Amherst College
Amherst College
4.5
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4.5
67 reviews
Excellent
37
Very good
24
Average
5
Poor
1
Terrible
0
Mohlpowers
12 contributions
Oct 2018
My husband played his trombone for JFK one month before Dallas when he came to dedicate the Frost Library. I remember my husband’s history with Theodore Baird also who as a freshman English teacher assigned a paper every day and read every paper himself. My husband has an amazing large collection of letters from Baird which in itself shows the respect within Amherst of its history. Celebrating its history is at the heart of Amherst’s story.
Written 29 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
rachellynn99
Conway, AR235 contributions
Oct 2018 • Couples
We visited here after touring Emily Dickinson's home (right next door). It's a beautiful little college. We got a coffee and walked around the grounds in Fall and it was just perfect. Great architecture, beautiful grounds- just a nice place to wander.
Written 8 July 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Carmelo352
Amherst, MA14 contributions
May 2019 • Business
Amherst College & Surrounds offers three excellent museums including the Amherst Art Museum, The Amherst Museum of Natural History and the nearby Emily Dickinson House. The campus is a great place to walk and enjoy the several monuments and wonderful views of the Holyoke Range. Amherst Center offers a variety of coffee shops, restaurants, an historic library and the Amherst Cinema.
Written 4 June 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LoveVirginia
Washington DC, DC215 contributions
Apr 2019 • Family
We visited their for the fourth time as my daugher searched for schools. The campus is great to walk around. It has hills and also large flat fields. The new science building really looks nice and the landscaping is great. The two museums on campus are each nice. One for dinosaurs and the other for art. I spent about 30 minutes in each.
Written 22 April 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ben S
San Francisco156 contributions
Mar 2019 • Solo
I went to nearby Hampshire College, but I took classes (a total of three) for a year and a half at Amherst, starting in the Spring semester of my first year at Hampshire (I also took a UMass class that semester as well for academic contrast). The experience of attending classes at Amherst was interesting, in that Amherst was a different UNIVERSE than Hampshire. Politically, socially, academically, the two colleges are NOTHING alike, yet are only 4.5 miles apart from each other. Amherst's campus is beautiful, VERY textbook typical New England college: beautiful old buildings, a chapel, lots of Ivy, two really great museums; a pretty good Orchestra and really good Music, Dance & Theater Programs and some VERY entitled, preppy students. It was, after all an Amherst alumnus that donated $6 million towards the founding of Hampshire, so I thought: "Ok, it's the closest campus to Hampshire, let's start by taking off campus classes there."
Socially speaking, I probably could have SURVIVED at Amherst, but it was too "traditional" for me. Kissing Professors butts and currying favor from them for a better grade was NOT my learning style. Two out of the three courses I took were with Professors that were like that, and to me, as a serious, motivated, independent, questioning, critically thinking Hampshire student, I was probably annoying to them. Oh well. I earned the first (and thankfully only) C of my college career at Amherst, and to me that just reinforced that the Professor wasn't "Hampshire student friendly" as the other Hampshire student that was in the class with me also got a C (we were also the two most vocal and questioning in the class) and we'd both note that the Amherst students began to roll their eyes whenever either of us spoke. In the other two classes, I got a B+ and an A, and the A was in a class taught by a visiting professor from NYU, whose class I LOVED.
He was a much more Hampshire style Professor, and I did actually meet some cool, artistic Amherst students in that class, one of whom actually transferred to Hampshire the following Fall, after she and I collaborated on a performance art piece that grew out of that class that we performed at all five of the campuses (she didn't care for Amherst socially or academically). That was the BEST five college class I took overall, and it was taught by a Professor that didn't normally teach at Amherst, which I found amusing.
I almost ended up not taking that third class at Amherst (after the lukewarm experience of the first two), but I was glad I did. Amherst is obviously ranked a top tier school because it is competitve, and I was glad in the end that it was a part of my five-college experience. I was just happy to be able to go back to Hampshire after classes, because Amherst was NOT my kind of place socially. TOO preppy, too snide and pretentious, and WAY TOO traditional. This was the early 90's also, so there was still some Greek life at Amherst (same thing I didn't like at UMass either), and I'm just not a fan of that kind of social scene. Hampshire's scene: quirky, laid-back, chill and much more individuated, was what I preferred.
One more thing about Amherst that I did like: Frost Library is a really great facility. I studied there QUITE a bit. It was a more modern building like Hampshire's library was, but bigger and quieter. Hampshire's library could get quite noisy, especially on the main floor of the library where the circulation desk was. Frost was MUCH quieter.
