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| Quite Bright |
Hampshire College is the institution of the black-sheep intellectual. It was founded under this ideal and it has remained as such. Though myself, and every other Hampshire kid, will occasionally bitch about Saga (the dining hall), the "latent racism of pub safety," and Hexter tacitly suggesting this or that, almost everyone who attends this school will defend it on etiological, epistemological, and pedagogic grounds whenever it is slandered by an outsider. This is a fundamental truth of Hampshire kids: we bitch, whine, and moan, but when it comes down to it, we love this place. We live in a completely supportive community which allows us the utmost agency to pursue our interests. Those who qualify receive generous amounts of financial aid (I'm currently on a $45,000 per year institutional grant/small federal loan plan). And the people here are remarkable, genuine, quirky, deviant, and god damned interesting.
In terms of non-academic opportunity, Hampshire is very supportive. Certain study abroad programs cost no extra fees and Hampshire will basically get you into whatever grad school you hold interest in.
To address a couple of the common complaints about the school: I am damn proud that this institution doesn't respect traditional quantitative academic evaluation. Why? Because the American GPA is as inflated as the American Dollar. At what point will the American public recognize that the "A" is an entirely arbitrary mark which varies institution to institution? In my experience, Hampshire's qualitative evaluation system holds parties far more accountable than a fiat quantitative evaluation system ever could.
In regards to the campus aesthetic: no, we don't have the stately buildings. We are attached to four much older colleges that do (and obnoxiously so). Yes, we're the weird kids in the woods with the 1970's architect-was-so-hi buildings. However, the landscape here is gorgeous; we own three farms and hold 800 acres of woods. Early Springs are a bit damp, but early Autumn, Winter, and late Springs are amazing.
Honestly: if Harvard or Amherst or any other super-pretentious institution offered me a place at their college tomorrow, I wouldn't be interested in the slightest. I've met kids from all over the East Coast, from nearly every Ivy, from loads of small private colleges, and Hampshire people tend to be the most engaged, the most ready to call bullshit, the most pissed off and ready to do something about it.
We are making the difference, living the dream, and creating a reality from remarkable individual visions...cheap weed, keg hunts, drag balls, and trip or treats included. :) | Education Quality: A+, Extracurricular Activities: B |  | | |
| | Jan 28 2010 | 3rd Year Male --
Class 2011 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Not so bright | anyone can put a comment on here-even people who have never set foot on campus | Innovation: A, Faculty Accessibility: F | | | |
| | Mar 07 2009 | 1st Year Female --
Class 2012 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Quite Bright |
I am so, so sorry that I came to Hampshire. Most of the students are slackers (with a few bright pockets of really self-motivated folks, most of the professors are so insanely focused on touting their PC agenda that they don't actually teach their field. Ridiculous numbers of the students are paranoidly focused on racism (in the ultra-liberal Pioneer Valley? Hello?), bashing Israel for fun or writing bizarre Div IIIs about kinky sex (guess it doesn't take much work so they choose that topic.) Oh, yeah, and being cool doing drugs (which the administration totally looks the other way about, even though it's a big problem.)
I'm gay, I'm minority and I HATE the close-mindedness on this campus (from faculty, too) that assumes I want to be ghetto-ized in a "Queer Hall" or run around being all paranoid so I can't be friends with white kids unless they bend over backwards apologizing for their "white privelege."
If you can go somewhere else, do so. Huge numbers of Hampshire students transfer out every year. I know why - and I will be one. | Useful Schoolwork: B, Education Quality: F | | | |
| | Mar 05 2009 | 2nd Year Female --
Class 2011 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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| Quite Bright |
I went to Hampshire with the highest expectations, and with the largest merit scholarship they award. I made many friends, and had a few good professors. However, on balance I was deeply disappointed by a chaotic, intolerant campus dominated by insane political posturing and students who mostly just slide through their work.
As a multi-racial student, who had been active in social justice issues all my life, I was horrified to find a campus that lives in fear because of student "activists" who cannot tolerate anyone else's viewpoint without calling them "racist", "repugnant" and "neo-Nazi" and whose response to any question about their viewpoint is to say "I don't have to educate you!!" (How, one wonders, do they hope to change minds?)
Jewish students who don't want to trash Israel should STAY AWAY - both faculty and students are hostile and harassing towards students with ANYTHING positive to say about Israel (and I note this as a left-wing, two state solution guy). The campus Rabbi is terrified, and so are a lot of Jewish students, many of whom are transferring out.
The administration, while struggling financially, has given in to the demands of radical students to forward their political agenda, which is not necessary in the best interests of the majority of the students. For example, they are hiring more professors for Black Studies courses. While there's nothing wrong with Black Studies courses, the ones presently offered are not filled: At the same time, the buildings and grounds are filthy and poorly kept up, and the Art Department (which many students come to the school for) has been cut and is struggling to survive. Why not use that money where it benefits the most students?
Additionally, one wonders why, if these students really want to accomplish something, they don't go out and work for change in agencies off campus, instead of accusing one of the most progressive, leftist schools in the US of "racism." And why does the administration cave in to such silly rhetoric?
Many, many professors are more interested in promoting whatever political agenda they favor than in teaching. Evaluations (given in place of grades) are sometimes AS MUCH AS THREE YEARS LATE, with no action taken to require the professor to complete that student's transcript.
The campus climate is one of intolerance for ANY view other than the most radical left - and the administration allows radical students to target and harass other students without taking any disciplinary action.
STAY AWAY - go to a school where students want to learn, actually apply themselves to their studies, and where political activism is responsible, sane and tolerant of the other side at least expressing their viewpoints. | Collaboration/Competitive: B-, Education Quality: F | | | |
| | Mar 03 2009 | 2nd Year Male --
Class 2013 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
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