Visiting the library on the UMass Amherst college tour
We’ve been working up to it for a while but now its arrived – time to start visiting colleges and working through the process of figuring out where #1 Son will apply to college. Over the next 12 months or so we’ll share our perceptions of the schools we visit. We really encourage comments if you have any experience with the school being reviewed. We’ll kick off this series with a trip to University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Why UMass Amherst?
The University of Massachusetts has a number of campuses, but UMass Amherst is considered the flagship with roughly 20,000 undergraduates plus 6,000 grad students. It is part of a 5-college area in central Massachusetts that offers a lot of activities and access to the outdoors as well as a wide range of academic options (see our prior article about fun family activities in Western MA for more information on the general area). Amherst is located 90 miles west of Boston, 60 miles north of Hartford, Conn., and 175 miles north of New York City.
As Massachusetts residents we figured it made sense to start looking at colleges in our own backyard. For state residents, the current combined charges for tuition, room and board are about $20,500 a year, which makes it a bargain compared to a lot of other residential colleges.
UMass Amherst Student Center
As we learned in the 45-minute information session provided by the admissions department, the school is becoming more competitive every year. The average GPA for the September 2010 incoming class is slightly more than 3.6. Given that UMass has somewhat of a reputation of being a party school the fact that this is the 7th year in a row that the average GPA and SAT scores have increased gave us a sense that the campus is becoming more academically focused in recent years. Collectively, eight undergraduate schools and colleges offer 94 undergraduate degree programs.
We were interested to hear from our tour guide that UMass Amherst was initially her last choice, but with economics in mind she enrolled and has had a very positive experience getting involved with some of the school’s 200+ clubs, sports and activities and forming strong friendships along the way. She is planning to do graduate work and is very pleased that by attending the state school for undergrad she will graduate with little or no debt and be in a situation where she can afford to pursue graduate studies.
UMass Amherst – Is Bigger Better?
Of course, as with any large school, one of the first questions that comes to mind is: will my kid get lost in the shuffle? UMass Amherst is a largely residential school, with approximately 12,000 undergrads living on campus — half of them in a 1960′s era high rise dorm complex at the southwest end of campus. All freshmen are required to live on campus unless they live at home within a 40 mile commuting radius.
A dorm room at UMass Amherst
The school offers a number of programs to help freshmen get connected to the larger community including a 2-day summertime new student orientation program when roommates and dorm choices are made. Of the school’s 45 dorms, 17 are for first-year students. About half of the freshman class lives in the towers and the rest are distributed across the school’s four other lower rise and smaller scale residential complexes.
All the freshman dorm floors are staffed with Resident Assistants. Dorm and floor specific activities are also offered to help kids connect throughout their first year. We thought the Residential Academic Program (RAP) which allows students with similar interests to live together and take a small group class or discussion section in the dorm was a great way to get to know potential new friends. Roughly 40% of freshman participate in the RAP program.
At first glance, upon arriving at the visitor’s center, your view of campus includes some of the school’s largest buildings. It can be a bit overwhelming. Thanks to a major expansion program in the 1960s, the south side of the campus is dominated by a number of large, modern buildings – some of the poured concrete variety. These include the Fine Arts Center, the Campus Center, and the 28-story brick library which is home to 3+ million books.
Thankfully, the 75-minute student led walking tour provided by the school really helped us to get oriented and to understand how the 1,4000+ acre campus, with more than 300 buildings, is really a collection of smaller focused schools and living areas that help provide a more intimate experience than first impressions might indicate.
Workspace in the basement of the UMass Amherst library
Aside from touring the campus and hearing about the social life, we did make an effort to get a sense of the what the academic workload might entail. From the sound of it, UMass kids are asked to write a number of papers and read lots of book, do projects, take tests, etc. but most still have time for sports, activities and friends. The admissions office indicated they look for kids who are involved and committed to community service.
Will He Apply?
#1 Son came away with a very positive impression of UMass Amherst – although, as he admitted, he doesn’t yet have lot to compare it to. Mom felt that this type of school can work well for a kid that is organized, outgoing, and willing to advocate for themselves, but might be a bit stressful for kids who are still working on social skills or lack confidence in their ability to make friends and navigate complex environments. At this point, UMass Amherst is on our list of schools where #1 Son will probably apply, although, we still need to talk to some current students and maybe visit again when school is in session since campus was pretty empty during our summer visit. We found the school’s information session and tour very helpful and definitely recommend them if you are considering the school.
