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Many people say it's too small for them, but I like the size. I like how I can manage to know most of my dorm-mates, classmates, professors and such. Amherst is a great town to be in, and that's one of my favorite things about Amherst. Some say the town is too small (I mean, it is a TOWN, not a city), but you can walk to many shops and see friendly people. I love how Tony Marx is treated pretty much like a movie star, except he's very approachable. In that sense, I love the student-admin relationship at Amherst, although I don't really know much about the admin other than our Tony. haha

A lot of people get annoyed by people who think we go to UMass Amherst. Also by people who don't know what liberal arts colleges are. I don't really care as much because nobody from my hometown has even heard of Amherst. People who know about colleges know about Amherst. And we all think that we are (or the quality of education at Amherst is) the best, better than Williams of course, and even the Ivies, so it doesn't matter what other people think. haha.

Professors all make the effort to know all students' names, and I haven't had a class yet (I've taken 8 of them) in which the professor didn't know my name. Amherst kids have intellectual conversations outside of class, but the length and frequency vary greatly depending on the group of friends you hang out with.

Amherst's open curriculum attracts lots of people, although I feel like some people come here never intending to extend their horizons on their own, which was the original intention of the curriculum. I like it a lot, but sometimes I wish I had the room to take artsy classes and such without feeling pressured to take "useful" or uber-challenging classes instead.

Amherst students are secretly competitive. In other words, competitive mindsets are not noticeable, but most kids think competitively. We are just good at hiding it. So we don't do stuff like, throwing away a classmate's calculator or intentionally letting your roommate oversleep. haha

Amherst student body is diverse, but diversity doesn't necessarily mean interaction. I'm pretty sure that's true everywhere.

Students wear everything from perfectly manicured outfits to sweatpants/sweatshirts. Sweatpants are pretty popular during the winter time. But once the weather gets warmer finally, people start dressing up more even to go to class.

People are surprisingly not very politically active....or most of them aren't. There is our share of saving-the-world crowd though.

In the dining hall, there are athletes, black/hispanic kids, and the rest is hard to identify.

Guest lectures are really good and informative, and high-profile ones get lots of crowd. A capella performances are very popular.

2am on a Tuesday, definitely working or trying to work while chatting and fooling around with friends. Frats exist off-campus, but they are not all that....noticeable or significant, or that's how they seem to me. There is definitely a significant minority of people who do not drink regularly. I respect their choice and most Amherst kids do.

awkward. preppy/rich.

students are not generally awkward, but i think we console ourselves after a night of mayhem or an embarrassing moment by saying that we are all awkward. preppy/rich? sure, there are kids like that, but there's also a ton who's not.