These are my top 2 schools I’ve gotten into so far here are my pros and cons for each. Please add anything
Umass:
Pros:
Incredible Campus
Great food
Will likely know people from high school
Very cheap
Opportunities to make friends
Diverse set of majors
Big party scene
Cons:
■■■■■■ dorms
A little far from home
Desolate location
I might be lost in the fray
They treated their students poorly during corona
Brandeis
Pros:
Close to home
Great education
Has a club basketball team that isn’t too hard to make
I might actually be a popular kid
Cons:
Expensive
Heard kids are weird
Boring-ish location
Average campus
What do y’all think?
What is your major (or likely majors)?
Are you in-state in Massachusetts?
Would you be taking on debt for Brandeis? How much stress would the cost put on your parents?
I quite like Amherst (the town). There are other schools around, and I do not think that I would call it “Desolate”.
Covid has put a lot of stress on colleges and universities all around the world. However, it looks to me like the vaccine is starting to get more available (eg, I was vaccinated this week, as was one daughter last week) and we might well be back to normal by September. At least Biden promised that there will be enough vaccine before then.
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You are going to college so i’m not sure close to home is a pro. But you are talking an hour and a half…that’s not far. If your experience is good, you’ll never go home.
You list expensive - if money is an issue, it’s a no brainer.
You can always make a large school small - and this isn’t high school - there are lots of groups so lots of popular kids. You will find your place.
UMASS.
For Brandeis probably not cause my grand parents are loaded I am in state
Have your grandparents said they would pay something?
Clear the budget issue right away.
Right now, it sounds like UMASS is the clear winner: the location is actually not desolate, a very vibrant college town with 40,000 students.
Brandeis will be more personalized and more intellectual, with more research opportunities for undergrads, but these don’t seem to be important to you. Are they?
I’ll miss my dog and yeah my grandparents said they’d pay
From your pros/cons list, it seems that UMASS Amherst appeals to you more. They are really different schools and you may just be more of a UMASS person, so I think you’d regret it if you went to Brandeis.