<p>I heard it is hard making new friends at Amherst because everyone already knows friends from high school. I hate drinking/smoking, will my social life suck then? Seriously, I just don't want a crappy social life at Amherst. I've also heard that the school itself "lacks the college feel." I personally want to go to Amherst, but socially does it suck? Will I lose the college feel? </p>
<p>Hey I don’t know anything but as this school has all its freshman live on campus I doubt you will lose the college feel. To me you lose the college feel when just a small percentage live on campus or live so close to home that they go home for the weekend quite often. With a student body as large as UMass I’m sure you will be able to seek out those with the same interests. Go with an open mind and just remember it won’t happen your first day there.</p>
<p>You’ve got over 4,000 other people to meet, to my knowledge. That’s just freshmen, too. Join a club, or intramural sport if you want to make a lot of friends fast. Hang out with kids in your classes, and find a group that thinks like you, that don’t want to be into the huge party scene, but want to hang out.</p>
<p>My son is a junior at UMass. Although approx 25 other students from his HS are there also, he chose to make new friends, seeing his HS friends when he is home rather than at UMass. My daughter is a senior in HS and will most likely choose UMass. She also wants to make new friends there and doesn’t want an extension of HS.</p>
<p>There are plenty of things to get involved in, and your RA will help your floor get involved in activities as well. Amherst is a great college town, and I think UMass is a great college environment … but a large one. You need to get out there yourself to get involved in clubs, sports, etc. You can’t just hide out in your room and expect people to seek you out. But I think that is true of any large campus.</p>
<p>UMass is one of those places where you can stay away from drinking and smoking if you don’t want to do that stuff. It all depends on where you live, because if you live in Southwest, there’s no way you’re going to find people like you. If you choose to live on the Hill, then your chances of finding like-minded people go up. </p>
<p>Can confirm. Currently live in Ohill and am not into drinking or smoking or huge parties or anything. There’s plenty of people like me here that are still fun to hang out with but just don’t see the appeal in drugs and alcohol. Northeast is pretty quiet from what I can tell and lots of people like to play video games there if you’re into that kind of thing. </p>
<p>I currently go here and I’m in central-my dorm clears out on the weekends for parties and I’m always dealing with drunks, which is hard for me because I’m a sober person. I’m not too big on the school, but it could be better on the hill or in clean living dorms</p>