Ryan
As a diverse campus containing a student body representative of a wide variety of socio-economic, racial and cultural backgrounds, UMASS does not carry any all encompassing stereotype. Rather, we are appropriately known for our diversity, our rich and wide ranging student populace and our interest in enriching our campus and learning community.
Jaime
Party animals, it's true and not true. I'd say the split is 50/50 and that's the same at most Universities I've seen.
Lisa
My school is pretty diverse but I would say that the majority of kids are friendly and just looking to have a good time while doing well in school.
Annalise
UMass is a diverse campus: there is a whole set of stereotypes that basically everyone knows about. They are generally categorized by residential area:
Central is typically characterized by hipsters, hippies, artsy-ness, guitars, and weed. Not always true; I am a Centralite and I do not smoke or drink nor am I a hipster. But especially in upper Central there is a lot of music being made and I feel like you find a lot of people who are interested in social change and the like.
Orchard Hill is where a lot of science majors live and tends to be thought of as geeky; in part because several of the science-related RAPs are located here. I've found that there are a lot of nice, friendly people that live there.
Northeast is located near the engineering, math and science buildings, and tends to have a lot of Asian students that live there. Generally considered quiet and studious and not very exciting on the weekends, though I have never lived there. Also Thatcher language house is located in Northeast.
Southwest is notorious for its nightly party scene, its Swesties (dress code consists of North faces and Uggs or athletic-type garb), and its choice of fun over schoolwork. People generally go to Southwest to get hammered and lots of crazy stuff happens there over the weekend. I would say it embodies the overall stereotype of UMass, but I know plenty of really awesome people in Southwest who aren't wild partiers and who take school very seriously.
Oh and Sylvan gets hated on for being lonely and isolated, because it is far away and often you get stuck with people you don't know. Nothing appears to happen there. Ever. But I've heard it can be fun if you live with a group of friends. =)
Now in many cases these notions are true, especially at first glance, but like I've mentioned you find a lot of different people in every area. These are simply the way everyone sees the different areas on campus. If you are a visual learner, watch Sketch-22's video "Where to Live at UMass" on Youtube.
Gabrielle
The main stereotype is that everyone is a major partier! Truthfully, this may be accurate for about 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the students, but each year, that percent drops. Most people are very involved with the school through a club or a sport.