<p>Well...that was a little intiminating the first time I saw that. Is UMass a real "24 hour party" type school?</p>
<p>What about SW? I'm considering a RAP there, but I'm also premed. And not the "party hard" type. I'm considering the NW dorms or even Central/Orchard Hill. Thoughs over dorms and amount of partying going on there?</p>
<p>Honestly, it depends on where you live. The town of Amherst has cracked down on parties recently (slapping down fines for loud parties, etc.) so off-campus parties aren’t as crazy as they were when, for example, my parents went here in the 80s.</p>
<p>There is a large concentration of partiers in SW. Yes, some of them drop out after their first semester and too many days of partying on weeknights, but plenty of them are smart and have 4.0s.</p>
<p>Central is probably the next biggest party area after Southwest, but the people I know there are generally more chill about their partying and will respect your decision not to drink. (As a side note, don’t live in Central if the smell of pot bothers you).</p>
<p>Northeast and Orchard Hill are much quieter. (I live in OHill and while I occasionally can hear parties its never to the point where I can’t fall asleep at night due to the loud music or anything, which I’ve heard people living in Southwest complain about frequently). I don’t drink a ton and have never really been peer-pressured into drinking if I didn’t feel like it.</p>
<p>I think there is partying anywhere you go, and it’s not just Amherst. My freshman S is in Northeast, and he says there’s vomit in the shower stalls on the weekends, and someone on his floor got violently drunk and had to be removed by campus security. But for the most part, they study hard and get good grades.</p>
<p>
I’ll never forget, we were on a tour of a small private college, in one of the dorms looking at a room, when a person came out of the room next door. We could see inside the room, which was really nice - it had a fake fireplace with a mantle, .</p>
<p>And across the mantle?</p>
<p>At least 20 empty Jack Daniels bottles. All neatly lined up with the labels just so.</p>
<p>Point being, at <em>every</em> school, whether it has a (deserved or undeserved) reputation or not, there are people in the 24/7 party mode.</p>
<p>There are over 20,000 students at UMass. I’m pretty sure you will be able to find a group of friends who party as much or as little as you are interested in.</p>
<p>Southwest is not as bad as people make it out to be, although it is true that there is a large concentration of parties going on there. I’m currently a freshman at UMass and live in Southwest, and it’s not as bad as people make it out to be. Not once have I had any trouble with falling asleep, or studying, due to noise or loud music.</p>
<p>that’s helpful, thanks!</p>