University of Massachusetts-Amherst Top Questions

I love the size of UMass, it's not too big, and it's deffinitly not to small. Once you've chosen a major, it's like everything else just kinda dissapears and you almost forget how big it really is. Being a Landscape Architect major, we are a VERY small department, with less than 25 people in my graduating class, we get to know each other very well. There's a lot of school pride when it comes to football, basketball, and hocey games. With nights like "White Out Night" for hocey games where all the umass fans wear white, or "Mullet Night" where they give out free mullet wigs, or "Black Out Night" where the UMass fans wear black. It's a lot of fun.

When I first applied to schools, I hated Umass Amherst. Generally, for a lot of students in Massachusetts, it is the safety school. During my college search, I had no intention to come here; but much to my dismay, I ended up at Umass. However, I had a huge misconception of what the university had to offer. The aspect that kept me grounded at Umass was its size and diversity. I love meeting people and trying new things, and Umass definately offers such interactions. Due to large campus size of about 25,000 students, there are a lot of new ideas, opinions, activities, and people floating around. This exciting new environment opened up many new interests and ideas I never really got involved with and introduced me to a wide range of people from all over the United States and even the world. Aside from its diversity, Umass offers that quintessential college feel. Students attend the sporting events to cheer on the minutemen decked out in Umass gear. Also, the University hosts a wide variety of events to stimulate student participation and to get students involved; everything from free concerts to free food to free stuff is given out almost monthly. Many prospective students take a tour of Umass and think they will never end up at their safety school and that there are more opportunities in a city like Boston or New York. However, they are highly mistaken. Umass has the entire city feel on campus with so much to offer, yet maintains a college spirit and tradition.

The best thing about UMass was how large it was. It's like its own little city. Everything you need is there. The area is great and so beautiful. There is lots of stuff to do in the area and some of the major cities aren't that far away.

You can do ANYTHING and be ANYONE at UMass, because there are so many different options and people to hang out with. You will find everything here. And being in a college town is great, because they cater to us- our hours, our economic capabilities, etc.

The school is HUGE, but that's one of the reasons I loved my time there. You meet so many people every day. Every time you go out you can always meet a ton of new people. Amherst is DEFINATELY a college town. There are five colleges around Amherst, so the town is pretty much owned by college kids during the school year. UMass administration, especially Commonwealth College, can be VERY frustrating. Everything pretty much needs a signature from 5 different people in 5 different departments. School Pride---GO UMASS! You'll love it. Best four years of my life. My friends that I met at UMass became my family.

Big school, in a small town... Lots of funs and great people.

UMass is currently expanding it's enrollment. When I enrolled in 2004, there were about 18,000 undergrads. When I graduated, it was over 20,000 and is continuing to increase. To accommodate this, the school is building new facilities for both classes and housing. It's big, but not so big that you don't get to know people. As far as Amherst goes, it's an amazing college town. Downtown Amherst (or Amherst Center) is a great scene at night and the proximity to other cool places, particularly Northampton, make for a great college environment. The five college consortium is generally underutilized by UMass students, but can be a pretty awesome asset, especially with Amherst College literally a few blocks away.

UMass is not a big school, despite its impressive size, especially when you just come to visit. You can get from one far end of campus to the other in only 20 minutes, walking. There are also buses that run frequently, so don't let size scare you. For me, it was just the perfect size. It's big enough for you to meet a lot of different people, but it's not overwhelming. UMass stands a little bit on its own, as in it's about 0.5-1.5 miles from Amherst (depending on where on campus you are), but a bus will get you there or if it's a nice day, a 20-40 minute walk could be great. The town has a lot to offer in terms of food, culture, events and is essentially there for college students. The campus itself has actually gotten better over the 4 years I've been there. They've built some new dorms, finishing up a couple of new buildings, etc. Another cool thing is you can take courses at the other 4 colleges (Smith, Mt Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire). I'd say aside from Amherst, the rest are a big hassle, since you have to essentially allow for 1.5-2 hours travel time, which makes it not worth it, unless you have a car. Onto the drawbacks: depending on your major, UMass may be a bad choice, unless you start frequenting the other schools. Some find it too big. Depending on where you live on campus, you might have to deal with lots of potheads, or crazy parties, or feel completely isolated in the dorm.

A big school is what you make of it. Professors in the small departments are very accessible but its up to you to go out and meet them. Take advantage of the great 24 hour library and study like crazy, then you might actually get something out of your college career. People who drink and never go to class rarely last a whole year.

UMass is a huge school with a ton of different people. Most people hang out with people like them. You don't seem much interaction between social groups so the sense of community isn't really there...beyond your friends. Sometimes people forget we're all UMass students...its like living in a city. Amherst is a cool college town. A lot of people think we go to school in Boston but we're like two hours away. We don't need the city though; everything is basically right here.