Mount Holyoke College Top Questions

All my professors call me by my first name after a few weeks. Some I like more than others, and some are absolute gems (Kimberly Dunn Adams). Students are not competitive with each other- they have their own pace but are always willing to help one another. There are an awful lot of requirements, but then it is a liberal arts education. All challenging, some easier or more interesting than others, but that depends on your tastes.

So good! Film is amazing here and I'm constantly inspired to learn more. Most professors are very accessible through email or office hours and that's very helpful.

Academics at MHC are incredibly diverse. I'm an International Relations major with a minor in Middle Eastern studies, and I am in awe of most of my professors. Not only are they at the top of their fields, they also take the time to get to know their students. When professors are walking across campus, students often call out to them and wave...there is a real feeling of community and learning here.

At Mount Holyoke we are incredibly studious women. It is not uncommon to find many people at the library on a Saturday night, or studying in the common rooms of dorms on Friday afternoons. We take pride in our academics here, and wouldn't have it any other way. At some colleges and universities typical lunch conversations may stray to the latest gossip around the school, but at Mount Holyoke it is a common occurance for dinner talk to include heated discussions of politics or any other number of intellectual topics. Our professors generally know us by first name, a fact we do not take for granted. Class sizes are small enough for intimate discussions to take place, and make no mistake that Mount Holyoke women will voice their opinions during class discussions.

hardcore shit. Everyone thinks being a dance major was a way to get out of work. I wasnt aware that writing fifteen page research papers on a subject in dance was a way to get out of work. we push ourselves mentally and physically to be the best dancers we can, i dont see many history or english majors pushing themselves physically for their degree.

professors know most peoples names fav. class: physics love the professor study: all the time, MHC has lots of work class participation: everyone participates no holding back Intellectual conversation: all the time, everywhere on campus requirements: fine, easy to fullfill with different classes

Very good academics. close relationship between students and professors. My favorite class is a poli-sci class based on Russian history/ politics. Students study ALL OF THE TIME. Always have intellectual conversations outside of class. Class participation is common, competition is present. My most unique class was African music and dance. I just declared history major, like the professors in the department a lot. Hate the language, math and science requirement. I don't know if my education is geared towrd getting a job. Our career development center is supposed to be great for finding us jobs.

Yes. Professors know my name. My favorite class is at Hampshire right now taught by a Umass professor. There's two other students in the class with me and we get to talk a lot about race and world issues and how they effect us. Least favorite is music analysis. The professor is just intimidating. I study around 4 hours a day probably. Class participation is extremely common. Students often have intellectual conversations outside of the class, but that all depends on the person. Students are competitive, but it depends on the field of study how they express their competitiveness. In music I feel students are more ambitious for improving themselves than against other students. I've taken a class called Dance Improvisation. It was really strange. A lot of rolling around on the floor with people you may never have met before. My department for my major is tiny. There are probably about 12 majors and all their pictures are on the first floor of the building. The department requires a lot of particular classes so it's not very flexible in terms of where you decide to take the classes. However, most of the professors are wonderful people and teachers. I have spent some time with some of my professors outside of class, but not on a regular basis. Except my Japanese professors at language table. That's every week. Our academic requirements are all over the place which is why it's a liberal arts college. It is not difficult to fulfill them although there are many. The education tries to give you an education for its own sake, the Career Development Center however, is an office on campus completely dedicated to helping you find a job during and after you graduate.

The women here are really intelligent, but the class atmosphere is totally non-competitive. For instance, I have a friend who transfered to UPenn because it had a "better reputation" but when she got there no one from her classes would even lend her lecture notes. Pretty much everyone here works really hard to get good grades, but not in a competitve way at all. Class discussions are usually really engaging, but people aren't falling over each other to get a word in, which I find happens a lot in classes I have taken at Hampshire and Amherst.

Professor will definitely know your name if its a smaller sized class. Intro classes are terrible. The intro Chem and Bio classes are absolutely ridiculous, but necessary. I love all the 300 level bio classes. MHC students have many many intellectual conversations outside of class and its really great. Students are sometimes competitive, but only if the course is designed in such a way. I guess it really depends on the person, but usually people aren't that competitive. The MHC requirements are not that difficult and you have a lot of room to do what you want. I think that MHC is geared more towards learning... not exactly towards getting a job.