Socially speaking, I probably could have SURVIVED at Amherst, but it was too "traditional" for me. Kissing Professors butts and currying favor from them for a better grade was NOT my learning style. Two out of the three courses I took were with Professors that were like that, and to me, as a serious, motivated, independent, questioning, critically thinking Hampshire student, I was probably annoying to them. Oh well. I earned the first (and thankfully only) C of my college career at Amherst, and to me that just reinforced that the Professor wasn't "Hampshire student friendly" as the other Hampshire student that was in the class with me also got a C (we were also the two most vocal and questioning in the class) and we'd both note that the Amherst students began to roll their eyes whenever either of us spoke. In the other two classes, I got a B+ and an A, and the A was in a class taught by a visiting professor from NYU, whose class I LOVED.
He was a much more Hampshire style Professor, and I did actually meet some cool, artistic Amherst students in that class, one of whom actually transferred to Hampshire the following Fall, after she and I collaborated on a performance art piece that grew out of that class that we performed at all five of the campuses (she didn't care for Amherst socially or academically). That was the BEST five college class I took overall, and it was taught by a Professor that didn't normally teach at Amherst, which I found amusing.
I almost ended up not taking that third class at Amherst (after the lukewarm experience of the first two), but I was glad I did. Amherst is obviously ranked a top tier school because it is competitve, and I was glad in the end that it was a part of my five-college experience. I was just happy to be able to go back to Hampshire after classes, because Amherst was NOT my kind of place socially. TOO preppy, too snide and pretentious, and WAY TOO traditional. This was the early 90's also, so there was still some Greek life at Amherst (same thing I didn't like at UMass either), and I'm just not a fan of that kind of social scene. Hampshire's scene: quirky, laid-back, chill and much more individuated, was what I preferred.
One more thing about Amherst that I did like: Frost Library is a really great facility. I studied there QUITE a bit. It was a more modern building like Hampshire's library was, but bigger and quieter. Hampshire's library could get quite noisy, especially on the main floor of the library where the circulation desk was. Frost was MUCH quieter.
Written 11 March 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PlatinumHoney
Los Angeles, CA2 109 contributions
Nov 2018 • Couples
Small New England school with pleasant campus and nice walkways. Seemed similar to others of this type, but no doubt, if you attend here, you would understand its unique character.
Written 4 November 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nurse87
Plainville, CT475 contributions
May 2018 • Friends
I loved visiting this campus. It is situated in a very lovely spot. It is so pretty to walk around. There is an area with a beautiful view that is very enjoyable to sit. It is a mix of old and new buildings. The architecture is just beautiful. This campus is great because it is within walking distance to downtown Amherst.
Written 29 July 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Henry R
Glen Allen, VA435 contributions
May 2018 • Family
Had not been there for 50 years. Gorgeous! The town has blossomed into a very nice place, easily walkable.
Written 30 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Robert S
Lawrence, KS2 775 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
Lovely tree lined campus. We were in the area so we strolled around the campus and had a picnic lunch in the quad. Classes had not started, so the place was quiet and peaceful. We visited the art museum and enjoyed looking at the beautiful old buildings.
I would like to re-visit on a busy day during classes.
I would like to re-visit on a busy day during classes.
Written 17 April 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jim J
Portland, ME175 contributions
Mar 2017 • Solo
Another Olmstead-designed campus, like Wellesley's, though unlike--set on an Eminence. Johnson Chapel can be seen from miles away, near the Connecticut River. South of town there's a Site, on Shays St (maybe named for Daniel, whom my forbear Stephen Powers of Shutesbury fought under in the Revolutio, maybe in the Rebellion). Drumlins all around (see R Frost's poem) but, as my Freshman Prof Armour Craig said, looking out the classroom window, "But you can't see them if you don't know the word."
The site is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in New England, Baird House, built by my Shakespeare teacher and inventer of AmColl's nationally known Freshman Comp, Theodore Baird. See photo of Prof Baird and this reviewer in the 1960's in front of Baird House.
The site is the only Frank Lloyd Wright house in New England, Baird House, built by my Shakespeare teacher and inventer of AmColl's nationally known Freshman Comp, Theodore Baird. See photo of Prof Baird and this reviewer in the 1960's in front of Baird House.
Written 24 February 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Claim your listingAMHERST COLLEGE: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)
Frequently Asked Questions about Amherst College
- Hotels near Amherst College:
- (0.43 km) Inn on Boltwood
- (0.55 km) Amherst Inn
- (0.90 km) Allen House Victorian Inn
- (4.46 km) Black Walnut Inn
- (0.93 km) Emily's Amherst Bed & Breakfast
- Restaurants near Amherst College:
- (0.26 km) Mi Tierra Restaurant Amherst Mass
- (0.62 km) Johnny's Tavern
- (0.42 km) 30Boltwood
- (0.63 km) Antonio's Pizza
- (0.73 km) Pita Pockets
- Attractions near Amherst College:
- (0.27 km) Amherst College Museum of Natural History
- (0.65 km) Emily Dickinson Museum
- (0.58 km) Amherst Cinema Arts Center
- (0.47 km) Amherst Farmers' Market - Late April to Mid-November
- (0.51 km) Amherst Public Library