<p>So I'm actually doing an exchange program from College of Charleston and am looking into a list of schools for Massachusetts. Basically, I have it narrowed down to these two. I'm not a huge partier, though I do like to party from time to time. I'm an international studies major taking Chinese...help?</p>
<p>UMass Amherst is a major research university, 2 hours from Boston, mostly residential. Bridgewater State is 30 miles south of boston but generally ranked much lower and is more of a commuter school. I’d pick UMass Amherst in a minute - there are lots of kids there who don’t party all the time. Good luck</p>
<p>Amherst is also one of the top college towns in the country and Western Massachusetts is a beautiful area. Bridgewater is a nice middle class suburb kind of in the middle of nowhere (and I can say that because I live about 10 miles from Bridgewater!). It’s only advantage is better access to Boston, if that’s important to you. I’d say Amherst all the way.</p>
<p>Does Bridgewater have a Chinese program? They’re primarily a teachers college. If UMass doesn’t have the courses you want, one of the other schools in the Five College Consortium may.</p>
<p>Choose Umass Amherst. </p>
<p>Bridgewater - small commuter college, mainly a “teacher’s college” that doesn’t even have a published ranking on US news (designated as “rank not published” in the regional universities category), and is pretty unselective. As far as I’ve read they also lack academic rigor.</p>
<p>Umass Amherst - very large public research university, ranked 94th on US news as a national university, and is part of a consortium with some of the top liberal arts colleges in the country, including Amherst college. If there’s a certain class you can’t take at Umass, you’re likely to find it at one if its sister colleges. It’s also got a much more academically prepared student body than Bridgewater, and is in a nice rural area in the Appalachian foothills. </p>
<p>I know rankings generally don’t matter, but here, there’s a huge difference between the two colleges that is worth considering.</p>