StudentsReview :: The University of Massachusetts - Amherst - Extra Detail about the Comment
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The University of Massachusetts - Amherst

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityD+ Faculty AccessibilityA
Useful SchoolworkC+ Excess CompetitionD+
Academic SuccessF Creativity/ InnovationB+
Individual ValueF University Resource UseA+
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyC FriendlinessC-
Campus MaintenanceA Social LifeD
Surrounding CityB- Extra CurricularsA
SafetyA-
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Arrogant, Snooty

Describes the faculty as:
Helpful, Condescending, Unhelpful

Female
Bright
Lowest Rating
Academic Success
F
Highest Rating
University Resource Use
A+
She cares more about Academic Success than the average student.
Date: Sep 09 2010
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
so i just became a freshman at umass this fall. so far i have been here and i hate it. i was born on Cape Cod and raised there most of my life and then a few years ago moved to Boston and i fell in love with the city and realized that close minded and small town Cape Cod was horrible. so now that im in college i feel like im stuck back in the small town Cape Cod with the same exact people but just in a different area. most of the kids that come here are from suburban areas of MA or New England states and many of them are coming to this school with tons of other students from their high school. so basically UMass is just a huge high school. each residential area is classified as a group just like high school. Frats guys, jocks, cheerleaders, and athletic people who constantly party and work out live in Southwest, the weird theater/music people that are hippies and are different live in Central, (and I live in Central and i love music and singing but i am not a hippie or a pot head and i am not weird at all, quite normal to say the least), the asians and really smart people/ socially awkward live in Northeast, the weird sketchy people that are socially awkard live in Sylvan, Smart geeks live in Orchard Hill, and mostly older people live in the north apartments. there are obviously some people who dont fit those categories that live there but the honest truth is that most are like that. many people have the same mindset and are not accepting of other peoples interests because they are surrounded by the same exact people 24/7. no one who goes here is and will never experience diversity and culture the real way unless they actually move to a place where there is real culture like a city. UMass is becoming more diverse, but there is still a ridiculously large amount of white people, under that asians, then blacks who mostly group together in Southwest Area, and hardly any hispanics and middle easterners. i feel like no one can ever grow if a bunch of the same people come to the same school.

another negative to this school is that it is it is huge. if you are the type of person who likes to have a personal relationship with a teacher and wants to know people in your class, then UMass wouldnt be a good choice. also, i always had good relationships with my teachers in high school but then applying for colleges i looked for big schools because it seemed more "collegy" to have a big campus, but once i got into a huge class where you have to sit cramped next to someone you dont know it's a total disappointment and you find out what you really want out of a school.

People in the dorms are pretty friendly but there are always some floors that just happen to have rooms with people who requested their roommates and already have a bunch of friends that come here. so it's hard to make friends because people already have groups. there are about 250 clubs and organizations and that i can say is one of the only things i like about this school. you can always find a club that interests you or you can make your own club. the dining halls are really good. there is only one that hardly has any variety and that's Franklin DC in Central. i am want to become a Publicist within the entertainment industry so the closest major here to study is communications. this happens to not be a really good program if you want hands on experience and truthfully really want to pursue this as a career. it's a popular major so almost every required class has 200 students and all the classes mostly talk about the philosophy and theory of communication and NOT the modern aspect of it at all. im also lucky to have a close friend who graduated from UMass and tried to be a comm major and she said it was a waste of time and to just drop it. other programs here are better, it just depends on what you want to do. i'd say just be honest to yourself when choosing this school because it's not all it's hyped up to be. the constant partying is true but gaining a good degree and education and actually using it to get a good job is hard. also, many of the students mainly choose this school because they want to go to college but dont want to do the work because they here it's all fun and games here. ZOO MASS is what they call this school, which just attracts the unfocused lazy and careless student and basically drags the whole school down.

im a really determined student that likes learning and meeting new people. i also am not really the kind of person that likes to separate myself from the main stream too much. many people who are different than the "athletic/popular" people try way to hard to be different and look down upon you if you like lady gaga or radio music (common things). i felt like this the moment i started and the more i tried to wait it out and be more accepting the more things i did not like about this school. most schools will always have these kind of people, but there are some schools that really are different and you just have to research. but here at UMass is seems like the majority has no drive to succeed and i dont want to surround myself around that.

as soon as i felt like this i decided that i was going to transfer to a school in Boston. also, if you are picking this school to try and get away from you family because you think your independent enough, make sure you know for sure you can handle it. i always used to get into arguments with my parents and i always thought that being at a big school that was far would make me happy so i didnt have to deal with them was the best choice, but it was the worst. im only staying here the first semester just to build up my GPA a little bit so that i can hopefully get in right away to a school in boston that i like. for now these three months that i'm here will be like being mildly tortured. moral of my spiel is that it basically depends on what kind of person you are to judge this school. so dont be disuaded by UMass because of what i'm saying although most of it is true. make sure you research and find out as much as possible. you either LOVE it or HATE it and thats it.

   
Responses
responseYeah, I agree with you on this one. I'm a freshman who lives in central also. The thought of transferring to a Boston school has crossed my mind, but I'm going to try to give it some time. Hopefully I just need to warm up to it.
responseWell, let's just start. You're a comm major aka you're an idiot surrounded by idiots in your classes so of course everyone around you seems lazy and stupid to you. Word of advice: UMass is a great school if you go for a REAL major. I'm in the business school and honestly the classes are challenging. Also the engineering program is fantastic as well as the nursing program. The stereotypes of the residential areas are changing. Yes, people love to party here, its a great social scene, but people also work hard and actually make something of themselves after they graduate (except if you're a comm major obviously, say hello to grad school and unemployment) And yes, if you miss the warm cocoon of high school and your teachers holding your hand the whole way then you might want to go to a small college. But if you're an adult and can do things independently and are ready to experience many different types of people (like in the real world) then you should go to a large school like UMass. I love UMass, its full of modest, middle class kids who are actually SMART. (Its not THAT easy to get into this school) I would never want to go to a snooty school in Boston full of rich kids. Not all of our parents can just dish out 50K a year for us to go to a school that is basically the SAME education as UMass.
commentI totally forgot that I even wrote a review for UMass. It's funny how things change though. I ended up leaving UMass after two weeks of being there. (worst decision I've ever made) I took the fall semester off, applied to school for the spring semester in Boston and I ended up at Emmanuel College. Honestly…THE MOST BORING SCHOOL IN THE HISTORY OF SCHOOLS! I've been at Emmanuel for a year and a half now and ever since my first semester I've been trying to get back to UMass. I realized I had made a decision to leave when I wasn't thinking rationally. I was homesick, missed my friends and my boyfriend and made a bunch of excused for why I shouldn't be at UMass just so i could go home. Being at Emmanuel I realized that I need a big school that is diverse with lots of opportunity and Emmanuel isn't a place to give that to me. Plus I was really close to home which did cause problems in the end. I was way too comfortable where I let myself slack off and I wasn't very focused on school. So now I'm going back to UMass this coming fall. I'm getting an apartment since housing sucks, but I'm really excited to have a fresh start. I'm also changing my major because like the response above said, a major in Communications will definitely result in a waste of a degree and I'll have to go to Grad school when I necessarily might not have to. Personally I think I want to go to grad school anyway, but whatever. I was thinking of majoring in Architecture and Design, but I feel like it's a really hard program to get into. I learned after this long process of switching school and experiencing other options that I should have stuck to UMass in the first place. We all make mistakes though and all we can do it learn from them and move on.
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