<p>I am a communications major from Massachusetts and I have been accepted to both schools with enough scholarship money that they would both cost about the same for me to go there. My question is: which school would be a better fit for me? I want to have fun and go to parties etc. but I also am going to focus on my schoolwork. I also value to surrounding area of UMass because Amherst is a great college town whereas UConn is basically farmland as far as the eye can see. Can anyone give me some pros/cons and tell me which is better for communications?</p>
<p>Communications is Highly rated at Umass. Also the party/social life far exceeds anything you can find at Storrs. It’s not called Zoo Mass for no good reason</p>
<p>A degree from UCONN is much more highly regarded than a degree from UMass. Mainly because UMass is mainly known for being a party school while UConn has a great communication program and is rated at the #1 public universities in New England. Moreover, there are tons of parties at UConn</p>
<p>I was accepted to both as well. Quick question, were you accepted to their honors programs? At UMass, you have to pay extra in order to be a part of that program. At UConn, Honors students have first selection when it comes to classes (I’m a bit biased towards UConn, going to be honest). However, as stated before, UConn is well known as a very good school and, as I like to put it, “a big bang for your buck”. Furthermore, UConn has several less thousand students attending it than UMass. UConn also has a thriving womens basketball team that many students support and cheer for. Having visited both campuses, I definitely prefer UConn’s because UMass felt a little less well-kept. In the end, however, it comes down to your own decision. Visit both campuses (again?) and ask them questions such as “I was accepted at UConn/UMass. What do you have to offer that this college doesn’t?”</p>
<p>I was accepted to the UMass honors program but not UConn’s, which I am slightly bitter about; I was pretty sure my scores and transcript were strong enough but apparently not. The one thing about the UMass honors college is that it has completely new dorms, but I still agree with everyone posting here that UConn would probably be the better choice for academics and for overall quality of school/education. Thank you everyone! More perspectives would still be great.</p>
<p>My DS is in the same boat. It is going to come down to UMass or UConn. He has been accepted to UConn engineering but has only been accepted to UMass Undeclared during the EA round (very frustrating since he got into UConn OOS but not into our flagship. We have asked them to take a 2nd look at his credentials since his SATs went up 200 pts on the Dec 1st test so they weren’t used for EA decisions and also submitted his 1st semester senior grades. We are waiting for a decision.). UConn is my DS’s top choice. I think he likes the campus better, fewer students and very good academically. Financially it would be foolish not to consider UMass though. Waiting on FA info, UMass’s decision and then we will have to decide.</p>
<p>UMass is definitely a good choice financially but I think UConn is better overall; since I got 15k a year in scholarship to UConn I think it’s higher on my preference list at the moment. I’m still waiting to hear back from Northeastern (I was deferred from early action), BU, BC, and Emerson… so we’ll see!</p>
<p>I believe UConn is seen as “higher” than UMass Amherst.
I hear that UMass is a big party school but I wouldn’t know from personal experience. I will most likely be accepted to UMass Amherst also and I already got into UConn. Going to be a hard decision unless Northeastern takes me.</p>
<p>Northeastern was my top choice until they deferred me to regular decision and I accepted the reality that it is too expensive and I probably won’t be offered a scholarship. 
Now UConn is looking like my best option</p>
<p>Any idea about Honors Engineering UMASS vs Honors Engineering UCONN? I know nothing about the schools and S applied blindly to them since we are moving to CT. We will visit both during April break. Anyone have any comments on the programs/schools?</p>
<p>^UConn is a better college than UMass for engineering…</p>
<p>^ I am not sure that I would agree with that statement. Most of the ranking lists I have seen puts UMass-Amherst ahead of UConn. But then the methodologies of those lists acould be argued and may be somewhat arbitrary to begin with…does anyone have any comparative data.</p>
<p>USNChief - I agree. The ratings are abritrary and other factors with come into play like personal choice, location, and money. According to US News for Engineering - UMASS 58, UCONN 75. However overall as an university UCONN is rated higher at 63 and then UMASS at 97.</p>
<p>S is also accepted to and interested in Rutgers and Va Tech. We will be doing our road trips to see the schools. We haven’t looked at UMASS or UNCONN — we added them to my S’s list in Dec because my husband accepted a job in CT and we will be moving.</p>
<p>I know it is a tough question to weigh the two…</p>
<p>sorry to get off topic, but I have a question regarding scholarships. I was awarded 8k/year at Mass, $0 at Uconn. I know that some people write letters to colleges they didn’t get scholarships from, trying to get them reconsidered for an award. My question is how can I contact Uconn, and let them know I’d rather go to Conn over Mass if they awarded me some money?</p>
<p>cupuzz- Read this thread from the financial aid forum and see if it helps.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1472815-true-i-can-ask-college-match-other-aid-offers-ive-gotten.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1472815-true-i-can-ask-college-match-other-aid-offers-ive-gotten.html</a></p>
<p>Basically Ambreylouise where do you want to work? If you plan on staying in Massachusetts then go to UMASS. If you want to work in CT then go to UCONN. Sadly with our experience, companies with alumni have preferences when it comes to hiring. If your boss went to UMASS he is more likely to hire a UMASS alumn than one from UCONN.</p>
<p>I don’t really know… I suppose I would like to work in Massachusetts, but UConn is even closer to, say, Boston than UMass is (I’m pretty sure). Would they really care that I went to an OOS state school?</p>
<p>Just to verify–85 miles between Boston and UConn, 110 miles between Boston and UMass Amherst :)</p>
<p>It isn’t the distance it is the likelihood of who will hire you when you graduate. If you will work anywhere then it doesn’t really matter where you will go. Pick the school you like better and feel comfortable at. It is just that most graduates move back home afterwards and having a UCONN degree in Vermont for example doesn’t go as far as one from the University of Vermont. I just tell people this because we got huge debt sending our one daughter out of state to school and she had a heck of a time getting a job even though she graduated Magna cum laude. Our other daughter who went in state and didn’t have the best grades got a job right away and a lot of her coworkers had gone to the same school as her. They told her after she started working that it had been between her and another candidate and the reason they chose her was because she went to the same school as they did. A lot of people still have a bias.</p>
<p>Thank you, that’s definitely good to know 
Right now it’s looking like if I go to UMass it will be because of financial reasons because UConn is still tough to do even with the amount of scholarship money I was awarded, so if that does happen, this will be a little consolation to me at least!</p>