The Open House program consisted of panels about Amherst campus culture and the classroom experience, campus tours, an informational session about the pre-health profession studies and addresses by members of the College administration and faculty.
The participants stayed with student hosts and were free to explore campus-wide activities during the evening.
Assistant Dean of Admissions Leykia Brill expressed the usefulness of Open House in helping students make their college selection decisions.
“We believe that sitting in on classes and hearing from current students is essential to the Amherst visiting experience,” Brill commented. “In this way, we hope students gain a better perspective on whether this college will be a good fit for them.”
Admitted students expressed interest in finding out about campus life.
Pre-frosh Victoria Yuan said that she came here “trying to figure out the culture and the student attitude about things like community engagement.” Yuan is from Fremont, California and intends to study foreign languages and sociology.
Admitted student Anderson Chen talked about the various things that can be heard about colleges before visiting and exploring them personally.
“I heard that Amherst students are elitists, have dads who [are] mad rich, wear polo shirts, are white and six-feet tall,” he said. Of the administration’s role in school culture, Chen said that Amherst seemed generous and was willing to spend money to further and support the students’ interests.
The participants’ favorite aspects of Open House ranged from the Sunday night a cappella concert to the student and faculty panels.
Pre-frosh Karen Cheng said that her most memorable moment was witnessing Professor Austin Sarat speak in The Amherst Classroom, a session in which faculty and students of different areas of study discuss their work.
“The most tense part [of the Open House] was Sarat,” Cheng said. “I didn’t know if I loved him or was terrified of him.”
Ambivalent towards her experience in The Amherst Classroom, Cheng also noted a very unfamiliar environment that she observed upon her arrival.
“I’ve never seen so many trees in my whole life. When we were driving here, we did not see one single person,” she said. Cheng, who intends to study math or neuroscience, is originally from Los Angeles, California.
Nonetheless, she expressed excitement over potentially attending Amherst.
“When I walked out on campus on Sunday morning, I saw the beautiful hills, and I could see myself here for the next four years,” she said.