The University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Date: Sep 24 2004
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
UMass Amherst is a huge place that has lots of different people, programs, pretty much everything. I have not been at the Univeristy as long as some, i am a Freshman but I feel I have enough experience under my belt to give prospective students a good overview of my experiences and just how this place stacks up with other schools out there. I will try and go over as much as possible to help all of you out there trying to make your decisions.

Price- I am an instate student therefore the price is very reasonable. If you are an out of state resident the price still really isnt all that bad compared to many private universites and colleges.

Academics- Everyone tells me that UMass is such a great place, having many top programs. I myself am in the percieved top program in the school. Business. The Isenberg School of Management is a brand new building that when you step into it its almost like not being at UMass. Its a top notch facility and i believe the education from it is good. Other programs such as engineering and communication are also pretty good. Other then that it's pretty hard to find a program worth coming here over. Most other schools programs in those departments are better. Most classes are 200 plus student lectures which can be overwhelming to some. There are also smaller discussion classes which are usually in the 20-40 range.

Staff- Professors as you might expect vary. Many are helpful and open to talk to you about anything you may need. Some on the other hand could care less about your needs, and can be downright rude toward students. Many professors have their own agendas that they seem to push on to you which gets a little old. Overall though i think the group of professors here is fine. TA's teach select discussion classes and usually grade for bigger lectures, these students are usually the best of their departments and i havent run across any TA problems myself or heard of any yet with others.

Food-Pretty terrible. Sometimes you dont even know what your getting. Seems to make a lot of people sick and is a cause of discontent among students. There are other places around campus to get food such as in Amherst or NorthHampton where you can find many top notch resturants.

Campus Beauty- A bunch of concrete buildings haphasrdly placed along campus, buildings dont have a matching flow to them at all. There are open spacious areas near dorms and there is also a gorgeous pond in the center of campus.

Dorms- Not the worst, not the best. You can tell they've seen their share of age, with some things that are broken (shower heads, sinks, furniture). The housing staff does do a spectacular job in keeping the places as clean as possible. Showers are pretty scary and some of the rooms are pretty small. A major plus is having high speed internet and cable.

Parking-Yes everyone can have a car on campus if wanted, even freshman. Parking is tight and they seem to overbook the parking lots. I've found difficulty in finding a spot in my assigned lot due to this problem. Cars are randomly towed and the fines are hard. There is a free busing system however that can take you where you need to get to.

Sports-There seems to be plenty of enthusiasm for our Football team but not as much for any other sport. There are club teams and some select intramural teams.

Clubs-A lot of the clubs are very similar and thus redundant. There are a number of clubs however and they range from Computer Gaming to Knitting to Ultimate Frisbee.

Social Life- Here is where I find to be the biggest problem with my time here. As someone who is not a pothead, boozehound there seems to be almost nothing to do. Parties can be found almost any night, whether it be at the various fraternaties and sororities or in the dorms or even off campus. Alcohol and drugs are readily available here and if you are not in to this sort of thing you may feel uneasy since their use is so prevalant everywhere you seem to be. The school plans events such as guest speakers and concerts, movie nights which are sparsley attended.

Student Body- A huge melting pot. You have your inner city kids, you have your New York, New Jersey kids, stoners, athletes, nerds. Unfourtanatley on the long walks to class many people will not even bother to make eye contact or say hi, most people seem in their own little world. There are friendly people its just hard to pick them out in a crowded place. You can see someone one day and never see them again.

I came to UMass with pretty high expectations from what I had heard from other people. I applied to many other high quality institutions such as Northeastern and Boston University and even turned some down that i got into because of the percieved value aspect that UMass offered. I would not reccomend people to come here unless they love to drink/smoke, enjoy awful food, crowded classes, long walks to class, and zero individual attention.