<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am a graduating senior here at UMass-Amherst. I used to check this web site regularly when I was an entering Freshman like many of you and have restarted using it now that I have applied to Graduate schools in the fall. Skimming through many of the posts in this thread I thought it might be useful to all of you for me to throw my 2 cents in.</p>
<p>When I was applying to colleges 4 years ago I was not 100% sure what I wanted to study. I'm currently an engineering student here at UMass but not knowing I applied to a wide array of universities. Now, I got into far more "prestigious" colleges than UMass-Amherst: Yale, Georgetown, and WPI. However, I am really happy with my decision and it has definitely open doors that I did not expect.</p>
<p>There are some definite benefits of UMass. For one, going to a big university has a huge amount of pluses. There are students at Amherst college paying $50k/year yet always take at least one course a semester at UMass. Why? Because there are so many interesting classes that you just cannot find at a small university. Also, if your daughter has not chosen a major UMass would be a great place to go simply because they offer so many. They even have something called BDIC, which is where you can make your own major at the university. UMass is also a COLLEGE town unlike so many of the other schools out there. There are five college campuses in the area and the students literally run the town. Without us Amherst would be another small ho-hum town in Western Mass.</p>
<p>Because I have been in the Engineering department I can really only speak for that. When I arrived at UMass I had this huge fear of huge classes where you don't get to know your professors. That is true for the introductory courses. For classes such as General Chemistry, General Physics, MicroEconomics, etc. there are usually a couple hundred people in the class. However, at least for my major, I've gotten to know every professor in the engineering department I've taken a course with. And as you go further along the classes get smaller and smaller. The past 2 semesters I have taken 4 graduate courses, which are typically in the range of 20 students. Taking grad courses I feel are extremely valuable to allow you to get to know the professors AND let you know if grad school is something you would be seriously interested in. On top of that, the professors I have had are really good. They make the classes stimulating and exciting. They are always available and know everyone's name. </p>
<p>Along with that, I was accepted to ComCol out of high school. Personally, I have mix feelings about ComCol. I was really never a fan of the Dean Book courses or other requirements. However, the one huge plus is that ComCol requires at the end of your four years a Capstone project, which typically involves doing research (whether a thesis or project) under the advising of a professor. This gets you valuable research experience and close with faculty members. Without ComCol I probably would have not had the initiative to search for faculty members who might need a research assistant.</p>
<p>I will admit there are negatives for sure. For one, my transition was a hell of a lot easier than that of a lot of my friends because I was accepted to these 2 programs right away. I automatically got advisors and was already part of a small community within the large university. If you come to UMass with no major or anything you sort of lack that smaller community. Also, at least for me, I've found the classes that I take to get rid of my Gen-ed requirements are pretty easy but usually worthless/just time consuming.</p>
<p>The reputation UMass has is annoying. Coming from a well off town in MA all my friends looked down at UMass. Some people have said comments like, "I thought you were smarter than that" or just talk a lot about the party scene. However, there really are a bunch of really smart people there.</p>
<p>Is there a party scene? Of course there is. But at the same time, this can be found at any college really. I have visited friends at schools such as Brandeis and Tufts and they can throw down some decent parties as well. Where you live will completely change your experience at UMass. "Southwest" is the huge party area. I have lived in "Central", which is a lot more relaxed and it's nice to not have to hear music at 4 am on a Tuesday night which I know can happen in Southwest on a regular basis.</p>
<p>Finally, I have seen lots of people on this site with quite excellent stats. Perhaps a concern for at least some of you is if I go to UMass instead of "School A" what will be my chances of getting into grad school/getting a job. I know personally, I was thinking if I don't go to Georgetown or Yale now will that opportunity ever arise again? And the answer is yes, it will.</p>
<p>Next Fall, unless I get more funding from Stanford University, I will be attending MIT with full funding to continue my Engineering studies. And I am not an exception. I have friends in my major who have gotten into Cornell, Princeton, Harvard, and more. Just realize that if you come here and do well definitely things will open up for you. And yes, I do go out and drink a couple nights/week haha in case you thought you can't work hard/do well and have fun.</p>
<p>If you have any questions please feel free to comment on this and/or send me a message</p>