UMass Amherst vs Lowell vs WPI - Math Major

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Massachusetts - Amherst
1

My son has been accepted to the honors colleges at both Amherst and at Lowell. He also was accepted to his first choice WPI. Although he would love to go to WPI, the cost would be $51,000 a year. Amherst and Lowell would be almost half that and the dorms are so much better for the honors students. Frankly WPI should be ashamed to charge the amount they do for a cinderblock double that they cram 3 kids into with no kitchens on the floor or laundry facilities in the building.

We have enough saved to cover one year at WPI, but he doesn’t want (and I don’t want) him leaving school with 150k in loans. We’ve heard great things about both UMA and UML. We’re leaning towards UMA because of the Commonwealth Honors College reputation and the location. He likes UMLs size, but I think the CHC would help make UMA feel a little smaller. He’s not really concerned about the population size of UMA, he’s more concerned about the availability of professors, research opportunities, internships, etc. due to the large size. We live almost equidistant between the two, so travel is not an issue.

I’m looking for any insight into the math departments and honors colleges of both schools. Also, in general, if faced with similar resumes from two candidates, do you think an employer would value the UMA diploma with the CHC over the UML diploma with the Lowell honors college? My gut says yes, but can anyone confirm that?

2

IMO, he’ll be happy with UMass Amherst honors. It will give him access to professors, as he wants. The size of the school and its reputation means he has more access to internships, not less. Honors does make the school seem smaller - you see the same faces all the time, especially in your first two years, which helps a lot. Nice dorms.

As a former hiring manager, who had also worked in corporate staffing, yes, employers who value such things consider UMass Amherst to be stronger than UMass Lowell. The firms I worked for recruited from UMass Amherst, but not from Lowell. If someone from Lowell applied and was qualified, we were happy to see them, but we sought out students from UMass Amherst.

3

I work for a recruiting firm in the Boston area and I look at resumes all day long. I’d say no difference whatsoever.