<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I currently attend UMass Amherst. I've been involved in enough on and off campus programs to have acquired a good sense of the school. I can answer questions that pertain to the school's vibe, the Five College Consortium, living areas, or anything else. I have visited a variety of other schools and can compare UMass in terms of atmosphere. Ask away.</p>
<p>Could you tell me about the AI program in UMass? What is the funding situation, the program intake and all such details? Or who I could contact for more details? Thanks!</p>
<p>Do you have any idea if transfers get less financial aid than incoming freshman?</p>
<p>I don’t know about the AI program. It’d be best to contact the dept.</p>
<p>UMass isn’t known for giving great financial aid packages. It’s a financial backup for many students not due to the school’s aid but rather due to the school’s cheap tuition. It’d be best to contact admissions about that. Consider checking out CC’s transfer forum.</p>
<p>Do you know when we hear about financial aid/scholarships if we applied Early Action to UMASS?</p>
<p>My daughter is from out of state and is very interested in one of UMass’ programs. She will almost certainly be the only student from her high school and will be one of a few from her area far from Mass. How difficult will it be to be part of campus life?</p>
<p>manyloyalties:</p>
<p>My daughter goes to UMass. While it is a large school there are many things your daughter can do to fit into campus life quickly. Have her look into the RAP program for freshman. That really helped my daughter connect quickly to other students with the same interests. </p>
<p>There are also so many clubs and programs and activities that if she takes the time to get involved she should have no problem making connections.</p>
<p>It is much easier to make a large campus feel small than to try to make a small campus feel big!</p>
<p>I should clarify that I will likely be unable to answer questions about logistics.</p>
<p>manyloyalties: It’s pretty easy to integrate yourself on campus. Your daughter can join one or two extra curricular activities, and first years are always looking for friends. RAP programs are especially effective for building communities. It doesn’t really matter that she’ll be the only one from her HS.</p>
<p>Curious as to how large the gen ed classes?
My D recently got accepted this week.</p>
<p>STEM gen eds can be large, but I switched out of a 90-person STEM lecture into a 30-person one. So your D can swap a large course for a small one. As a rule of thumb, Honors courses have very few students. There are fewer STEM honors courses than there are humanities ones.</p>
<p>Humanities gen eds can be as large as 100. Humanities majors have small classes beyond gen eds. STEM classes, on the other hand, are large even when they’re advanced.</p>
<p>I’d save gen eds for later if your D knows what they’d like to study. Courses abroad can count as gen eds, and some small seminars can take care of the requirements.</p>
<p>Edit: I can’t speak to ISM, Public Health, and Stockbridge. I’m also lumping in Social Sciences when I refer to the Humanities.</p>
<p>I have to say the humanity gen-ed classes are also quite large. I still remember having trouble finding a seat in ECON 103/104 or Neuropsych. if I was even 3 minutes late. </p>
<p>I am in 2 STEM majors and STEM classes aren’t large at all (compared to gen-ed anyways) at upper level. They are always hosted in classrooms, not lecture halls. Orgo 1/2 are always popular though.</p>
<p>I was not offered admission into the honors college, however my friend was. Would I be able to dorm with him in the chc dorms?</p>
<p>No—only honors students can live in the CHC dorms. S’s freshman yr roommate made that mistake and had to scramble a little to get into the new dorms for soph year.</p>
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