In Conversation With
made a trip to Amherst. The college holds a special by liberal arts colleges and comprehensive uni-
place in my heart because my favorite poet Emily versities. Amherst College, a liberal arts college in
Dickinson was born in the town of Amherst and western Massachusetts, has only 1,800 students.
Robert Frost taught at the college. To my pleasant Our advantage is that there are four other colleges
surprise, I saw his statue on the campus. nearby, including UMASS Amherst, Hampshire
College, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke College,
Xiaofeng: Yes, it stands opposite the library.
which altogether form the Five College Consortium.
With this group, students have access to more than
Sabrina: I still remember how excited I was stand-
6,000 courses and 15 diploma programs from the
ing in front of the statue. Although Robert Frost five colleges and can also experience the different
passed away a while ago, I could picture him giving campus cultures of the five colleges.
lectures and strolling around the campus. It was
truly the experience of a lifetime and I was floored Thirdly, the Amherst student body is very diverse.
by the richness of the college's liberal arts tradition, Its students represent many different ethnic
especially in poetry. groups, geographical regions, and cultures, and
they mingle and benefit from each other in a
When students are collecting information about
‘melting pot’ environment.
schools without examining their interests and
knowing what kind of an education they expect to
Fourthly, Amherst is one of the most generous
receive, they may miss out on some great schools. colleges in the United States. When we review
I hope this dialogue will create a bridge for them. applications, we don’t look at the applicants’ family
Xiaofeng: Totally agreed! You hit the nail on the examine the required information. In other words,
head. whether an applicant also applies for a scholarship
background or financial circumstances and only
will not affect their enrollment. After enrollment,
Sabrina: Amherst has been in the top two in the
we will meet 100% of our students’ demonstrated
rankings of liberal arts colleges in the US for a long need, not including any loans. Among the more
time. What do you think are the stand out attributes than 4,000 higher education institutions in the
of the college? United States, only four have this policy and
Xiaofeng: Amherst College has many things to rec- 2017-2018 academic year, 88% of international
ommend it, but I’ll just point out what I consider to students received scholarship aid from the college.
be the four most important aspects. The average financial aid award was USD 62,000.
Firstly, Amherst offers an open curriculum that students.
Amherst is the only liberal arts college. In the
This allows us to enroll some of the world’s best
allows students to exercise full learner autonomy.
They can fully explore courses they like and devote I think those four points sum up the prominent
all their time and energy to those that matter most features of Amherst College.
to them. Amherst gives control of learning back to
the students.
Sabrina: For Chinese families, Amherst College looks
like a perfect choice. In my view, the scholarship
Secondly, the Five College Consortium allows programs at American higher learning institutions
students to benefit from the advantages offered demonstrate their social responsibility and repre-
by two different education models represented sent the pursuit and practice of educational equity.
The Keystone Magazine 73