Mount Holyoke College
Reviews

Excellent

I think that it is extremely well organized. We have some experienced professors who make their respective topics extremely interesting and they always get excited about the information they are going to teach.

Not Very Popular

There are drugs if you really want to find them but they're on the down low. Alcohol sometimes appears before parties but no one pressures you and it's not something people really talk about in day-to-day life.

Limited Variety

The Village Commons are right across the street but unfortunately, there aren't many places toe at off campus. There's a Mexican restaurant, a sports bar (which is really good), an expensive restaurant, and there's a Friendly's and a Greek restaurant about a mile up the main road.

Educational Utopia

Studying at Mount Holyoke College has allowed me to experience engaging, exciting, and knowledgeable professors. Even in a classroom with many others, which is rare, the professors encourage class discussion in a smaller group setting. They are always there if you need help or would just like to continue a discussion or ask further questions after class. However, the workload is especially difficult and constantly time consuming.

Rigorous but Boring

Mount Holyoke is a great school educationally wise. It has potential and it is very rigorous. The only down side to it is that you have to have a car in order to have a social life here. Unless, you are willing to ride on crowded buses to get to parties! There really isn't much to do outside of school so in order to not find oneself bored all the time one really has to be involved inside of school.

Isolated, Tiny Town

South Hadley has nothing but just Mount Holyoke and few shops in village commons. But there's really nothing to do in this little town.

SUPER SNOWY

It was strange to me to be around so much snow when I moved to South Hadley. I questioned on a daily basis why anyone would willingly choose to live here during the winter. Classes were only cancelled once due to a wild blizzard, which is kind of scary, because on many occasions the walkways and roads were incredibly treacherous and hardly walk-able.

Not to Shabby but Could Be Better

Mount Holyoke isn't cheep but financial aid does try to make it affordable for every student. They have been great and super helpful every time I've had to talk to them. It is true that I will be going into the world with about $ -40,000 to my name which isn't an ideal situation but it's worth it for the education.

Lots to Find

There is so much to explore at Mount Holyoke. Whether you want to get lost in the library (it's like Hogwarts, it even has a floor 2 1/2), or try to find the giant sloth skeleton, or find the path that connects one side of campus to the other via the woods there's always something to do.

We also have M&C's a bedtime snack in every dorm at 9:30 on school nights which is always a great place to socialize with friends and hallmates. Mount Holyoke is filled with traditions some as old as the school and some much more recent.

There's also a party every weekend, although sometimes they can be lame. The best ones like FCMUN and Vegas Night are in Chapin.

Good Place If You Like Learning

Mount Holyoke is as challenging as you want it to be. It is possible to get away with taking only easy classes, but it takes more effort to find them. Most students do some sort of thesis project. The professors are fantastic. The vast majority of them are willing to go out of there way to help students, all you have to do is ask. People at Mount Holyoke tend to take academics very seriously, which is easy to do when you are in the middle of suburban nowhere.

Varsity Sports

If you're serious about sports, probably not the best school for you. It's Division C and there's not a huge following and support from the school at sporting events and games. It's more of an academic environment. If you want to join a club team, there are limited existing groups, though you can always create one. Physical Education is good though- there's plenty of dance and PE courses, and there's even an equestrian center for riding classes!

Financial Aid

I received a lot of financial aid, and being an international student that is hard to come across. I had to fill some forms, and there was no hassle.

A New Room Every Year

Where at other schools you may have the option to keep your same dorm room year after year, at Mount Holyoke, every year you enter the housing lottery and wind up in a new place. And since there is practically zero off-campus housing, ALL students participate. It's kinda a big social activity on campus to strategize the best places to live. The houses "on the green" are the prettiest, oldest, and closest to most classes. They are also the smallest and some have few dining options. "uglier" buildings like Ham/Macgreggor look more like typical dorms but have nice features like window-seats and adjoining singles to make your own suites with your friends. They also have their own parking lot which is great if you have a car. Prospect is ugly and small and there is nothing nice about it except that it's by the lake. The Mandells are a FAR walk from classes/library/everything...but the common rooms are beautiful, and you really feel like you live in a glorious old mansion...I would recomend living in a smaller dorm as a firstie to be able to get to know the other new girls easier. As each year past, and I already had my core group of gals, I personally became more concerned with convience and amendities and less about the "look" of the dorm.

