Mount Holyoke College Top Questions

The academics here are really excellent. A majority of the classes are interesting and diverse, with a small teacher to student ratio. Due to the fact that we are a small school by the time you've declared a major you're likely to know at least two if not three professors within your department as well as outside of it. Professors are almost always willing to help you out, recommend places or other students to go to for help when they're unavailable, and willing to understand your situation.

I would say that I have had two classes which were my ultimate favorite so far at Mount Holyoke College. One class was African-American culture in society, it was an inside-out course, which is a course that is shared with college students and inmates at a local jail. What made this class my favorite was that I learned a lot not just from my professor but mainly from the women inmates at the jail, they were extremely smart and offered their opinions and thoughts on the criminal justice. It was the class that helped me decide what direction I want to pursue for a career. Another class that was my favorite was the crime and prison industry in the US, it was the most interesting class I have taken. In the class we had heated debates, excellent readings and a wonderful professor. My least favorite class at Mount Holyoke was elementary Homeric Greek. Although the professor was extremely nice and helpful I just had a hard understanding a lot in that class.

Every professor I have had at Mount Holyoke has not only learned my name (and not from me brown-nosing), but has tried to get to know students in a personal way. For example, one of my biology classes was 180 people - HUGE for MHC. Because it was so large, they set up one-on-one meetings with every single student in the class to match names with faces. I have been invited to dinner at a few professors' and the college president's house, and go out for coffee with faculty and staff often. Students are academically competitive, but usually with themselves and not between each other (though every school has their gunners). Requirements can be a drag if you're only interested in a few subjects, but the school prides itself on liberal arts, so take your first year to explore through requirements. It has, and will, change many planned majors.

Mount Holyoke academics are rigorous. Most of your free time is spent studying. It's just how it is. That sounds like it would be boring or make you go crazy, but it's just sort of natural when everyone else around you is doing the same thing. It's nice to be surrounded by people with the same amount of dedication as you. The professors usually do know you by name. A lot of them make it a point to learn your names. The professors are just incredible. I love them. You can go sit in their office and have intense intellectual discussions, or you can just talk about how your weekend went. Outside of the classroom, you will always find students in intense debates. Always. The only thing I don't like is the P.E. requirement.

At Mount Holyoke, learning does not only occur in the classroom. One of my favorite aspects of this place is that students teach each other. Rarely is this group learning condescending or cut-throat. Students have no problem helping one another with homework or projects. In addition to informal learning, there are several resources for tutoring. The science and math departments have a tutoring program called PLUMS, and, for writing projects and presentations, there is the Speaking, Arguing, and Writing (SAW) center. There is a lot of work, and it is really important to consider your skills as a student when you register for classes in order to avoid being overwhelmed. Furthermore, professors really care about students' progress. All of the professors I've had encourage students to come to office hours. They are open to questions, they make you reexamine your beliefs and knowledge, and they are generally brilliant people. Mount Holyoke has amazing academic strengths: small classes, amazing support resources, opportunities for connecting academic findings to the community, a strong alumnae association, and stellar study abroad programs, just to name a few.

Classes here are generally small. This helps a lot with professor - student interaction. All professors hold office hours where everyone is welcome and the professors want to get to know you. This past semester, I have discussed assignments with my professors countless times and I always had the feeling that they were glad to help me out. Studying is very important at Mount Holyoke. Some classes have quite a heavy workload, additionally, our students are very driven. A huge percentage of our graduates goes on to grad school, another huge percentage joins the peace corps - you could say that both our studies and community service are two very important things on campus. Mount Holyoke's distribution requirements (a core curriculum, geared towards a "general education") gives you the opportunity to explore a broad range of subjects and gives you a sound body of knowledge. We also have a bunch of great and very popular study abroad opportunities for which financial aid is available.

I have had pretty good luck with my professors so far, which is absolutely great! Class participation is vital in most classes. Most of them have been accommodating and helpful, which I have really enjoyed.

The academics at MHC are great (as I mentioned before). Professors really push you to be your best, especially in seminars. Every professor I have had so far has been thought provoking. People here study a lot. The library is the place to be during finals week. We aren't really competitive with each other at MHC. People are competitive with themselves, but no one really competes with anyone else. We're all willing to help each other out! I think the academics at MHC are geared towards learning to appreciate education. We take the skills we learn in class and use them to go out and DO something. MHC is all about challenging women to change the world, and I truly think most women who come here want to make an impact.

Academics are wonderful - great advising, small classes, and supportive community. Sometimes students work too hard and it's not really good for anyone's health to go a week without sleep. but that just goes to show how serious we are about our work.

