I am a sophomore in the honors college and Isenberg. Feel free to ask me any questions at all.
What’s the girl/girl life like on campus?
@LouiseMcBane It’s completely accepted. With so many different places to live on campus, there’s obviously some places where it’s more prominent than others. If you’re worried about this at all, you shouldn’t be.
@under32graduate Is there a significant difference between the availability of research opportunities in the Honors college as opposed to the rest of the university?
Also, what qualifications must incoming freshmen have to get accepted into the honors college? I have a 3.6 gpa 1450 new SAT and a relatively strong personal statement. Do they determine acceptance holistically?
@zofro99 Only difference is that you will have a few more personal connections to faculty through the smaller honors courses you take and professors may be more inclined to let you do research if you are in the honors college because it shows you’re smart. That’s it. No formal differences in availability.
No real specific criteria. Just mostly based on GPA and SAT scores. There are tons of kids I’ve met who were admitted to the honors college straight out of high school that frankly aren’t that smart, and some who weren’t admitted that were very smart - therefore the process for admission isn’t that good. You’re SAT would definitely be high enough, just not sure about GPA, you’re a toss up. No worries though, if you really want to switch in to honors you can do that super easy. All you need is like a 3.5 college GPA to be eligible.
@under32graduate What made you choose UMass Amherst? In your opinion, what sets this school apart? Anything you wish you knew before attending?
@rjoyn99 Three reasons for me personally.
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Money. I am in in-state student, so the other colleges I was thinking of were roughly 2 to 3 times more money per year. That shit adds up QUICK. I would highly consider your state school, whether that’s UMass or not.
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The business school is good. It’s not amazing, but it’s respectable. You will get a $60k job if you put the effort in. That’s makes the return on average about 3 times greater than the cost of going here per year. At some schools that cost $70k per year, you won’t even get a salary to match that.
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The students. I like to have fun on the weekends. So do UMass kids. I like sports. So do UMass kids. I like to get with girls. UMass girls are hot. As you can see I am just your average college guy, so that’s what I was looking for in students when I toured. But, don’t worry if you aren’t what I described myself as at all. You are somewhat defined by and constrained by which area you live in. Wanna be with smart kids, live in Honors. Asians, Northeast. Normal kids, Southwest. Normal kids who couldn’t get in to Southwest, Central. Creatures, Orchard Hill.
What sets this school apart: Honestly not much. It’s fun, the food is good, the academics are good if you put the effort into making them good, sports teams are crappy, people are cool. This definition applies to like 75% of colleges tho. You will learn soon that colleges are basically all the same, with location, prestige, and size being the only real differences.
Things I wish I knew:
- As mentioned above, you are defined by where you live. I should have lived in Southwest and not honors, because I would fit in better there.
- I got started very early on with extracurriculars. Like day 1. Nobody really pushed this, but I am advising you to do what I did. Get into clubs, slap it on your resume, get a leadership position, slap it on your resume. Repeat. You will be very thankful you did this freshmen year.
- Bring alcohol to college for move in.
- Consider rushing a frat first semester if you want a guaranteed place to go every night.
- Get an internship after freshmen year.
@under32graduate I received a scholarship of 14K ( Chancellor’s Award ) . I am an International student and would like to know would there be any possibility of getting more scholarships ?
Do they give out departmental scholarships before a student confirms his enrollment and about how much can one receive .
UMass is gonna be costly for me as I’m an International student so really wanna squeeze out as much money as possible.
Also, do you find asians specifically Indians out there ?
@ChampBoy Congrats! You could definitely get more, but I am not sure about doing that before you get here. My guess would be no to that. But, once here you can apply to many Umass scholarships, whether that be Umass scholarships in general, departmental scholarships, honors scholarships, etc.
Yes, UMass is very diverse. You can find everybody here. Also, you can decide to stick w those of your ethnicity or branch out and have a diverse group of friends. I know students that have done both. What ever you prefer
@under32graduate at first, were you disappointed to be going to UMass? What did you do to change that and where else did you apply/get in?
@as1799 wouldn’t say disappointed, just had hoped for something more prestigious. I was between UMass, Boston College and Northeastern. Money at the latter two were just too damn expensive. I soon learned tho that the job I would get coming out of those would only be slightly better than UMass, and if I hustled I could do just as well. Only real difference I still regret is not being close to the city, which is something I did want.
What were your stats that let you get into UMass? (Gpa, ECs)? If you don’t mind answering
@willigetaccepted 4.2 weighted gpa, 2170, very strong ECs, 1 very strong letter or rec, 1 average letter of rec…def can it with MUCH lower stats
I was told by a UMASS Amhert school that it’s “a very liberal, lefty, Bernie Sander’s school” so if that’s what you are looking for…there you go.
@Empireapple ya, but I absolutely those people and theres plenty of people like me. You can hang with whoever you want
So are you saying there are plenty of students who are not lefty liberals? Are they allowed to comment or shut down and shunned? What about the professors?
@Empireapple I’d have to say it’s like 60% left liberal, 40% not left liberal. I think the lefty liberals are just more in your face about it, so it seems that there are more of them. You will not get shut down and shunned, it is till the United States. Some professors can be annoying about it. Like in one of my small honors classes on Nov 9 the teacher was acting like 9/11 had happened
Was wondering the same as Empireapple above. How welcome are conservative students on campus? How welcoming are the professors?
everybody is welcome equally…this isn’t nazi germany jesus people
It’s a valid question. Certain colleges can be very unwelcoming to students who don’t fit the status quo. Teachers who differ politically from some of their students can create a hostile environment. Each institution has a different feel and we are just trying to clarify that of Umass.