The University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Umass is what people tell you. A Zoo.
You are called by your student number, everywhere you go, everything you do or sign up for, you are a number. In any big university thats how they need to run things but for me, it just didn't cut it. As a freshman you will be put into classes of 100 to 400 people. If you happen to get a great TA who speaks english and is easily approachable then the classes can be okay, but if not then your screwed because its almost impossible to get in touch with professors. The classes are usually impossible to get into and you will spend a lot of time online refreshing the page hoping someone drops the class you want to get into.

The campus is ugly, although some of the buildings are pretty new england style most of the buildings are hunks of brick with no architectural value whatsoever. Southwest is just a slate of concrete and the FAC is completely impossible to navigate around. The campus pond is in the most inconvenient spot imaginable and adds an extra 5 minute walk to get to any place beyond it. Also the campus bus system is unreliable, never comes and is an extra pain in the winter. Oh, and I hope you like the smell of soy sauce, because that is what the campus smells like all winter. The dorms are huge, you wont know half the people on your floor by the end of the year because there are so many kids stuffed into the dorms. There are no suite style options in any of the good places to dorm like Southwest or Central. If you dont want to deal with communal bathrooms your going to be stuck with O-Hill, Sylvan or North. All of which are very removed from classes and the rest of campus.

Lastly the party scene. The frats are gross and not fun, usually crushingly crowded with bad beer and a large chance of getting roofied. Most of the poeple you meet will not remember their weekends at all and will end up drunkenly crashing in your dorm at least once in the year. Be prepared for puke in the sinks every Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Also, there is NO support system for people who do not want to drink, if you dont want to drink be prepared for weekends alone in your dorm room unless you want to go out with drunk friends and babysit them all night long.

All in all I would never choose this place again, its not worth the money, especially if your out of state.

1st Year Female -- Class 2014

Surrounding City: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: F

So i just became a freshman at umass this fall. so far i have been here and i hate it. i was born on Cape Cod and raised there most of my life and then a few years ago moved to Boston and i fell in love with the city and realized that close minded and small town Cape Cod was horrible. so now that im in college i feel like im stuck back in the small town Cape Cod with the same exact people but just in a different area. most of the kids that come here are from suburban areas of MA or New England states and many of them are coming to this school with tons of other students from their high school. so basically UMass is just a huge high school. each residential area is classified as a group just like high school. Frats guys, jocks, cheerleaders, and athletic people who constantly party and work out live in Southwest, the weird theater/music people that are hippies and are different live in Central, (and I live in Central and i love music and singing but i am not a hippie or a pot head and i am not weird at all, quite normal to say the least), the asians and really smart people/ socially awkward live in Northeast, the weird sketchy people that are socially awkard live in Sylvan, Smart geeks live in Orchard Hill, and mostly older people live in the north apartments. there are obviously some people who dont fit those categories that live there but the honest truth is that most are like that. many people have the same mindset and are not accepting of other peoples interests because they are surrounded by the same exact people 24/7. no one who goes here is and will never experience diversity and culture the real way unless they actually move to a place where there is real culture like a city. UMass is becoming more diverse, but there is still a ridiculously large amount of white people, under that asians, then blacks who mostly group together in Southwest Area, and hardly any hispanics and middle easterners. i feel like no one can ever grow if a bunch of the same people come to the same school.

another negative to this school is that it is it is huge. if you are the type of person who likes to have a personal relationship with a teacher and wants to know people in your class, then UMass wouldnt be a good choice. also, i always had good relationships with my teachers in high school but then applying for colleges i looked for big schools because it seemed more "collegy" to have a big campus, but once i got into a huge class where you have to sit cramped next to someone you dont know it's a total disappointment and you find out what you really want out of a school.

People in the dorms are pretty friendly but there are always some floors that just happen to have rooms with people who requested their roommates and already have a bunch of friends that come here. so it's hard to make friends because people already have groups.

there are about 250 clubs and organizations and that i can say is one of the only things i like about this school. you can always find a club that interests you or you can make your own club.

the dining halls are really good. there is only one that hardly has any variety and that's Franklin DC in Central.

i am want to become a Publicist within the entertainment industry so the closest major here to study is communications. this happens to not be a really good program if you want hands on experience and truthfully really want to pursue this as a career. it's a popular major so almost every required class has 200 students and all the classes mostly talk about the philosophy and theory of communication and NOT the modern aspect of it at all.

im also lucky to have a close friend who graduated from UMass and tried to be a comm major and she said it was a waste of time and to just drop it.

other programs here are better, it just depends on what you want to do.
i'd say just be honest to yourself when choosing this school because it's not all it's hyped up to be. the constant partying is true but gaining a good degree and education and actually using it to get a good job is hard. also, many of the students mainly choose this school because they want to go to college but dont want to do the work because they here it's all fun and games here. ZOO MASS is what they call this school, which just attracts the unfocused lazy and careless student and basically drags the whole school down.

im a really determined student that likes learning and meeting new people. i also am not really the kind of person that likes to separate myself from the main stream too much. many people who are different than the "athletic/popular" people try way to hard to be different and look down upon you if you like lady gaga or radio music (common things). i felt like this the moment i started and the more i tried to wait it out and be more accepting the more things i did not like about this school. most schools will always have these kind of people, but there are some schools that really are different and you just have to research. but here at UMass is seems like the majority has no drive to succeed and i dont want to surround myself around that. as soon as i felt like this i decided that i was going to transfer to a school in Boston. also, if you are picking this school to try and get away from you family because you think your independent enough, make sure you know for sure you can handle it. i always used to get into arguments with my parents and i always thought that being at a big school that was far would make me happy so i didnt have to deal with them was the best choice, but it was the worst. im only staying here the first semester just to build up my GPA a little bit so that i can hopefully get in right away to a school in boston that i like. for now these three months that i'm here will be like being mildly tortured. moral of my spiel is that it basically depends on what kind of person you are to judge this school. so dont be disuaded by UMass because of what i'm saying although most of it is true. make sure you research and find out as much as possible. you either LOVE it or HATE it and thats it.

1st Year Female -- Class 2014

University Resource Use/ spending: A+, Scholastic Success: F