None. at Least None That's Visible.

Really, there's little to no drug or alcohol usage here. Don't know where our partying stereotype came from but I can honestly tell you it's a myth. The only time when people are visibly drinking/drunk is Vegas Night... and if anyone smells marijuana it's reported right away. Again, if students here want to do those things they just go elsewhere.

None...

You have to go to UMass Amherst for nightlife activities.

Mind Your Own Business and Public Safety Will Mind Theirs

As long as you are respectful and not being crazy obnoxious, you can pretty much do whatever you want on campus. Keep your parties to the weekends, don't barf all over, and you're fine. Public safety never gives the impression of really wanting to ruin your night and will only respond if they think someone is in danger or they get several calls. The one thing they are strict about is parking. Don't ever think you can get away with parking in a restricted space.

As for academics, MHC is on the honor code. Final exams are usually self-scheduled, which is one of the best things ever. You can choose when and where you want to take your exam. I'm not a morning person AT ALL, so I loved being able to take my exams in the afternoon or evening. The rooms are totally unmonitored, which I liked because it made me feel much more relaxed. MHC really trusts their students.

No One "Type"

Girls at MHC tend to either be very pretty or very ugly. There aren't many in between. However, when it comes to personality and interests, you can find someone in every category you can think of. It is near impossible to fit the women of Mt. Holyoke into a type. Some of them love to go to the frat parties at Umass, some prefer to stay in and read a book, some go out to dinner with friends, some go dancing at the local gay clubs. My main reason for giving the grade of A is that no matter what, you can find friends here because of the diverse personalities and groups on campus.

Amazing Students, Annoying Administration

Students at Mt. Holyoke are very accepting and always interested in meeting someone with different cultural and life experiences. The problem is that the administration tries to force diversity down everyone's throats. If you brush aside the institutional push for perceived diversity and focus on expanding your own experiences and being open to learning from others, you will meet amazing people from every walk of life.

Not for Everyone, but Superior School

MHC will always have a special place in my heart, whether I transfer at some point or I don't. Coming from a city, I was truly astonished by the overall demeanor of everyone - the students, the professors, other faculty/staff, and administration. This school has an absolutely, unforgettably enormous heart. It is a very happy place - students are truly joyful to be here. Yes, it is a small school. Courses are limited, but there's the immense benefit of the five college consortium - how many colleges can boast such an amazing asset? That's an incredible perk. MHC is very isolated, however. Even Amherst, Northampton and Springfield - and even Worcester (the closest cities) don't offer the sort of culture and incredible experiences that larger cities in the area would (NYC, Boston, Hartford, Providence), and that's hard. You are in a small town. If you're not used to that... it can be an incredibly hard adjustment. MHC is such an amazing school. It is one of the seven sisters, yes, and certainly has well-deserved prestige. However, for some students here, it's too much, and for others, it's too little. Some transfer to schools that are a little less of a challenge, or on the contrary, others transfer to Ivies. MHC is what you make of it, in essence. It can be your home for four years, or a phenomenal launching pad that's bound to give you strength and self-confidence to continue with your studies elsewhere. Either way... it is undoubtedly a solid A.

1837 Gets a Bad Rap

The dorms I lived in during my years at MHC were: Mead (2 yrs.), 1837 and Pearsons.

I have to say that despite what everyone is saying about 1837 not being desirable, I loved it. Yes, I adore old and quaint, but it's the people that make the dorm experience, and I had so much fun there.

