Mount Holyoke College — Attraction in South Hadley

Minimal space for creativity, or for interdisciplinary studies. Neither is this a place for intellectual stimulation or curiosity, amongst very grade-oriented students who only care about getting a job, & who pretend they're confident, smart, & got their lives all sorted, while often broken inside in many ways. Professors don't guide you to your interests here, especially if your interests are interdisciplinary; ambiguity makes most of them uncomfortable.

Creativity, or their movement for change ? Limited. An alum asked President Pasquerella about creative outlets for students, & other alums present sensed that she clearly did not understand that question, & only talked about the museum ... Myopic visions.

Plenty of false advertising, which I fell for .. . Diversity: MHC gives much financial aid to students from Pakistan, China, Nepal & other countries, to market their diverse culture. While diverse in countries, the students they choose are very similar, & culture aside, all one of a kind. Grade oriented, often afraid to ask what they truly want in life (one girl even said, no one's ever asked me that before), & fake friendliness. . Special major: discouraged if it's not career-oriented. In more than 2 years, the Special major dean never saw a student design a major that's geared towards intellectual pursuits.

Professors often unnecessarily stoke students' sense of intelligence, in discussions that are clearly bland, & with facts students state with a false sense of superiority that's already widely known in other schools. Classes seldom encourage you to do independent papers & seek out your specific interests, they are designed in the old-fashioned way of 'lecture, try to discuss, regurgitate, write essays, exams'. I did extensive research for all my classes, & professors, & asked seniors for their favorites, to little avail.

Accommodation & food: if you're the independent sort, or with dietary issues .. avoid coming here. all $13,000 from the financial aid package is taken away if you choose to cook, or live off campus. No negotiation. I tried many times, to be greeted with a cold-hearted & icy 'No' by their head of financial services. I did email the president, since I literally got food comas & a painful belly from the lousy unhealthy food, which affected my work, & that was ignored. Other colleges simply shave $2000 off your financial aid package.

Prettiness of campus wears off .. it's like a Ralph Lauren ad that confines nature to its own notion of beauty. The one merit of this school: part of the Five...

MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE: A PEARL HIDDEN FROM VIEW.

I visited Mount Holyoke College this afternoon in my continuing efforts to familiarize myself with the South Hadley academic community. It was my first detailed albeit, unguided tour of the College since my relocation to Massachusetts from New York a couple of months ago.

It was a most fascinating experience. Hitherto I saw the College from the outside and only marveled from a distance at the beauty of the brickwork that appeared to pervade the entire scenery apparently only broken in parts by the many strategically-located trees that appeared to dance gently at the pleasure of the wind. Admiration of the College from outside is one pleasant thing. But true appreciation of the beauty of this iconic institution can only come from physical presence inside any of the buildings or "Halls" as the buildings are called. From Shattuck Hall after I succeeded in securing a parking space opposite one equally imposing church building, I took an unguided tour of the College Library. I was dumbfounded with what I saw. It was such a wonder to behold. The architecture, the serenity, the complete coordination of events, the palpable sense of mission and fulfillment on the faces of the students and staff, readily professed to any visitor to that lovely institution that the place is truly a treasure, an iconic institution that will for many generations to come remain the pride of the nation and a great testimony to the greatness of a people and humanity.

The Shakespearean statement that gilded tombs do worms infold, would readily be effectively countered after a physical visit to this institution by another statement that dull brick walls seen from the outside meticulously conceal eternal treasures hidden in Mount Holyoke College.

One wishes that many more people will share in one's pleasant experience by taking a casual and an unguided tour of Mount Holyoke College. The good fortune of the students and staff who find themselves in the institution will thus have been better appreciated.

I was truly pleasantly surprised.

Dr. Oliver Akamnonu (physician, and author of "The Pagans' Medals" and 18 other books on African/African American and General Literature). South Hadley...

I have to admit, while I was attending Hampshire, I would go to the MHC campus frequently to study, BECAUSE the campus is GORGEOUS! Pastoral, breathtaking and stunning are a few of the adjectives I would use to describe it. Even more so than Smith. It's just a GORGEOUS campus architecturally.

The class I took at Mt. Holyoke during my fourth year @ Hampshire was a GREAT experience taught by a visiting professor from NYC whom I wanted to study with, and it ended up being the perfect forum for me to present my Hampshire Division III work in Theater for larger Five-College feedback.

Looking back on the experience, I wish I'd taken more than just one course at Mt. Holyoke in four years, but that's just how it worked out. I tended to take more of my courses at Smith (when it came to the women's colleges), because Smith had better course variety in my academic concentration than Mt. Holyoke did; and it was in Northampton, where I ❤️'d hanging out. South Hadley was, shall we say, a bit more "isolated."

Academically though, this was one of the HUGEST virtues of the consortium -- you had FIVE campuses to draw on the academic resources and extracurricular opportunities of. This ABSOLUTELY was the #1 reason I attended the Five Colleges...