<p>I have been accepted to Umass, Indiana University and University of South Carolina for sports management. I have received substantial merit aid from all three schools so money is not a deciding factor. I know how good the sports management program but I have been told mixed reviews about the school as a whole. I have heard that there is not much school spirit, students dont support sports team, not much to do around campus, school is run down. Please understand I am not putting down Umass but I live in San Diego so it is hard to get a real picture of Umass. Most the negative comments have actually come from students that live in Mass. Any insight, positive and negative, would be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>At present the school is spending lots of money on new construction. New honors college dorms going up, new science building just behind the other gigantic new science building, new classroom bldg going up across the street. Fitness center is quite new and very big.I hear football used to average about 13K per game in a 17K capacity stadium. Moving up to FBS and moving games 80 miles away to Gillette Stadium has become a controversial topic. </p>
<p>UMass is like any other large state university. You can go there and waste your time wasted, or can work hard and get a great education. No one is there to hold your hand. It’s time to grow up.
Attendance dropped to an avg of 10K this year, but in a 68 K stadium, it looks empty. IF the team gradually gets better and can compete, interest may increase. On campus, right now, hockey and basketball draw OK.</p>
<p>Downtown Amherst is a mile away (free buses) and is a really cool college town, rated as one of the best by some surveys. Lots of restaurants, etc.</p>
<p>MADad…Thanks for the info. Kind of confused if they have trouble getting people to come to the football games why they would move the games to Gillette Stadium. </p>
<p>…and by the way I dont think I asked anyone to hold my hand and based on my GPA, ACT scores and college scholarships I think I have shown I am grown up.</p>
<p>I think you should definitely visit! We live closer to NH - son goes to a small HS, is very conservative, but wants to study business, so we checked it out. Way too big, liberal and felt more like a city to him. Took less than an hour to know it wasn’t for him! Mass to San Diego is a HUGE move - not to be taken lightly. Very big party school but the right student can have a great experience - hope this helps!</p>
<p>When you move up to FBS football, you need a stadium with a minimum # of seats (don’t know the exact #, might be around 30 K). UMass doesn’t have the money to expand McGuirk Stadium at this time, so the move to Gillette was necessary to make the move. As I said very controversial, given the 1-11 record in year 1, along with the drop in attendance.</p>
<p>Most UMass alumni live in the eastern half of the state, but Boston is a pro sports city–only college hockey gets any attention in Boston. Even when BC was good, the town didn’t go crazy over them like we do for the Patriots, etc.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the folks in the western part of the state feel like UMass is their team, and that football was taken away from them.</p>
<p>amroy67…thanks for the reply. I am going to visit at the end of January. I guess one other glitch is that I am a HUGE New York Yankees fan…not sure how I will do in Red Sox territory</p>
<p>There are LOTS of Yankees/Jets, etc fans at UMass. In fact, stay away from Southwest when Boston and NY teams play, or you may be caught in a riot. Disturbances in Southwest are often sports related. After last year’s Patriots-Giants Superbowl, for example.</p>
<p>Again, sounds like the place is the Wild West, but keep in mind, if 100 out of 25,000 kids make trouble, it’s actually a small percentage, though the press doesn’t make it out to be that way. Wild Southwest is getting crazy, the pre-meds and engineers in Northeast are hard at work!!</p>
UMass tends to get looked down on a bit because there are so many other prestigious schools in the state - Harvard, MIT, Tufts, BC, Olin, Brandeis, Wellesley, Amherst, Williams, etc, with Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown close by. If UMass was in a different state, I firmly believe it would be considered among the best public universities in the country.</p>
<p>Some don’t care for the architecture, a lot of it was built in the era of ugly concrete buildings. There is a lot of new construction going on, and I like the new buildings. I will say I think SC has a prettier campus, but I also like the Amherst/Northampton area better than I like Columbia.</p>
<p>Academically, it is an excellent school with highly regarded programs.</p>
<p>Pro sports definitely rule the roost in MA, so if big-time college football is critical to you, then UMass may not fit the bill. For a lot of people “school spirit” equates to “crazy for college football”, so take comments on the lack of school spirit with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>If you’ve lived your whole life in San Diego, the weather will certainly be a shock.</p>
<p>notrichenough…once again thank you for all your input. I am planning on visiting USC at the end of January and UMass after that. Like you I think I am going to be confronted by the fact that USC will end up being a lot cheaper than UMass. Really like the sports management program at UMass but not sure it is worth the difference in money compared to USC</p>