College Visit Day - Amherst and Williams

Boy...when my head hit the pillow last night, I was out like a light...and slept through my early (exercise) alarm; so thank goodness Robert set his for a 7:30am wake up...otherwise I think that I still would have been zzzzzzz-ing!

Anyway, we got up and got around, getting all of our things packed back up and departed for our first campus of the day: Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

 First up was the information session, which was lead by one of the Deans of Admissions (who worked within the New York and DC region) and an Amherst student. Robert and I learned all about their academic program. It is interesting to go from one school to the next and hear how much they are the same and how much they differ. At Amherst they had an "open curriculum" - which basically mean that there weren't any core requirements. To graduate, each student must complete 32 credits - 10 of which are focused in the subject they declare to major in - and complete the Freshman seminar. We also learned during this information session that Amherst College is part of a "5 University Consortium". In this area there are 5 universities/colleges: Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Amherst, UMass, Hampshire. Students from these schools are free to take classes at the other schools. Definitely it is a very interesting thought. You can be a part of a small college like Amherst...but still get the same feel of being a part of a college community of 30,000 students if you choose.

Anyway, we did have to duck out of the information session a little early because Robert was able to get a meeting with the Head Coach of the Amherst hockey team. We had a great meeting with the coach. We learned all about the Amherst hockey program, how players are chosen to be part of the team and how important academics are as a Amherst hockey player. We definitely learned a lot.

After the meeting with the coach, we decided to grab an early lunch before taking a tour of the Amherst campus. We found the perfect place...

RESTAURANT ROUTE 9 DINER

Inside it looked like a diner...

Counter seating...complete with the jukeboxes at the tables

With the grey rainy day, good ol' comfort food sounded good. And the Restaurant Route 9 had the perfect things...

Matzo Ball soup (definitely not my mothers...for the Matzo Balls were soft)
And homemade Challah with just a little cinnamon baked in the bread

Homemade chicken pot pie

With full, warm bellies, it was time to head back to Amherst for the campus tour...here are some of the buildings we saw...

Inside the science building, they have a Natural Science Museum - which we were able to step into for a few minutes.

Every campus tour give you a tour of one of the dormitories where freshman reside. Below is one of the freshman dorms on Amherst - this is the main common area. I thought that the wood work was fun looking and inviting. The rooms were really nice too.

After the tour was over, it was time to hit the road and drive up to Williams College which is in Williamstown, MA. The drive was beautiful - 2 line highway all the way...let's just say that Williamstown is in the middle of now where :)

Here are some sights of the Williams College Campus tour...

The house of the Williams' President

The Student Union

Inside of the Student Union

Freshman Dormitories

Well, that concludes the college tours for today. After we finished up at Williams, we - again - hit the road for a 2 hour drive north to Middlebury College. We arrived at our hotel around 7:30pm, which was perfect to totally unload the car, get unpacked, find a place to grab dinner and do a little grocery shopping to put some snacks and water in our room...for we will be staying here until Friday. At Middlebury, Robert will be attending a Hockey camp that will be run by the Middlebury hockey coaches. Not only with this give him an opportunity to meet the coaches, but it will also be a great opportunity to show the coaches what kind of hockey player he is. During this 3 day period, we will try to get in a tour of the campus as well.

And...while here, I will also be able to catch up with one of my cousins who I haven't seen in several years.

Anyway...time to hit the pillow. Until next time, take care and remember...

Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch Often!

Lisa