Hampshire College Top Questions

Do not go to this school! Apparently the professors really hate when you miss class, even if you tell them that you had to go to the hospital. Two of them failed me because of it, and another gave me 24 hours to resubmit a brand new 25 page final paper or I'd fail that class too, resulting in withdrawal. When I contacted the administration to complain about how ridiculous that is, they accused me of "plagiarism" and kicked me out anyway. At Hampshire, what the professors say goes. And if you protest, they make something up as an excuse.

Best Things About Hampshire - The open curriculum, accessible professors, The Lemelson Center for Design, narrative evaluations Worst Things - Food (SAGA is terrible, but you only have to put up with it for a year or two), ugly buildings Amherst and Northampton are both close by, so when campus gets boring, or you need to eat something other than SAGA food, they're just a short bus ride away. Professors and the administration are easily accessible. Most professors are happy to talk after class or during office hours and students are encouraged to regularly check in with their advisors. The president of Hampshire holds regular meetings with the students, including a weekly breakfast and other scheduled events. The Lemelson Center is great for developing real-world skills. With a variety of machine tools, experienced instructors, and innovative classes, students are given a chance to make things, from swords to electric cars. As an industrial design concentrator, I spend a lot of time here, between classes and student groups, which include the Design Conspiracy and the Blacksmiths' Guild. People (especially parents) tend to worry about Hampshire's lack of grades and majors. Instead of grades, students are given narrative evaluations, which seem to work out pretty well. They allow professors to explain exactly what students did in their courses and to explain the quality of the student's work. Instead of majors, Hampshire has concentrations and contracts, drawn up with a panel of advisors. After Division I (first year), students select an advisory committee for their Division II (second and third years), during which they pursue their selected concentration. After Division II, students start their Division III, which is a yearlong project that represents the capstone of their academic work. This all adds up to a strong educational program that gives students a path to do what they care about and a way to measure their progress towards that goal.

The best thing about Hampshire? The Five College Consortium. I don't mean this out of disloyalty. Provided the opportunity to attend any other college in the nation - given a free ride to Harvard - I'd turn the opportunity down to remain at Hampshire. What I mean in answering that the Consortium is the best of Hampshire is that the discursive purpose of Hampshire was the Consortium - we constituted the corporation and we have the most agency to use the resources. We don't have to consider credits in selecting courses; because of this, we need only be accountable to ourselves in perusing 5,300+ options in the course catalog each year. You can genuinely study anything at several institutions. I used to rip off UMass dining halls every Tues/Thurs before my Commonwealth honors seminar - where I was welcomed as a Hampshire kid with a differing perspective. Most people in the U.S. can't win - at Hampshire it's hard to lose. You are your own bureaucracy. Even your committee [team of advisers] is entirely of your choosing; they aren't administrators, they're the professors who inspire you. Amherst and Northampton are a couple of the best college towns in the nation. Students flood these communities every fall and we're welcomed by an already booming economy - this area is "one of the best kept secrets in America" (as a random guy once told me on a plane). I quite one job two weeks ago and got another with an email and a phone call yesterday; while housing and groceries are expensive, this area is an obscene location of wealth. Besides that, this community has all the features forming what oughtn't be your reasons to attend college - a stupid number of parties, youth and debauchery, frats at UMass, bars and breweries, herbs...Jesus Christ herbs...herbs in spirit of Humboldt. The towns also have such a collection of restaurants competing to attract students that I can't begin to offer a description - from the best three buck slice of pizza you'll ever have to a Hibachi dinner that'll make you feel like an exec. I certainly have my complaints to. Hampshire can be polarizing politically, it can be emotionally overwhelming, it can turn you into an alcoholic - this all depends upon who you are, what your stress-levels are, etc. You might also be of that privileged class of kid who needs to attend college because mommy said so, and who might prefer to do this 'stoned' (not spiritually elated, but 'stoned'). If this is the case, don't bother; you'll ruin your parents pension for petty purposes. While this tends to be the sort of kid with money, but without ambition, they still tend to be accepted - whatever, they ultimately fund this school anyways.

