Amherst College

Amherst College’s open curriculum keeps the focus on what undergraduates want, dispensing with general requirements so that students can have “control over their own education” and “take classes that they actually love,” forging their own intellectual path in one of the numerous undergraduate majors offered. And while there may not be mandatory core classes, the course catalog offers over 850 options, with more available through partner schools in the Five College Consortium: as one student puts it, “Every year at Amherst I have gotten more and more intellectually curious”. Add the school’s numerous research opportunities, and you’ve got an “academically rigorous undergraduate education” that is supported by multiple resource centers to foster awareness and identity. In addition to campus resources, the “professors on campus really care about the academic experience of their students.” They “format their classes in a way that makes it entertaining and engaging to learn even the most difficult material.” That’s important to many attendees, for while “challenging” is used to describe the overall education, that’s matched by an acknowledgment of how “supportive and manageable” it all is, thanks to the school’s resources and its “very flexible and understanding” professors. One student shares, “They really do care about their students; one time I got a personal email from a professor after missing class due to an illness for a couple days.” To these students, “Amherst feel[s] like a place where I am taken care of and cared for.”

The key qualities of the average Amherst student, regardless of their specific interests (“Everyone has their ‘thing’”), are being “diverse, curious and extremely motivated.” That shared passion creates a “very collaboration-driven” community that some call “extremely non-competitive.” Amherst students are described as being incredibly generous, who “help each other because they want the best for one another.” The productive nature of the school and the “quite varied interests” of the student body make for a naturally eclectic group: “There are introverts, extroverts, partiers, and those that like to just stay in and play games on the weekends…I would say that Amherst students are kind and accept everyone, even when they are completely different from themselves.”

Students describe weekdays as fairly busy—“balancing our schoolwork, clubs, work-study jobs, sports, and more”—so much so that a lot of socializing is built around study sessions and the dining hall. That said, “Outside of class, people attend campus events (like watching the improv group every Monday night) and when the weather cooperates, “people will be found lounging in the grassy quads, playing Frisbee, [and] going out to nearby towns or ponds [and] mini-beaches.” On the weekends, “life is usually going to a sports event or another event during the day and homework and then going out at night,” or as one undergraduate explains, “Whenever a party can be thrown, there will be a party.” Students also point to the school’s savvy event planning, which includes mainstays like trivia but also activities like build-a-bear and axe-throwing. The common theme is that students “are constantly moving and busy with packed schedules that encompass a variety of activities.”

The Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning at Amherst is focused on empowering students to think about their futures reflectively and strategically. The school’s flagship Charles Hamilton Houston Internship Program provides students with specialized internship advising—providing total support throughout the internship cycle, including preparation and skill development. Other resources like Career Beam and the Liberal Arts Career netWORK list job and internship opportunities for gaining professional experience. Students can easily connect with former grads through the Alumni-in-Residence program that brings alumni back to campus for a series of candid conversations designed to help students explore career options, build relationships, and get real-world advice. Amherst grads who visited PayScale.com report median starting salaries of about $74,900, and 35 percent of graduates are working in a STEM-related field.