: a place to meet friends, party, make mistakes, live a little and study in a safe environment. Being on The Hill is like stepping into a universe of our own. We all cohabitate independently of the external world -- free of tremendous responsibility and blissfully unaware of the world waiting for us a quarter mile down College Hill Road.

Hamilton is a small school in a fairly rural setting. That said, students may complain about the lack of anything to do around here but we get along. There is fun to be made in the woods just as much as the fun a person can find in a city. It just depends on what a person is interested in.

Hamilton is a small school but the facilities and resources that it has are equal to that of much larger schools. The professors are great people who really take the time to get to know you, classes are very small compared to other colleges, and are very challenging. There is not much to do around the school, so mostly all parties are held on campus. The school does an excellent job at keeping students on campus and providing transportation on weekend nights as well as an all-night diner.

Hamilton has a beautiful campus that looks like Hogwarts. The weather is AWFUL, and definitely the thing I would change about the school. But when the weather is nice, the campus is gorgeous and great to hang out at. There isn't much of a town, but part of Hamilton is being AT Hamilton, which I really like. I like going to such an exclusive school, because people are really impressed when they hear you go there.

The Split between the dark side and light side is huge here. Except for the mix of kids in classes in sometimes feels like there are two schools here with the more artsy dark side and more preppy light side. Since there's no real town here to go to, everything has to happen on campus and most people stick to their side because they like the people there and also (espescially during the frigid winters) because they dont want to make the trek across campus.

The best thing about Hamilton is the campus community and the openness of the student body to different types of things on campus. The community is tight and supportive of all members of it. It is the perfect size; small class size but a sizable community make it not overwhelming, but not boring either. Most people are impressed when I tell them I go to Hamilton. It has a strong legacy and is competitive with the top schools in the country. I spend most of my time on campus in the athletic buildings, as I play and manage a sport, but also in the Science Center- where I like to do most of my studying and there is a constant influx of people mowing about. The administration of the school are very good. They care about student needs and make student needs a priority. There is a lot of school pride, and there are always a lot of people at athletic events cheering on the school. The unusual thing about Hamilton is its open curriculum- we have no course requirements. We also have a strong interest in the outdoors and tons of outdoor trips, or events outside. The most frequent student complaints are probably about the intensity of the courseload.

I absolutely love Hamilton even after less than 2 semesters at this campus. Although some people find Hamilton to be uncomfortably small in terms of the student body, I really appreciate that you can always meet someone new on the weekends but you can also recognize a lot of students. Another complaint about Hamilton is that it is secluded in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes I do get a cabin-fever feeling but one really positive aspect that comes out of this is that the majority of students stay on campus on the weekends. This gives everyone the opportunity to socialize with students of all classes (in other words it's not just freshman stuck on campus on the weekends). The social scene is incredibly accepting-- every weekend there are parties hosted for the entire campus that are a blast and something that I think are completely unique to Hamilton. There is a lot of school pride and I love being able to say that I go to Hamilton. The reputation for its academics is fantastic and it is true that professors are incredibly helpful and always make themselves as approachable, helpful and available as possible.