Amherst College - The Inside Scoop

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Facts

Slang

'Cac - Abbreviation of NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference)
Eya lata - See you later
MoHos - Female students from Mount Holyoke College.
The 'Herst - Abbreviation/nickname for Amherst College

Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming To School

How big music is here. I would have brushed up my guitar playing and joined one of the jazz combos on campus.
How cold it is.
That there is a true open curriculum—in other words, there are absolutely no required classes. I would have planned my studies better.
That there is absolutely no pressure from anyone here. You can do whatever you like, at whatever intensity. I would have come with a better plan of how to spend my college years.

Tips to Succeed

Be ready to live in an environment without any pressure—but with a lot of challenges.
Become independent and pro-active as quickly as possible.
Find and acknowledge the people who really respect who you are and what you like.
Guys: try not to be overly direct with the women.
Use your time here to figure out what it is you really want to do and what are the things you have the most fun doing.

Urban Legends

Amherst has such a large endowment that it can afford to purchase absolutely anything for its students.
Parties at Smith and Holyoke are only attended by hot, voluptuous, and naked females.
That the hardest thing about Amherst is getting admitted. Once that’s accomplished, it’s easy to get high grades because of the massive grade inflation here.
That the rivalry between Amherst and Williams Colleges actually stems from genuine reasons, and not from manufactured and made up ones.

Traditions

Slide down Memorial Hill on a dining hall tray on the first day of snow, with your shirt waiting for you at the bottom.
Go and cheer in the last football game of the season against archrivals Williams College. The same goes for basketball.

School Spirit

Some alumni are really proud of Amherst and the sports teams. In big games, the football field and the basketball court are filled to capacity. When the Amherst basketball team went to play in the national championship tournament several years ago, the school arranged for students and faculty to watch the game via a direct satellite feed. Current students, in their time here, become slowly, but surely, proud of their school, both in terms of athletics and otherwise.

Most Recent Contributing Author

Name: Lem Atanga McCormick
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Major: Pre-Med (Biology and French)

Lem has been to 17 different countries.

Contributing Author Internship

College Prowler is actively seeking talented students to be "Contributing Authors," and assist with updating the College Prowler guide to their school. This is a great opportunity for a student to gain internship experience, be a part of a nationally recognized company, gain tremendous exposure, utilize new media techniques, and share advice with high school students about what life is really like at your college. Read more about the internship.

In Summary

Get to Know the School

Get to Know the Students

Get to Know the Location

Before and After