UMass Amherst Questions!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Massachusetts - Amherst
21

Thanks for this - great to have a current student perspective. Good luck to you!

22

Yikes, can any current parents/students comment on how UMass is managing Covid. The news stories coming out are concerning.

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23

A lot of people live off campus. It’s a big state U. It’s impossible to control the behavior of the off-campus students, unless the town or state police want to do it. Right now, UMass is even trying to prevent students who live off campus from going to their off campus employment - an area over which they have no jurisdiction.

The transmission is not happening in campus classrooms, and it’s probably not happening in campus dorms. It’s happening off campus. where students are governed by state, not university, rules.

I suspect that this is less a University issue, than a town issue/state issue.

24

Late, but I hope this is potentially helpful to someone.
Recent (2020) UMass alumna.

  1. Getting the classes you want may sometimes be a problem, especially if as a freshman you want to take higher level classes, since upperclassmen have priority. I had to take freshman writing second semester because all the sections were full first semester. However, UMass is not like one of those super impacted UCs where people can’t graduate on time because classes fill up so fast.
  2. The campus is manageable for walking. If she’s a science major, she might have to hustle a bit to get from a science building to a humanities building for a Gen Ed, but buses wouldn’t help there.
  3. Northeast is good, but Orchard Hill and Central are also nice. I lived in Central all four years. One of my floor mates last year started his theoretical physics PhD this year, so there’s definitely serious students outside of the Honors dorms. I had several Honors students on my floor who were simply not interested in paying extra.
  4. Yes! I made lots of good friends at the Science Fiction club. UMass has tons and tons of student organizations to suit any taste.
  5. Some classes were overwhelmingly large. If she takes Calculus for Life and Social Science majors, it’s gigantic and doesn’t have a discussion section. But the really big classes do tend to have optional discussions held by TAs. Generally, I liked the TAs I had.
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25

Thanks so much @MaryHildegard for your really helpful feedback! Glad you had a good experience at UMass!

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26

@Throwaway2021 Wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving us your perspective as a current student? My daughter will be a freshman in CNS and is looking at doing a particular RAP which is offered in Cance Hall in SW and in Knowlton in Northeast. She is a good student, wants to be around other “studious” kids but also wants an active social life on campus. She likes to have fun but is not a hard core “partier”. She is hearing the dorms in SW are crazy/noisy especially Thurs-Sun. Is that how Cance hall is as well? I know it’s a low-rise so not one of the towers. We are trying to get the real story. She’s torn because of the “reputation” of these 2 dorms. She is hoping for something in between. How does Central fit in? Any advice is appreciated!

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