Sweet Briar College — Local services in Amherst

Sweet Briar is a place that instantly feels like home. You walk onto campus and are greeted warmly by all around you. The professor truly care for the students, and the experience of learning there is unparalleled. Since attending SBC and graduating with a Physics degree, I have attended many other schools post-baccalaureate as I needed to expand my knowledge. I have never felt so taken care of but simultaneously challenged, as I did at Sweet Briar College. The place is truly remarkable.

Sweet Briar taught me to ask for what I need to succeed, without shame; to stand up for others and truly listen for understanding; to speak my mind but be able to withstand corrective criticism or suggestion, or outright disagreement; to seek out experiences to expand my comfort zone; to learn and then turn around and teach what I learned to someone else; and to bring others up with me. Sweet Briar women come from a wide range of background and experiences. The place teems with diversity in the truest sense of the word. I met women from all over the world, rich, poor, working class, mothers, wives and many in between those classifications. No matter your age or background or race or sexual orientation... you fit in here. The one thing that SBC women have in common is true desire to learn and make a positive impact on the world. This plays out after graduation in many forms. We are all different, but we are all also Sweet Briar women for life.

The academic experience is like no other. You learn directly from experts in the field. You can study physics and also take a class on Geoffrey Chaucer, minor in dance and obtain a leadership certificate; play a sport, run a club, plan social events, attend world class guest lectures from the likes of Brian Green or E. O. Wilson (both lectured during my time there). Tap clubs are a lot of fun. The campus traditions are like no other: step singing, founder's day, painting the rock and hitching post, taking a hike up to Monument Hill to pay respects to the Founder's daughter... the list goes on and on. Your professors become your family; the staff become your family; the other students are like your sisters. A collective spirit of enthusiasm for life exists on this campus.

Being far from a Starbucks is no deterrent. There are always things to do and places to go for social fun if you want, but it's not required. Boat house parties, dell parties, dorm parties; the things is, because of the Honor code, you will be safe and taken care of here, if not rather forthrightly admonished by those who do so because everyone here understands that dignity is important. The campus is also quite frankly one of the most beautiful places on earth.

She who earns the rose...

Sweet Briar is a place where one can receive a world class education, enter a global network of influencers, employers, entrepreneurs and leaders while developing one's passion and bringing it to market.

What one notices at first glance of Sweet Briar is its intoxicating beauty and otherworldly sensibility... the true beauty of Sweet Briar lies far more deeply. The real power of Sweet Briar lies in her liberal arts mission, excellent academic resources and enriching community.

The Sweet Briar experience is unique, rare, intimate and remarkable. We are a Sisterhood of talented, intelligent and transformative women who are groomed to lead and leave a mark in the world. Those of us who have been educated at Sweet Briar stick together, and we change the world every single day. There is nothing we cannot do.

Jane Rangel, Class of 2006 says it best:

“Where else could I sit on the grass on the sloping dell during American Foreign Policy class and hotly debate the efficacy of American interventionism with my professor — a leading expert in South Asian politics — and the eight other bright, outspoken young women in my course? I am thoroughly convinced that there is no other college in the world where I can accept an invitation to my Creative Writing professor’s house to share a delicious home cooked meal with my ten other classmates and listen to Ken Saro Wiwa Jr. speak about his quest for justice for his father and the Ogoni people. And only at Sweet Briar could I sit outside the Bistro and share a beer with internationally renowned author Salman Rushdie, as we discuss the creative value of magical realism.

If Sweet Briar’s campus sometimes feels insular, it somehow has the wondrous effect of creating women who are anything but. One of my classmates would go on to serve — and sustain injury — in a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan. One of my roommates spent several years working on legal and humanitarian issues in the war torn and volatile West Bank. My other roommate is finishing her residency as an OBGYN.

Alumnae are working tirelessly right now to save Sweet Briar, and I have to believe that they will succeed. Because Sweet Briar is small, but scrappy. Rural, yet so international. Women turning the impossible into possible.”  — Jane Rangel, Sweet Briar...

Sweet Briar fosters excellence in all pursuits by providing great campus resources, small class sizes, and focused academic attention. There are no teaching assistants; you're taught directly from experts publishing in their field. The enormous campus has a number of active research plots and opportunities to gain fieldwork experience and job skills. There's also a popular engineering program whose classes overlap with other areas of study. Summer research with the faculty can lead to publications, and personally, for me it led to the acquisition of geospatial analysis skills that I now use every day, working in my field as a research associate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I enjoyed Sweet Briar primarily because as a liberal arts college, the wide latitude in subjects and classes allow you to build multiple skill sets. You don't have to sacrifice any of your interests to pursue your major focus. For example, I was able to earn a degree in Environmental Studies and earn a minor in Philosophy while leading sustainability initiatives in the Environmental Club, working as a wilderness trip instructor, reviewing video games as a member of the gaming club, taking programming and software classes that were extremely helpful later in my career, and learning to paint at a level that I could show and sell my work. Sweet Briar gives you the resources and opportunities to grow as a full person and be excellent in all your interests. I can attest that it is particularly strong as for young women interested in STEAM careers (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) and with strong...