<p>Does anyone know any schools that are relatively close to Amherst/Northampton, are a little easier to get into, and are still rather high-quality schools? </p>
<p>(Asking on someone else’s behalf. I’ll give more explanation of her situation if you need.)</p>
<p>UMass Anherst</p>
<p>You would have to research some second-tier schools in the Springfield area, and Springfield is less than idyllic. How far away from Noho/Amherst is she willing to be? UMass Amherst is definitely easier to get into than Smith and Amherst, but not a safety anymore for instate solid B+ students, maybe better odds for out of state, but I don’t know if they give much aid. Mt. Holyoke is very competitive. Then, the second tier schools: Western New England University in Springfield is a good school with a Law school with a solid reputation in the area. Springfield College is known for their very competitive physical therapy program, but the area around the college is a bit sketchy, although I don’t hear a lot of news reports about anything bad on the campus, and I live in Western Mass. Elms college is located technically in Chicopee, MA, but Springfield usually claims it - small co-ed school that offers students a lot of attention, not a name brand school, but extremely respected nursing program for a Bachelors in nursing. The area for the elms is nice and pretty safe. So, those are the “off the beaten path” schools I could say are worth checking out. Springfield is about 1/2 a hour from Noho.
Bay Path College is right off route 91 in Longmeadow, MA, just south of Springfield. Good school, very old, really cute campus, in affluent, safe, Longmeadow. Longmeadow is just about 35-40 mins from Noho, just driving north straight up route 91. Bay Path has many commuter students as well as residential.
Springfield, like every other large city, has it’s share of crime and drugs, etc, but it’s no different from Boston, NYC, etc., and also can offer a lot of culture, diversity, and opportunity.</p>
<p>You could google colleges in Western Mass. and go from there. Every college that I just posted about has grads I personally know who have gone on to awesome careers, despite not being brand name schools. They might not be millionaires, but they are being successful and employed! These schools are all long established, known around here, with faculty that are respected and turned to by local news organizations, etc. If money, etc, are an issue, I would look up each school and see if they have the studies the student is interested in and just read up. Visit if possible. Smaller, quiet schools that just don’t have uber-famous alumni are not ever going to earn the reputation of Harvard, but have faculty, etc, who got their degrees at the Ivys, etc, and offer great education and career preparation!</p>
<p>That’s where the five college consortium is: Umass Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and Amherst. They should all be fairly easy to get to, since Amherst has the largest free bus system in the world.</p>