The Five College Consortium, consisting of Amherst College, University of Massachusetts - Amherst, Smith College, and Mount Holyoke, was established in 1965, and Hampshire College was added in 1970. The consortium offers academic programs ranging from history to cognitive neuroscience. As a student at any one of these colleges, you are allowed to take classes at any other college in the consortium, allowing for a much broader education.

The Five College Consortium is part of the reason I chose Mount Holyoke. I have been living in this area for 18 years, and I have grown up learning about the amazing activities, classes, and events these five schools have to offer. Recently, Amherst College was ranked second in the National Liberal Arts College rankings on U.S. News, while Smith was ranked number 14, and Mount Holyoke ranked number 35. UMass Amherst ranked within the top 30 public universities in the nation last year. UMass was also ranked number 2 in the nation for best campus food by Princeton Review. These five academic institutions are very well known and some of the best in the country.

Students are able to choose from 6,000 different courses between the five campuses, with free transportation to each campus. The PVTA runs every 30 minutes from each campus location beginning at 6:45 a.m. until 1:35 a.m. A printable bus schedule can be found here.

A fun fact about the five colleges: There is a Scooby Doo stereotype; Fred is from Amherst College, Velma is from Smith College, Shaggy is from Hampshire, Scooby went to UMass, and Daphne was a MoHo woman. The stereotypes are pretty self-explanatory. Fred is so preppy, I don't doubt within five minutes on the Amherst campus you will see a Fred look-alike. Velma has Smith written on her forehead, although some people claim that she could also be Mount Holyoke, but it's claimed she was infatuated with Daphne throughout the show. Velma was always the one solving the mysteries, making her the smartest. Some people might get offended when they find out Daphne is the Mount Holyoke girl. She's not the brightest, but she's pretty and comes from a wealthy family, which fits the unfortunate stereotype. Daphne and Fred's relationship translates back in the day when Amherst was an all-boys school; they couldn't resist their Mount Holyoke girls, and some things never change. Scooby is the animal, hence UMass, aka ZooMass. Last but not least, Shaggy is Hampshire. Just look at him. He looks like he just left Woodstock. And "The Mystery Machine" is obviously the PVTA.

We all might as well hop on the Mystery Machine even if we aren't going to classes at the other campuses, because there is much more to explore in the Pioneer Valley. Amherst and Northampton are home to some great restaurants and shops. Smith College has one of the best Greenhouses in the area.

While South Hadley might seem like the middle of nowhere to many of you, there is much more out there to explore, and it's all within a 30-minute travel time frame. I encourage everyone to go to a concert at Pearl Street or The Calvin Theater in Northampton, shop at Thorne's or Faces, and eat at Antonio's after a late night at UMass if you haven't already. And definitely take advantage of the Five College Consortium and all of the classes and programs it has to offer that Mount Holyoke might not be able to offer to us on campus.