Hampshire is one of those places that is either your Nirvana or your own personal hell. There is very little gray area. Why? Hampsters can be very intolerant of political ideas that diverge from their own. There are a lot of ueber-politically correct anarchists who hate white privilege. Then again, if that's your jam, you'll fit in perfectly. I think the most common misconception about Hampshire is that you can do whatever you want. I mean, sure, you can practically take a hit in the quad and blow it in Pub Safety's face with no repercussions. However, Hampshire has way more academic structure than they originally let on, and you have to file for every next step you take as well as forming a committee. Don't expect to come to Hampshire and major in hacky sack, because that BS will not fly.

Hampshire is very white and upper class. Students of color will find a great group of people of color to support and encourage them here, and there are a lot of white allies, but racism is real and quite pervasive at Hampshire. The location is nice. We're close enough to Boston and NY that people hitch rides to those cities all the time or take the peterpan bus, which comes onto campus to pcik students up. the five college atmosphere is great, it's so wonderful to be able to take advantage of the benefits of five excellent schools, each with it's own personality. People at Hampshire don't come in one style. Sure, there are hippies, there are waaaay more hipsters, some preppy kids, city kids, gamers, students who don't really fit into a category. There are those hampshire students riding the bus without shoes, with big dredlocks, ripped pants and homebrewed Kombucha that every says "that kid goes to hampshire". There are a lot of us, however, that are constantly mistaken for being a UMAss student of a Smith girl, and Amherst kid, or a townie... we are really not at all a school full of one type of person.

The best thing about Hampshire? The students, the atmosphere of enthusiastic scholastic enquiry, the professors. Everyone here is allowed to study what they want to study and so they tend to be interested in what they're doing and thus interesting themselves. If I could, I would give Hampshire a huge wad of money. We need better facilities and more teachers. Most student complaints, about the scarcity of scholarships, the decrepitude of the dorms, and the small size of some departments, are linked to the problem of funding. One of the things I love about Hampshire is the lack of overt school pride. There are no rallies here for the Ultimate Frisbee team and God willing there never will be. That said, there is a very strong sense of Hampshire community and a powerful campus ethos, probably because the school is so small and everyone there makes a deliberate choice to seek a different kind of education.

Hampshire's administration is completely irresponsible and does exactly the opposite of what it is supposed to do; protect its students. It seems to be trying to get away from the smoker stereotype and become more in line with ivy league schools. This is ridiculous because this is not what hampshire is about. This school is supposed to be alternative, and not worried so much about its reputation. As such, the administration does not stand on issues that it needs to such as racism, sexism and violence against women. There are many cases of sexual assault that are not reported, why? because women know they will not be protected by the administration. This is intolerable, absolutely inexcusable and needs to change.

Good size, near Amherst and Northampton which are great college towns. Pretty loose in terms of requirements. Good bus schedule, and you can take classes at 4 other schools. Professors are mostly really cool. Dining sucks but you only have to deal with it for one year. A lot of activism and things on campus regarding race and class. A lot of passionate people. sometimes too passionate.

Hampshire is small, but there are definitely some people you will never meet. Hampshire has no grades, so your education is what you make of it, some people take this and do really amazing things, others just fuck around for four years and smoke a lot of weed. Pretty much every one is left-leaning, it just depends how far left. Recently the administration was attacked for issues of institutional racism, because the campus is almost entirely white, and the curriculum is inherently geared towards white upper class students. However, more of an effort is being made to be actively anti-racist. People spend a lot of time hating on Hampshire, and if you don't like it, you don't like it, but if you make it work for you, it is an amazing experience or self-growth and learning.

Hampshire is a nice community. It is very expensive which sucks. And the school has like no $ to spend because it is a brand new college with no endowments. But, basically you are paying to be who you want to be and do what you want. There is no one telling you what to do, the education is self guided. When i tell people i go to hampshire, they immediatly want to talk about hampshire halloween or easter keg hunt.