What don't you like about Amherst C?

beatfreaks · 08-24-2009, 04:58 PM

All in the title. I've heard all of the fabulous and wonderful things about Amherst, but now I would like to hear what people DON'T like about Amherst. Please be honest.

beatfreaks · 08-24-2009, 07:00 PM

Amherst is oh-so-perfect? I don't think so LOL. Bumppppp.

lmpw · 08-24-2009, 07:34 PM

I think Amherst students are very happy there. The only complaint I've heard consistently is about the food in Val. But, then, it's all relative.

kwu · 08-24-2009, 09:21 PM

Scheduling Conflicts

A vast majority of classes occupy the same old time slots, 10:00-10:50 (MWF), 11:00-11:50 (MWF), 11:30-12:50 (TTh), 2:00-3:20 (TTh). It's agonizing having to spend time contemplating the trade-offs of taking one class over the other, and ultimately deciding what to take and when to take it. For instance, "Baroque Art in Italy, France, Spain, and the Spanish Netherlands," "History of Rome," and "Murder" are all being offered 10:00-11:20 (TTh) in the Spring. All of these courses and their instructors are awesome, and it so happens that all of them are offered every other year. I'm intent on majoring in Law, so I have to take "Murder," but it is likely that I won't be able to take even one Art History seminar or Classics (History) course by the time I graduate: that is deeply frustrating.

Financial Aid

Amherst is exceedingly generous to Pell Grant recipients, with regards to admission and financial aid awards. The middle and upper middle class don't fare so well. Amherst is very generous, as generous as the non-HYP Ivy League schools, but let's just say that given the size of the student body and the size of our endowment, it could be kinder to the remaining one-third of each incoming class who receive financial aid.

These are the two biggest gripes I have with Amherst at the moment. When I decide something else about it drives me crazy, I'll contribute further.

beatfreaks · 08-25-2009, 07:45 AM

^Thank you! That really helps. How's the surrounding area? Is there anything to do in Amherst? Is it far from Boston?

kwu · 08-28-2009, 10:23 PM

No. This is an Amherst-bashing thread.

beatfreaks · 08-29-2009, 10:14 AM

0-N0S3Z. ;L3TZ B@sH AMH3ER$t.

Kwu, please. The reason I asked because I want to be aware of everything about Amherst. But then again, every college/uni in the world is perfect, right?. Lets take Yale for example, an ivy, but cross the street and you find the local crackhead.

lmpw · 08-29-2009, 11:04 AM

I don't view the question as "bashing" but rather an attempt to get a fuller picture of life at Amherst. No institution is perfect and regardless of status, there are things that annoy students.

Danielle :) · 08-29-2009, 12:46 PM

Amherst is basically across the state from Boston...not that Massachusetts is a giant state.

kwu · 08-29-2009, 01:04 PM

The title of this thread is "What don't you like about Amherst C?," and you made clear that "[you] would like to hear what people DON'T like about Amherst."

Your intent appears to be digging up dirt on a school, and you appear to be expecting only negative responses. I am therefore willing to humor you in this respect because that is the purpose of this thread and that was your purpose toward creating it.

If you're interested in learning about "all of the fabulous and wonderful things" that make Amherst "perfect," I encourage you to make the effort to do some research--by scouring this forum, for instance. You'll find the praise effusive and the details abundant.

'rentof2 · 08-29-2009, 03:22 PM

I don't like that the shuttle from Amherst to Bradley airport is so expensive. (That's not really about Amherst, but it's the only thing I could think of.)