The University of Massachusetts - Amherst

UMASS Amherst is a good school. It just depends on the type of person you are that relies on whether or not you will have a good time here. I haven't finished a semester yet but I almost have. I'm going to be completely honest. The academics here, is great, you will get a good education if you pick your professors correctly. I can't speak for all of the programs, but for political science, economics and languages, all three of these departments have been good. Although this school isn't really "known," for it. This schools is known for the business school, engineering and I have heard they had a great hospitality program. Social Science are good/decent and everything else I am not sure. Classes are big especially if your a freshman taking gen eds. 3 out of 4 of my classes have over 100 people and I'm not even one of the more popular majors at this school. Big classes mean professors probably don't know your name unless you make the effort. There are discussion classes where it gives you the chance to ask questions but from my experience, the TA's either know less of what you know, or the same. I haven't found them helpful and they also don't know how to teach from my experience. Also, in big classes, your going to have less work, but then the work that actually IS due, are worth big chunks of your grade. Nobody holds your hand at this school and you need to figure everything out on your own. You get a syllabus and you need to plan your semester out, which I hope if what its like at every college. When you come to this school, you have to grow up, and fast. I find adjusting to a school like Amherst is a lot harder then adjusting to a small school.

Anyways, if you like big classes, not being part of discussions and not needed to ask any questions then maybe Amherst is for you.

The campus is gigantic, and some parts are very beautiful. There are many resources on this campus and there is of course the famous library. The school definitely gives you the tools succeed but it is your job to go online and find where they are. There are tutoring centers everywhere and its not like you get emails about it or any kind of posting anywhere. Like I said, your an adult and need to figure out everything yourself and be on top of things.

In terms of dorms, they are very average. Its a typical small room, I don't know how else to describe it. Food is decent. The best thing here is the ice cream machines. There are many options to choose from. There are what I believe 4 main dining halls. Worcester dining being the worst unless you want sushi. But all dining hall serve the traditional, french fries, burgers, pizza, pasta, stir fry, salad and specials. The food is good but don't expect homemade food, its obvious their food come from some sort of plastic or frozen component. But there is a lot of variety and even though I do prefer eating out, I don't loathe eating in dining halls. Other then dining halls there are a lot of mini restaurants I guess you could call them like Pita Pit, Tamales, Blue Wall, Starbucks, cafes and food trucks. The issue with this is that once you use all your YCMP, you have to use real money (debit). I ran out of YCMP within the first month. Using money to eat at these other places is costly and it sucks that sometimes I want coffee but have to have my mom transfer me money every once in awhile. I know other schools give you certain amount of dollars but not here.In terms of social life, no matter how shy you are you'll have some sort of social life if you put the effort into it. Literally all you have to do (shy people) is leave your door open, and people will come talk to you. If you put yourself there, you will have a social life. The real test though, is making REAL friends. Friends are easy, but making friends you can connect with is totally different ***UNLESS*** your sole purpose to go to college is to have a social life, have sex and drink, then I promise you will love ZooMass. I have never seen so many people in my life, so obsessed with their social life. Unless you live in Northeast, a girl can not be alone in her room for five minutes without having social life withdrawls. If your into fake friends, partying 5 out of 7 days of the week and having sex with men you barely know, I promise Umass Amherst will be the time of your life. But if your looking for a social life with true friends where you can just hang out then please, stay away from UMASS Amherst. I stay here because of the great education you CAN get here, but I am not happy here most of the time. Friends are important, no doubt about that and if I had the chance I would leave this school. But again because of the education, I am staying. If your still in high school and looking at this review, please don't make the mistake I did and blow off a FREE education and a FREE pass to straight A's like I did. I'm not smart by any means, I'm a try hard like 90% of you guys and I WISH I could go back to high school and get into my dream school. Getting straight A's in college and transferring is MUCH harder then in high school. Well I guess this end my review. Bottom line is, if your looking for a cheap, nationally ranked school consider going here. But if your looking for close personable relationship with professors and mature people, this school might not be for you. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are a lot of great people here, but my point is, is that its a party school, and finding great people, is hard to find here.

1st Year Female -- Class 2016

University Resource Use/ spending: A+, Individual Value: C-

I don't even know where to begin with UMass-Amherst. At first glance, UMass-Amherst is a beautiful school with an overall friendly student body. The class sizes are small enough to where most professors know your name. The school is constantly renovating its buildings and therefore, the resident halls are top-notch. The administration at UMass is trying very hard to improve UMass's poor reputation. The school has several great programs, with one of the most competitive ones being nursing. UMass's nursing program has surprisingly been ranked as the top nursing program in the state. Unfortunately, some of the other programs of study are just mediocre. At UMass, it really depends what you choose to study when it comes down to whether you receive a good education or not.

Socially, UMass is a friendly school. Most of the students at UMass care a great deal about their social lives, and the overwhelming majority tends to party- maybe a little too much. As a freshmen, going out, drinking, and meeting new people may be fun, but with not much to do around town, that scene can become old and repetitive by the time sophomore year rolls around. As someone who likes to be well-rounded (get my work done, play sports, socialize) it is somewhat annoying that all ANYONE wants to do here is drink. I don't mean drinking to get tipsy or a little drunk... there are large amounts of students blacking out on wednesday nights and hungover on tuesdays. As a rising senior, I wish i could be around people who can keep me focused on important things for my career, not just on drugs and alcohol. UMass is still a fun school, but I'm realizing, do I only want to go to a school because it's fun? I'd rather not feel like the odd man out for not wanting to smoke weed and get drunk 4-5 days a week. As a senior, I'm doubting how well UMass has prepared me for the real world, but that is also tied to differences in programs offered. I do like parts of UMass, but I sometimes wish I went to a more normal school.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2014

Friendliness: A, Innovation: D-