<p>My focus was on Umass though.</p>
<p>Umass is better all around</p>
<p>laxgal…This thread has been a comedy for you. You’re asking if U Mass Amherst is considered a “good” school from our perspective (in-state). The answer is YES. I My daughter has been accepted at UVM, U Dell honors, BU, Fordham, Syracuse… and is very much interrested in U MAss. Commonwealth College. We are going on Friday to take another look. This is a very big school, so whatever you’re interrested in will be available - parties included. I agree that your major makes a difference. Engineering, biology, business are all considered very good and competitive. The opportunities here for study abroad are excellent also. Obviously, a state school will have larger classes and maybe not the prettiest campus. Tough decisions. Everyone we’ve asked over the years that has gone to U Mass has had a great experience, and many are very succesful in their careers.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call it a comedy, but thanks for the information.</p>
<p>You answered what I wanted to know, so thanks.</p>
<p>Greek life at UMASS has a low percentage of involvement compared to many other schools, especially out-west and to the south, but for a school in the North East it is pretty good. The sororities are pretty kick ass including AEPhi, Chi Omega, Sigma Kappa, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and Sigma Delta Tau. Kappa and SDT are my favorites and have pretty nice houses as well, SDT is on North Pleasant on the way into Amherst and Kappa is on Nutting street. I believe most of the sorority girls are out of state so you may find yourself near people who are in the same position as you.</p>
<p>UMASS has the thrill of delivering on the weekends yet giving you the education that you (and those who are paying for it) want. It is a well-funded state school that can literally offer you any major/minor your could think of, and some you thought didn’t even exist. Its also a great school to go in UNDECLARED to as well, because if your interests change after a year or semester you can easily transfer from one college to the next. In case you didn’t know, UMASS Amherst comprises of 5 different colleges ranging from The Isenberg School of Management to the School of Engineering. So, if you go in pre-med you can easily switch to engineering, as I have done, and the same holds true if you think poli-sci interests you at first but later on you are more a psych girl.</p>
<p>In addition to having literally any type of major you want, UMASS can offer you any type of life style. If you want to have a quiet, focused living environment you can go to North East/Orchard Hill. If you like being around and need to socialize more then you can live in Southwest (but go to the library when you need to study). You can party, or not party. You can join club lacrosse, the finance club, or the frickin quidditch team if you wanted. UMASS offers A LOT outside of the class room, which you don’t really get to see on their web site or through a tour.</p>
<p>If you have any questions let me know. I currently live in Southwest and am part of Greek life here on campus. Believe me, there are ways to do well in school and have a great time here at UMASS.</p>
<p>number-one, that is exactly what I needed to hear haha.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the info! I’m still stuck between two schools, UMASS being one of them. I will be visiting again before I make my final decision, but having people like you tell me stuff about the school really helps. I was actually curious about the greek life too, so I’m glad you mentioned it. I wanted to know if it was pretty active, and you answered that. I’m really excited about visiting again.</p>
<p>Also, since I’d be about 4.5 hours away from home, I want to make sure there really is stuff to do on the weekends. Not that I doubt there is, it’s just that when I visited the campus everything was so dead, and that was on a Saturday. Is there always something going on? Because yes, I do want to have the opportunity to party, but that’s not what my focus is on, but is there other stuff going on as well?</p>
<p>everybody was prob sleeping if it was sat…i went on memorial day last year and it was dead, but visited again later and it was definitely much livelier.</p>
<p>My son and I went the Friday night before one of the accepted student days in March and I think the activity on the Campus and in Amherst really sold the school to my son. It really looked like it is not a suitcase school. We asked a number of people in Town and on Campus on the Saturday how they liked the area and everyone we spoke to seem to love Amherst. Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>thanks so much! I am definitely visiting again sometime in April.</p>
<p>Believe me, there is PLENTY to do on the weekends… and weekdays…</p>
<p>Social life usually consists of partying in the dorms as a freshmen, that’s where most of your friends are anyway. People make their way to the frats to party, the apartments in Pufton Villiage, and Hobart. There are house partys once in awhile too, but you don’t see those often as a freshman. You can go into Amherst too and visit the bars (yes under 21 - I’ve never been turned down). </p>
<p>If you were to join a sorority you would have exchanges with fraternities which can be pretty fun as well. The nice part about being in a Greek organization is that your weekends are usually planned for you with exchanges and parties. Even when we aren’t doing something, there is literally ALWAYS something to do, except on major holiday weekends when people go back home. If you wanted to you could go out any day of the week and probably find something to do. If you plan your classes out nicely you can make it so you can go out Thursday night and not have too rough of a Friday.</p>
<p>Outside of the routine, the sports games are always fun. People will pre-game and all go down to the football/hockey games BIG time. There are huge tail gates before the football games which are always fun as well. There are lots of cool concerts as well. We had Jay-Z in the fall and Ludacris and ■■■■■ are coming in the Spring. Oh yeah, and tickets are free to all of these events.</p>
<p>Trust me, your problem isn’t going to be finding stuff to do if you choose UMASS… You are going to have more of a difficult time in deciding WHERE to go and telling your friends you cant go out Tuesday night because you have an exam later in the week :)</p>
<p>See, hearing this makes me feel so much better haha. It’s difficult for me to choose still because I can’t decide if I want something far or close to home. I like the comfort of being close to home and knowing the city, but I am also intrigued by the thought of leaving home and being put into a school where I literally know NO ONE. I want to meet new people, and I’m afraid that college is going to be cliquey. </p>
<p>Needless to say, I still haven’t chosen where I’m going to go in the fall.</p>
<p>I’m at college 20 minutes away from home, and dont really hang out with people from my high school/area.</p>
<p>I know that is what will most likely happen, but part of me is still afraid that I won’t meet new types of people. I want to put high school in the past, not reenter it.</p>
<p>If you want to put high school “in the past”, then don’t go to a school that’s close to your home. </p>
<p>What’s great about UMass: I’m a senior graduating from UMass and one of my favorite things about this school is that I can meet a new person every day. There’s always something to do on campus (concerts, sporting events, socials) and off campus, number-one wasn’t lying on their post. I’ve never been bored. Tons of places to eat (I am trying to hit up all my favorites before I leave in May), it’s very pretty in the summer, fall and spring (winters are windy and cold but we’re in a valley so that is expected). Amherst is a massive college town (#1 in US from MSN), it’s easy to get places off-campus (free public transportation, and Peter Pan/Greyhound bus, Amtrak trains), and as far as people calling it “zoo-mass”–sure, we can party alot. But if you want an education too, it’s also a top ranked research university, and you can do a LOT in four years here academically. Classes ARE difficult, contrary to what you first posted. Living on-campus is decent, I’ve lived in Central and personally it’s my favorite. Very low-key atmosphere, older-school looking buildings. Wifi is being updated in the dorms within the next couple of years and most of the newer buildings on campus have wifi. There’s a ton of off-campus living options also. </p>
<p>What I don’t like: Administration can be a pain. Parking services is not popular with students (although personally I’ve never had to deal with them, not having a car ever on campus…but that just goes to show that you can get around without one). General Education requirements are the classes that are going to be the largest (up to 400 students, but that’s for something like Bio 100, which ALOT of students take) but you also take those classes your first or second year. You don’t have huge classes past your 2nd semester sophomore or junior year. There’s also always budget concerns within admin, but that is happening everywhere and hasn’t really affected me as a student.</p>
<p>My vote is UMass, I couldn’t imagine going anywhere else for my undergrad. You’d be silly to turn it down.</p>
<p>Where did you end up going?</p>