The academics at Mount Holyoke are very impressive. The professors really want to help you and really want to get to know each and every one of their students.

Academics are challenging and pretty time consuming. Participation is definately expected from every student, and students are very passionate. The conversations outside of class could even pass for class discussion for the most part. Professors go out of their way to know your name and help you in weak subjects.

One thing I have noticed in college, and I think this is generally true, especially in larger colleges (which Mount Holyoke is not!) is that initially it is harder to meet professors than in high school because instead everyone being in one or two buildings, the populace is spread all over campus. Some profs don't even know each other (a rare occasion)! Feeling this, I set out to meet some of them, namely my own professors. It is vital to go to their office hours, and not just to talk about homework. Talk to them, ask them about their kids. You never know where it will go. Some of my most memorable moments from this year are of homework discussions gone off-track to subjects like fly-fishing, quality and psychology of fashion, tactics of procrastinating, etc. Two of my absolute favorite professors I met because of gen eds. Now I'm considering making one of them my advisor! Both inside and outside the classroom, Mount Holyoke women know how to make education a fun and continuous life-experience. Frequently idle chatter develops into deep discussions of identity, social issues, politics, gender, etc. I will never forget, two nights in to freshman year all firsties were required as part of orientation to watch a documentary on racism and discuss in small group afterwards. We were so impacted by what we saw that for three hours afterward my new friends and I continued our own discussion in my room. "This is what I've been waiting for!" I thought. We actually held valuable conversation, unlike the insipid remarks of high school. Of course, we aren't seriously discussing all the time. Once in awhile we get a little crazy and goof off ;p Naturally we spend a lot of time together, studying, eating, helping one another, etc. I am happy to report that the general attitude is one of helpfulness and not acute competition. We are our own competitors, not our classmates. Mount Holyoke women are about lifting each other up and collaboration.

They are great! People here work hard, but it is because they want to. Many of the teachers are very inspiring. I personally have really "found" myself as a student- I am working on an honors thesis, which is something that in high school I never would have imagined myself doing.

There is a very wide selection of courses to choose from. In addition we also have the opportunity to take classes at Smith, Hampshire College, Amherst College, and UMASS Amherst. Unfortunately we have about a million distribution requirements. By the time we get those done, we have to declare our majors and there is no time to take courses outside our major that we are interested in. Students who take these "fun" or "interesting" classes in their First and Sophomore years often have problems with distribution requirements and major requirements down the road.

The professors vary like any other school. You occasionally get professors who are highly involved and passionate and occasionally you get professors who are only there because of tenure. The classes are small, even the large lectures (comparatively), and the academics are straightforward, nothing too creative.

Know your major entering the school because Mt. Holyoke has so many "distribution requirements" that you really don't have time to sample different subjects.

Academics at MHC are extremely demanding, if a student wishes them to be. However, the work is only part of the equation; professors are highly accessible, and classes are usually forums for plenty of discussion. This allows for the rigor of the academics to turn into an astounding amount of learning, instead of rote work and nail-biting. The classes and professors are inspiring, but more than that, the community makes it all come together.

The academics at MHC are great. Every professor I have ever had has known my name and known my interests. Class participation is expected, but there are always those few obnoxious girls who raise their hand so much that no one else gets a chance to talk. This is because the atmosphere is very competitive which is the one thing I can not stand about the academic environment. The education is definitely geared towards learning for learning's sake, but if you are focused and driven you can create a course of study that actually prepares you for a job.

HARD!!! The academics are serious and the professors are very serious about their topics. Yet, the professors are not intimidating. they are very approachable and glad to talk with you. Competition is very present but you cant focus on being better than others or you will go insane. You just have to compete with yourself. Every student have different academic goals and habits. You can get a 4.0 but you can only do so by studying 24/7. You have to find a healthy balance between work and play.

professors definitely know my name...i've ever gone to one's house for lunch. my favorite class is probably the english class that i had to take first semester...it was really small (9 ppl?) and everyone ended up being best friends at the end of the course; i'm even living with someone next year that i met during that class. students definitely study a little bit each day to get good grades...some people in the harder sciences are always in the library, buuut depending on your major, you will study from 2-9 hours every day guaranteed. mt holyoke students tend to have political debates outside of class, and i've definitely had some heated discussions on various topics with people. students can be competitive, but most of them are extremely helpful if you have a question or problem. my major is amazing. MATHHHH :). some of the teachers in my department are not so great, but it's cool cuz i can take classes off campus too if i need to/want to. moho definitely emphasizes learning to gain knowledge, and not learning to get grades or impress other people. they show that in the end, it is someone's knowledge and not transcript that matters.