Also - no one points out that all the rooms face only in one direction - West. And the window in your room takes up almost the entire wall, so sunsets are simply spectacular. My roommate and I would turn out all the lights in our room and just sit on our beds and watch the sun set some days. It was worth the longer walk to get to classes, and it's good exercise - a good way to combat the Freshmen 10!

Tiny Campus, 5-College Consortium

Mount Holyoke's campus is small enough to walk everywhere on foot. To get to the other 5 schools, or into town, buses run all day and late into the night, arriving at multiple stops around campus every 10-15 minutes.

Diverse Housing Options With Homey Feel

The housing at MHC has very diverse options. Students can chose between dorms with wood floors or tile floors. All of the buildings have their own pros and cons and because the campus is small, none of the dorms are too far away from classes. There are different areas of campus where students can live such as: upper lake, lower lake, or the green. All of the rooms are larger than any of the rooms of my friends at other colleges. MHC treats its students well. All dorms are near or have dining rooms therefore food is never far away!

Important to Consider Before Attending

Personally, the Pioneer Valley is perfect for me. I am a small-town New Englander who's used to long drives, beautiful pastures, rolling hills, country fairs, and cows, so I really appreciate everything the area has to offer. I also love that our "big" cities (Northampton and Amherst, both right up the road) aren't really big at all and are mostly just nice walking towns with lots of cute boutiques, used book stores, and sidewalk cafes. So for me, it's perfect!

But I know many students who hate the location, some even going so far as to transfer out, because they were expecting regular trips to Boston and New York, lots of clubs and bars, and other things that simply aren't realistic. You have to be comfortable with seclusion in order to be comfortable with Mount Holyoke. If you'd rather be in Boston, go to a college there; don't assume you're going to be driving out every weekend from South Hadley, because you won't be.

Since the Five Colleges (MHC, Smith, Hampshire, Amherst, and UMass) dominate the area, the attitude towards college students is great. Each of the colleges regularly interact with each other, including for social events, so you'll always be around thousands and thousands of other college students (and yes, that includes men). We call it the Happy Valley for a reason -- it's a great place to be!

Very Diverse -- to an Extent

Campus is very diverse -- one of the most diverse liberal arts colleges, in fact -- when it comes to racial make-up. We also have a high percentage of students receiving Pell Grants (about 1/3 of all students). Unfortunately, there is still tension between different groups. We've had to have several community meetings in recent years about socioeconomic conflicts on campus, especially between the "horse girls" (derisive term for upper-class students, who often bring their own horses to campus) and "financial aid kids." This is the biggest conflict on campus and tends to come up on a regular basis. As long as you keep your financial status to yourself, however, it's easier to avoid.

Politically, just about everyone on campus is towards the left. There is a strong College Republicans group, and they ARE respected, but they're not influential. Likewise, there are students who participate in religious life and are not ridiculed for it, but it's not very common.

As with most other women's colleges, the queer community is quite strong at MHC. Even if students aren't queer themselves, they tend to identify strongly with the community and work to support it. Some of the most popular events on campus are run by queer groups, including the Valentine's Day Drag Ball. There is a small percentage of intolerant students who try to distance themselves from the college's lesbian reputation, but otherwise, people are very laid back about it. We also have a number of transgender students, and they are largely accepted on campus as well.

As a piece of advice, students should step outside their own racial/ethnic groups whenever possible. Some groups have developed reputations for being completely insular, so avoid that!

Beautiful, but Choose Wisely

Almost all of the buildings are gorgeous from the outside and most are very nice inside. Most are from the 1800s, so there are sometimes issues with silverfish and mice, but nothing horrible. Everyone tries to get brownstone housing on the Green, but more modern places like Ham and MacGregor can be great because they have their own special perks (like window seats!). Dickinson is a great option if you're not into partying. Athletes live in Torrey. The Rockies are where it's at socially. If you want the best of all worlds, try Abbey or Buckland -- on the Green, but at the far end of it. Word of warning: Be prepared to layer due to the heating system being a bit...off.