<p>Is there a big party scene, are intramural sports a big thing, and are there any other big things do that would make me choose UMass becuase all I want to is play sports, drink, and study of course.</p>
<p>Well, UMass is pretty well-known as a big party school.</p>
<p>As in, it’s a little startling you weren’t aware of it.</p>
<p>UMass is kind of famous as a party school. If you want parties, they’re there for you. </p>
<p>But it’s also a very good school, academically. If your partying is going to interfere with your coursework, you could be in trouble. Make sure that you balance. </p>
<p>UMass offers tons of intramurals. Other big things to do are music - big music scene on and off campus - theater, art, dances, and hanging out.</p>
<p>I’m also interested in the life at Umass. I am out of state, from Pennsylvania. I was admitted to Umass Amherst and I am considering going to the school, but I’m afraid that I don’t know enough about the school to make sure that is the right school for me. I am choosing between Umass and St. Joseph’s University. I really like both of the schools but part of me wants to go away for school and St. Joe’s is only about a half hour (max) from me. I would really appreciate someone who has experience with Umass Amherst who could help me make a decision. I have visited the campus and I liked it, I think. The problem is that it was the dead of winter and I didn’t find the campus to be that appealing, and also, my tour guide was really rude and he “put a bad taste in my mouth”. I really want to like this school, but I want to know more about it. If you have any insight, please let me know! Thanks so much!</p>
<p>I would also like to get some opinions from current students. My son is deciding between UMASS, PITT and Univ. of Delaware. He has visited all three schools and he does like the feel of UMASS the best. He also liked Pitt but the 7 hour distance from our home is a negative. When you look at the rankings, Pitt and Delaware are generally ranked higher than UMASS academically. But most kids seemed pretty happy at UMASS and the area seemed pretty nice. Just wondering how the current students like the experience.</p>
<p>I didn’t go to UMASS, although it is my son’s top choice. We just visited and he liked it a lot. I lived in the area for about 10 years, one year in Amherst, mostly in Northampton. (I was on the faculty for a while at one of the five colleges.) I can attest to the fact that this is one of the great places in the whole wide world to live. All the cultural attractions of a major metropolitan area in a beautiful rural setting. The campus itself is blah, but the setting is outstanding. Go there during foliage season and you’ll see what I mean. For architecture buffs it does have buildings by Marcel Breuer, Edward Durrell Stone, Kevin Roche, and Gordon Bunshaft.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if the academic differences among UMASS, Pitt, and Delaware are a distinction with a difference. And neither of the other two have the five college program, which allows you to take courses at Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, or Hampshire.</p>
<p>I can’t however attest to student life today, but I’d be happy to be there.</p>
<p>Thanks. That is very helpful. I’m also not sure if there is a big difference academically. i think we should stay away from getting too wrapped up in the ratings published by the publications.</p>
<p>
Exact experience we had.</p>
<p>I would highly HIGHLY recommend you make it to an Accepted Students day. It totally turned around my S’s opinion of the school, to the point that he decided to go there over several much higher-ranked privates. The tours don’t really do a great job showing off the school.</p>
<p>He’s having a great time there.</p>
<p>
At every big school, public or private, with maybe a few exceptions, there will be tons of parties, tons of kids playing sports, and tons of things to do.</p>
<p>I think you need to dig just a tiny bit deeper, or you might as well do your parents a favor and go to the cheapest one you got in, because based on your criteria, all schools are pretty much the same.</p>
<p>Ignore the rankings. There is really small differences between the 50+ rankings. One thing to think about when thinking about the public schools is how much the economy might affect the schools. Massachusetts (the state), for what it’s worth, has just released a report that it is coming out of the recession. That bodes well for the state schools in Massachusetts. Iam unaware of any significant cut-backs at Umass Amherst. I would pay attention to what the schools have to offer along the lines of what major is being thought of as a choice and go from there. All these schools are good. My S goes to UMass and is using the school to take a classes at the other surrounding schools (Amherst, Hampshire, etc.) Having these five schools available for classes is a big deal.</p>
<p>notrichenough, thank you haha, it feels good to know that it isn’t only me. I think that I will definitely try to make it to an Accepted Students day. Knowing that he actually chose Umass over other schools helps too. Thanks!</p>
<p>Laxgal- My son looks like he is chosing umass over pitt and delaware also. He relly liked it when he went on accepted students day. i’m just making him wait for binghampton which is significantly less in tuition because its instate for us. if he gets into bing he might still go to umass because he likes it better but i’ll have to give it some thought.</p>
<p>yes well I will go visit for accepted students day I think. Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>I’m a senior here at UMass. While UMass has the reputation of a party school (What big public school doesn’t?), as compared to the past, parties are much more tame and there aren’t nearly as many going on. Increased police presence and town by laws severely put a damper on the amount of parties going on. We also haven’t been in the rankings as a top party school since like 2005. </p>
<p>To answer your question about intramurals, they are very popular and a lot of students participate in them. Overall though, the social life is still very strong here. It’s not as wild as in the past but if you randomly want to party on a weekday night, you probably can find one.</p>
<p>RE: latichever - I am a student here, and I will attest: I love it.</p>
<p>I transferred from the ominous West to go to school here. The academic quality of the school, the Five Colleges (I’ve taken 1/2 my classes at the other schools), and the artistic vivacity of the valley is worth the out of state tuition.</p>
<p>RE: parties - UMass is big enough that you’ll find whatever you’re looking for (in fact, the student population is 7K shy of being the same size as my home town). There is no way to generalize about UMass, and each set of freshman is setting the standard higher and higher. </p>
<p>I would personally love to see it become of as much repute as the UC system, as I think the difference in academics between UMass and ANY other institution (private or public) is really very small.</p>
<p>I wanted to add that if you’re an architecture buff, this school is a museum of 60s-70s brutalism, perhaps not the most felicitous term. I was hasty in saying the campus is “blah.” There are buildings by Edward Durrell Stone, Kevin Roche, Marcel Breuer, and Gordon Bunshaft, and Hugh Stubbins–an impressive line-up. Google these people and you’ll be impressed.</p>
<p>Possibly the design problem was that these buildings were set down without an overall integrated plan.</p>