My son was accepted as a transfer to both Umass Amherst and Lehigh. He plans to dual major in Chemistry and Japanese. He is a little further along than a 2nd year. I know the stats for each and given that alone, Lehigh would be the choice. However, we (he and all of us family) really love the Umass campus and town and feel so much better when visiting it than Lehigh. He will be staying just off campus and Lehigh worries me with the town and crime rate being so much higher than average. Umass is ranked much safer and we definitely get that feel when visiting. We are torn as I feel it would be easier to get into a good grad school from Lehigh. However, if he does well at Umass, that may not be a problem. Any thoughts? Ultimately it is his decision and I am just asking for opinion, a sway in either direction as we are so torn. I would love to hear from students as well! Thanks!
UMass-Amherst is the safer choice.
I would do Lehigh. Safety is for sure important, but as a student you will mostly be on campus most of the time and when going off campus you will be with friends and a larger group. Also keep in mind lehigh and umass are a lot differently socially speaking so that might be an important factor
If he likes UMass better, go there.
I am inclined to agree with @NJWrestlingmom. I do not think that there is a huge academic difference. Assuming that both are affordable, I would tend to go where the student is most comfortable. To me Amherst is a nice town, although I have only driven through and had day trips there (including tours of U.Mass).
For graduate school admissions I think that doing well as an undergrad (including grades, internships, getting good references, and other issues) is more important than where you are applying from.
As a (female) Lehigh student, I honestly feel very safe off-campus.
I have a friend with kids at both UMASS and Lehigh. Loves both and kids have enjoyed their time. Lehigh kid lives off campus and loves it.
Very different environments. Full disclosure - I attended UMASS and Amherst is about as quaint as it gets.