Most of my professors know my name, but I tend to be pretty vocal in class and pursue extra help when I need it. My favorite class is either French or Astronomy. Yes, students converse intellectually outside of class and some do tend to be competitve about their academics. I think I'm going to double major in English and French and maybe minor in Astronomy. I really can't decide. There are so many things I want to do. Mt Holyoke's academic requirements are just right. They push you to try new things, but are also considerate of students entering their semesters with a particular academic passion. Difficult ot say whether Mt Holyoke is geared towards getting a job or simply for learning in itself. I'd say one can take it either way.

Academics at the school are tough and some classes push you to do a lot more work than you'd expect. Class participation is heavily encouraged and often times teachers will know when you are not in class. Some classes are utterly useless but are a must. Some classes are the best thing you'd ever take, but might not have any practical use.

Not too much to worry about but they do give us a lot of work. Come expecting a lot of readings and assingments in general. but there are writing centers and mentors that could help you out a lot with it.

HARD CORE. Grades grades grades. Assignments are killers. Too many papers.No time for life in general. They push you hard too hard.

Grade oriented regardless of what the professors try to tell you.

Its a good amount of work but professors are understanding if you talk to them about things ahead of time. Students are very competitive but that is always good and fosters better results. Econ department on the other hands needs to be funded better and Mt. Holyoke should not only be focusing on funding its science programs because that is not fair on a lot of us.

Papers, readings, papers, assignments, papers, readings...thats academics at MHC. Professors are lovable and cute and I'm really going to miss them a lot. They are the best in the country by far.

i dont talk a lot in class so professors dont know my name in particular but usually they try to get to you to participate in class and put a certain {4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of final grade for class participation too. students are very competitive and it is so strange that no one talks about their grades and everyone has their guard up when its brought up which is very different from the way i was brought up

My favorite class is a gender studies class I took with Mary Renda. Shes brilliant and everyone should take her class because she changes the way you think completely. My department holds shows every year which is very popular. We are well kept but the science departments rule Mt Holyoke and everything else is slightly ignored. Education here is not geared toward getting a job. Its all about liberal arts education and really nothing you learn in college is that important except for the experience that you gain so its all good.

Professors make the best effort possible to get to know everyone's names. It is easier to do so in smaller classes, but more difficult in large lectures. Still, many professors encourage some sort of meeting or get together during office hours to get to know each student by name, and some professors have even taken pictures of each student so he/she can learn to match names to faces. My favorite classes are psychology and biology. I love psychology because I find it very interesting, the work load is nice and consists largely of readings and examinations, and my professor this semester, Karen Hollis is a wonderful and intelligent woman whom I admire. I love biology as a subject and find it challenging when it comes to the actual classes, but sometimes it feels too challenging, as if professors expect too much out of students already cramming and working their tails off in everything else. My least favorite class has been calculus. I had a wonderful teacher and did well in the class, but I just don't enjoy mathematics past the algebra 2 level, because it stops making as much sense and I don't see it as enjoyable. Class participation is very common at Mount Holyoke. It is important for students to find their voice in class. Most students seem unafraid to ask questions when necessary, voice opinions, and share knowledge and insight whenever possible. Mount Holyoke students do engage in intellectual conversations often outside of class. Whenever I visit my high school, I admire the differences: students at my high school talk about fights and tv outside of the classroom (and often in the classroom too), but Mount Holyoke students expand on what they learned in class, share political, moral, and ethical values, and have hobbies that allow them to grow socially and intellectually. The education at Mount Holyoke has the dual purpose of getting a job later on and learning. We live up to the classification of a liberal arts college in that a general knowledge is emphasized. We are encouraged to not only satisfy college requirements when choosing classes, but to also study what we want to study, and take classes that we normally may not consider to broaden our horizons. However, we also are well aware of Mount Holyoke's reputation as being such a great college, and so personally, most people do pursue the education here in order to get a good job.