Pros and Cons of Hamilton?

HamilyDad
Mon, 10 Feb 2020 16:52:05 +0000

MaristLover:

merc81:

Pros

Hamilton appears as the only college referred to by Kiplinger’s as an Academic Showstopper:

https://www.kiplinger.com/fronts/special-report/college-rankings/index.html

And Hamilton places first among NESCACs in Kiplinger’s general ranking:

https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/college/T014-S003-20-best-college-values-in-the-u-s-2019/index.html

In your opinion, what are the cons of HC?

Here are some cons:

The school is relatively isolated from big cities - 4+ hours to NYC, Boston and Montreal. Albany is about 90 minutes away and Syracuse 45 minutes but neither of those small cities are that great. As one of the admissions officers at Hamilton said, "We like to think of ourselves as centrally isolated." I always use that line because it's so true.

One thing I don't like is that there is no where right near campus to spontaneously grab a cup of coffee and hang out or have a meal at a restaurant if you decide to do that on a whim. The town of Clinton is about 1.5 miles away and it's not an easy walk. There is a shuttle that will take you to Clinton and all the shopping in New Hartford but you have to plan that out. There are plenty of restaurants, including many great ethnic restaurants, in Utica which can accessed by an Uber ride if you don't have a car. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it would be better if Clinton was right there next to campus kind of like the town of Hamilton is right next to Colgate.

The weather stinks. It's cold and there are flurries almost every day in the winter. The sun doesn't shine very much in the winter. As one of the admissions officers told us, "If you need sun to be happy, don't come to Hamilton."

There isn't a lot of diversity in the student body. There is some, not everyone is white upper class. The school is trying to get more diverse, and they've made strides, but in my opinion it's hard to attract a lot of diversity to a small school isolated in the middle of upstate NY.

In terms of academics, the only thing I can think of is that when you get into your major there are limited upper level classes (200 and 300 level). But every small LAC has that issue.

As with any college there are always pros and cons. All of the cons I mentioned could be construed as pros too. For example, the isolated location fosters a sense of community at Hamilton because everyone stays on campus and the school makes sure there are things for the students to do besides going to classes and studying. There is a sense of place and community at Hamilton because all you have is each other.

You have to do your own analysis to see what is important to you. My older son loves it there and knows he made the right choice. That’s a big reason why his younger brother will be going there also.