CollegeXC1993

I'm a high school junior looking at reach schools---I really think I would fit perfectly with Swarthmore students BUT I'm kinda scared I won't have time to run cross country bc of the crazy workload. I like alot about Amherst: the outdoorsy attitude, the fact that it isnt in the middle of nowhere like Williams is (so I hear) and its awesome neuroscience dept. But a few things are detracting me from Amherst...
Does the social scene revolve around drinking/partying?
Is their any sort of community feel at Amherst? i've heard it is very "cold and distanced"
How WASPy and preppy is the Amherst student body?

I'm not sure how many answers I'll get on these questions bc they are pretty subjective; I am going to try to visit Williams and Amherst eventually to see the campus atmosphere.

last thing: I can only apply to 2 of the 3 schools (at most)

'rentof2

My distinctly non-preppy son is very happy there. Amherst has a very diverse student body, so you shouldn't have any problem making some wonderful friends there. And you might even find that stereotypes like "preppy" end up having far less meaning in reality than they do on internet boards. My kid, at least, thinks there's a fantastic community feeling at Amherst. There is a lot of drinking like almost every other college, but he's a total abstainer and it's not a problem. (He opted to live in the sub-free hall as a freshman, and that was such a hugely positive experience for him. The kids from that dorm are still his best friends.)

shawbridge

I second 'rentof2's statement. My son is not preppy and is finding a very interesting community there. People are very welcoming. Kids drink there (like every school save BYU and a few others) and parties likely have alcohol, but it does not sound from what I hear like a party school. The school's president and board appear to have been devoted, perhaps beyond most other schools, to increasing diversity. It appears to have been on of their two or three major priorities and they boast, virtually in every event, about having the most diverse student body among high-end schools. This year, white students from the US make up only 49% of the student body. I'm a little unclear why these set of metrics are so important to the administration, but meeting them without diminishing academic quality appears to have been among the president's top priorities. So, no to WASPy/preppy. Like Williams, and probably unlike Swarthmore, filling athletic teams is also a high priority. With many teams and a small student body, that means that a high proportion of the student body is comprised of athletes.

'rentof2

I'd also just add in, that "diversity" is not just a matter of ethnicity. Students from different socio-economic backgrounds, areas of the country, areas of the world, with interests and achievements in all sorts of different areas. I think the college does a wonderful job of that.

kwu

No.

You have to make the effort to reach out to people. Joining extracurricular activities and getting involved in community events will be especially helpful.

That being said, Amherst is so diverse, in every sense of the word--I mean, most people here have been through unique and awe-inspiring life experiences--that this diversity creates rifts. I'm not going to BS you. There are plenty of weird people here. But, they're all willing to open up to you if you try. If you try.

"Are there a lot of ghetto Afro-American and low-income students at Amherst?" A comparable question. Wealthy men and women of European descent who possess certain cultural values and religious beliefs, and dress in a certain way, have a right to be at Amherst as much as everyone else.

To answer your question, no, it's the most diverse of the elite liberal arts colleges.