(UMass-Amherst) I transferred here last semester

How this student rated the school

Educational Quality	A	Faculty Accessibility	B-
Useful Schoolwork	A-	Excess Competition	B
Academic Success	A-	Creativity/ Innovation	A-
Individual Value	C+	University Resource Use	A+
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty	A	Friendliness	B+
Campus Maintenance	B-	Social Life	A
Surrounding City	A	Extra Curriculars	A+
Safety	A-

Describes the student body as: Friendly, Arrogant, Approachable Describes the faculty as: Friendly

Female

SAT1260

Quite Bright

Lowest Rating Individual Value	C+

Highest Rating University Resource Use	A+

She rated most things higher than other students did.

Date: Jan 25 2010
Major: Psychology (This Major's Salary over time)
I transferred here last semester. I love Umass, though it doesn't always love me back-I've found that I often have to fight to get into classes,find academic resources, secure housing etc., financial aid etc. You really have to be your own advocate here. I have no regrets about coming here though- this college has taught me some important task-managing skills. The college itself: as a large university, it offers a myriad of clubs and student activities. The social life is great here-I have a blast in the Outing club and am about to start Capoeira, a Brazillian dance/martial art. We even have Quidditch here. The surrounding town Amherst is cozy little place with lots of hole-in-wall pubs and small, independent businesses. I love it (though be aware it's no New York City-I doubt there are any dance clubs). Academically, ratemyprofessors.com is a must. This is a research-based institution, and a huge one, so in order to get that fun, quirky professor who loves his students, you need to research your potential class schedule in advance. Some general advice about UMass: avoid Sylvan residential area if possible-the suite-style living makes it hard to make friends with people on your floor. However, it's not the end in the world if you're a transfer student and end up there (most do); my suggestion is join clubs to make friends. I really recommend UMOC, the outdoors club, I have a blast with them. If you're going to get a job at a dining hall pick Worchester..and take advantage of everything UMass has to offer, because there is so much going on. Frankly, I'm in love with the school. The campus is beautiful, the atmosphere is bohemian (although beware the North face clones ;)) and the people are diverse (some of my friends are from places like Columbia, Russia and Peru). Come here if you want the quintessential New England college experience. If you have a carpe diem attitude, you will love it here.

Feel free to email me with questions; I know I wish I had had a UMass contact before I got here.

Responses

Hi there, I'm a senior this year at Pentucket, my mom made me apply to Umass because they have some interactive digital media courses, but I was really looking for a smaller school. do you really not mind the size of the place? it seems to offer so much, but a little afraid of getting lost in the crowd out there. thanks

Nick

Hi! my name is camille cox. i'm from fairbanks, alaska, and have been accepted to the umass amherst. i'm trying to decide right now between umass and manhattan college, and have been researching them more now than i probably should have before applying. i came up with this website, and after reading lots of negative reviews of manhattan college, i am a little bit discouraged and am focusing more on umass. i have a few questions about it. first of all, i am familiar with massachusetts. most of my relatives live in cape cod, but i have never been to amherst. how small is it, really? and are there any dance clubs in the surrounding areas? i am a little bit concerned with the campus' appearance, and have heard that uma isn't the most handsome campus. in fact, i've heard it's pretty disgusting. enlighten me? i'm trying to focus on the positive. also, are many of the students arrogant? is the student body made up mostly of WASPs? are the teachers generally understanding? i really wish i could visit the campus before making my decision but it's practically impossible for me to leave alaska before the end of june unfortunately. thanks so much for your time and consideration! i'm really looking forward to hearing from you! =D

Hi Nick-
I went to a small school last year- and what I realized by the end of the year is that I ran out of new things to try really quickly-it became pretty monotonous, doing the same old same old and falling in with the same people (I stopped meeting new people by the end of the year, I'd already met most of my class). My favorite thing about UMass is that I'm always making more friends, and meeting their friends, and trying the things they like to do-I know people who: fly airplanes, rockclimb, contra dance, do parkour, fire dance, etc etc. I do miss the small class size sometimes-no more inside jokes with teachers (until you get into upper level classes that is), but it's the price to pay. I frankly think it's worth it.

Camille, that's got to be tough not being able to visit the colleges you're interested in. It's true that some of the buildings here are ugly-the campus center for instance-but most of the buildings are your traditional brick. More importantly, there are a million hidey holes in them-you could spend a week exploring campus and you still wouldn't see all the cool things about it (like the Morill science building corrider covered with plants and mobiles, or the room in the Cage with a bunch of huge gymnastics mats you can jump all over). Amherst town is small-it has really good restaurants and attractive brick buildings, and little nook shops. It's not a very happening place, but North Hampton is, just 15 minutes away (lots of concerts). I believe there is a dance club somewhere nearby…The student population is mostly liberal. Other than that,I wouldn't say that the student population is any one type of people-there are so many of us, you'll find every type of person sooner or later. I would also recommend UMass for its surrounding mountain areas (gorgeous) and its research/internship opportunities. I would not recommend UMass as much if you are looking for a Manhatten setting however-there's plenty to do, but it's more of a 'you're in a college town' atmosphere.

Hey! so i currently go to a mid size school in charleston sc. aka the college of charleston and i am from about 30 min outside of amherst and refused to go for that reason. most of my friends go to umass and i am severely homesick. I'm scared of the challenges of being a transfer student though. was it hard? fill me in on your experience! i hope i get in too! i hear its hard now!

Hi, so I wrote this review two years ago, so I'll give you both my immeditate transfer experience, and how things are now. When I first transferred here, I was put in McNamara building, Sylvan residential area with a some-what nice, but frankly obnoxiously loud (people over at 3 in the morning everyday) roommate. We ended up getting in a pretty huge fight (I had made the mistake of telling a mutual friend about how much I was hating living there, who in turn told her), and so I had to pack my bags, go to housing and apply for a new room. I was placed on a different floor in the building. Because I was applying so soon for a new room, I ended up in a place where somebody else had moved out- my new suitemates were on ecstasy and shirtless when I met them, but it turned out to be a special occasion for halloween. Anyway, that place wasn't ideal, but I stayed there for a few months and eventually got my own single in Northeast- and that was lovely. Going back to my first few months, it was pretty rough to be honest. The suite-style dorms which transfers are put in make it hard to make friends. And yet, I don't regret transferring here for a minute. It took a little while- I had to wait out the crappy living situation to get my own room, and I had to try a few clubs and network a bit to make friends (because I didn't have that instant hallway connection you get as freshmen). But eventually, I got some wonderful friends, and I now live in the same suite-style building -but with people I really like. I recommend Sylvan once you have friends here (if you want to remain on campus)- it's a cheap alternative to North apartments, though I warn you the rooms are smaller than average. As far as classes go, I struggled in physics because lecture was so large, asking questions in class just wasn't really an option. However, I would say that those enormous lecture halls are almost always intro classes, especially science classes. Beyond intro level your classes will probably average around 40 people. Aside from the social factor, one more advantage of Umass I didn't mention in my original review was research opportunities and job experience- lots of that around here. So transferring here- can be rough the first semester, but if you've already got friends here, I say definitely go for it. Being so isolated at first was the worst part, but you're already on top of that. Let me know if you want to know anything more specifically. Best of luck

Undergraduate section here is about the current student’s ratings with the description of the multiple categories in the general and relied one. The guidelines are for the free services and the general section to do the australian writing with the section of the enhancement and other opportunities.

School and ranking parts to read data with the access of communities this was good to have the detail fiction on it. Careers and major fiction to take data on this part with Iv therapy Scottsdale to have the articles on the companies to get the attraction of the feature list of aspect.

Ask a Question or add a response!