Hampshire College

Colleges Hampshire College

Hampshire College

Hampshire College

www.hampshire.edu

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location students adm. int’l. fresh grad GPA ACT SAT TOEFL
Amherst, MA 717 70% 7% 71% 51% 3.5 NR NR 91

Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college founded in 1965. It’s located on a rural, 800-acre campus in Amherst, Massachusetts, approximately two hours away from Boston. It was designed to reimagine liberal arts education and prides itself on being organized in a way that’s different from any other college in the world. Students create their own curriculum to address the big questions, challenges, or issues that interest them most. At Hampshire, education focuses on personalized, independent work, close collaboration with faculty, and hands-on experience through study abroad, short-term field studies, internships, volunteer work, advanced independent projects, and much more. Hampshire is also a member of the Five College Consortium, which allows students to also take courses and draw on the resources of Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and UMass. The Hampshire campus houses “Cultural Village,” which includes the National Yiddish Book Center, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and The Hitchcock Center for the Environment.

Academics

Hampshire College utilizes an alternative curriculum with an emphasis on progressive pedagogy and self-directed academic concentrations, a focus on portfolios rather than distribution requirements, and a reliance on narrative evaluations instead of grades and GPAs. Students advance through a Divisional structure rather than the traditional ranks of freshman, sophomore, etc. To advance to each Division, students must create and pass portfolio reviews. Portfolios are made up of narrative evaluations, final papers and projects, community-engaged learning, a retrospective, and other meaningful work, culminating in a self-designed yearlong Division III project that encapsulates everything previously learned. The student-faculty ratio at Hampshire is 12:1, and the school has 73% of its classes with fewer than 20 students. Popular majors include Creative Writing, Arts, and Cinematography and Video Production.

Special Highlights

Student Life. Hampshire offers more than 50 student groups, which support a range of campus events and activities, as well as club sports, intramurals, outdoor recreation programs; plus, access to the clubs, organizations, and events at the other Five College schools. Students will find options to suit most any interest: The Blacksmith’s Guild, Fermentation Club, Infinity Productions, Recess Club, The Portfolio Zine & Newspaper, and many others. Through OPRA, Outdoor Programs, Recreation, and Athletics, students can participate in rock climbing, skiing, kayaking, martial arts, basketball, soccer, tennis, hiking, whitewater rafting, yoga, and aquatics. Just beyond campus are vibrant towns full of fascinating history and plenty of places to visit: dining, bookstores, art museums, concert venues, bike trails, and even a llama farm.

The R.W. Kern Center. At the time of completion, this was the 17th Living Building in the world certified under the advanced green-building standard, the Living Building Challenge. It operates net-zero energy, water, and waste. The building is powered by solar panels, supplies its own drinking water by harvesting rainwater from its roof, manages its wastewater on site, and contains composting toilets. The Kern Center was built using materials from local sources without the use of any toxic materials. It currently houses Admissions and financial aid offices as well as classrooms, student lounges, and a coffee shop. The environmentally-friendly building reflects Hampshire’s values in the design process, use of materials, and construction practices.

School Mission & Unique Qualities

Our collaborative approach to learning allows us to urgently tackle our world’s most complex challenges. At Hampshire, you’re guided by esteemed and expert faculty members as you pursue your individual questions, generate original research, and prepare to make lasting impact. The idea for Hampshire College originated in 1958 when the presidents of Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts—Amherst appointed a committee to examine the assumptions and practices of liberal arts education. Their report, “The New College Plan,” advocated many of the features that have since been realized in the Hampshire curriculum: inviting students to self-design their programs; training students to educate themselves for a lifetime; emphasis on each student’s curiosity and motivation; learning across multiple disciplines; and close mentoring relationships with teachers.

Student Reviews…

“Hampshire is a unique place, but is not for everyone. It provides a unique opportunity to personalize your experience and always have resources available to help. If you think outside of the box, like to push yourself, and learn by doing, Hampshire College is a good choice.”