Who decides
to take a trip to Massachusetts in January? That’s what I was thinking before I
headed to a conference at Mount Holyoke College, but the weather was actually
the same up there as it was back at home! While I attended the conference, I
had the chance to tour Mount Holyoke as well as the other four colleges that
make up the Five College Consortium. The Five College Consortium is a group of
five campuses and 30,000 students in western Massachusetts. Students who attend Amherst College,
Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke, Smith College and the University ofMassachusetts at Amherst are able to take classes across the colleges as well
as share use of educational and cultural resources and facilities. There is
also an inter-campus transportation system so students can easily hop on a bus
to get from one campus to another- none of the campuses are more than 20
minutes apart. The idea of forming a consortium was so that each college could
expand both their academic and co-curricular offerings.
All five campuses
are very different, especially because the group includes two women’s colleges
and one large public university. One of the funniest trends that I noticed on
each campus was that each of them had a huge greenhouse! Maybe I never paid
attention to the greenhouses on other campuses but that was certainly a
prominent aspect and very impressive. Except for UMass, the consortium schools are
small liberal arts colleges and have very typical campus environments.
Hampshire College is not located right next to a town but the other colleges
are within walking distance of traditional (and fun!) college towns with great shopping and
tons of different restaurants. We frequently saw the buses that travel between the
campuses as we were walking around so it is clearly very easy to get back and
forth between the colleges. They even have shuttles that go to the closest
airport in Hartford, Connecticut so that it is easy for students to get home
for breaks.
Here is a picture of Amherst:
Here is a picture of Amherst:
And Smith:
Overall, I was really impressed by the five college system and the fact that students could have access to thousands of different classes and clubs and activities at each school. Each college has its own feel so they are definitely worth visiting if you are in the area!
Overall, I was really impressed by the five college system and the fact that students could have access to thousands of different classes and clubs and activities at each school. Each college has its own feel so they are definitely worth visiting if you are in the area!
Published by LP
