On our way to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, we took time off from our serious college touring, and visited western Massachusetts. We stayed just outside the happening hub of Northampton. Northampton is a funky little city that is home to one of the colleges of the Five College Consortium and is a short driving distance to the others. The five colleges include: Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, UMass Amherst, and Hampshire College.
These schools are surrounded by the beautiful Berkshire Mountains, which must be magnificent in the fall (even though they look more like rolling hills to anyone who has seen the Rockies). Some interesting facts about the area: Robert Frost taught and lived in Amherst. And on the hippie Hampshire College campus is the National Yiddish Book Museum; this weekend it was hosting “Yidstock,” a Yiddish musical festival. Who knew?
I regret that due to time constraints, I did not tour any of these schools. It does seem like–given the concentration of schools amidst this idyllic setting–this would be a fine place to attend college. Of the campuses we visited, Smith and Amherst were the standouts (we did not see Mount Holyoke). Much of Hampshire was built in the 70s, and while the grounds were beautiful and the views stunning, the architecture is not as aesthetically pleasing as others.
There is so much diversity within these five schools, anyone would fit in at at least one of them. If you are interested in finding out more, please visit the individual schools’ websites.
Check out my photo album of the Five College Consortium on Facebook.
