University of Massachusetts-Amherst Top Questions

Yes, we do have some amazing parties...but the majority of the student body knows how to balance their academics with their fun.

To an extent, however, it is wrong to just generalize.

No, but theres always a chance to party and if thats not your plan for the night then there are lots of other things to do.

That stereotype only represents about 5{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the students here

In a certain way, they are, but no more than any other school you may attend. Because UMass is a state school, and a large one at that, people have put it into the category of being nothing BUT a party school. That is not the case. UMass offers wonderful extracarricular activities and academic opportunities for it's students, and has a knowledgable staff of professors and TA's who are always willing to help their students in better understanding course materials and progressing in their academic careers.

Absolutely not! As a student here at UMass, I have spent the past three years thoroughly loving the academic opportunities UMass has afforded me. I am a member of Commonwealth College. As such, I am involved in challenging coursework that involves invigorating discussion. Though Friday and Saturday nights are considered by some the time to party, there is always something going on either within the University, or in the Amherst community. THe University offers a movie every Friday where students can go to hang out and enjoy the show and some free popcorn. There are also many restaurants to tempt the pallete in Amherst. Plenty of students venture into Northampton to enjoy this unique community. I often find myself reading or studying with a cup of Joe in the Haymarket on Main Street. UMass affords many opportunities for its students: both academically and socially, and I am proud to say I will be a UMass graduate next year!

There is a lot of partying, but there are also areas on campus that are quiet. People who party won't be bored here, but those who don't can find a place, too. Also, there are a lot of credible majors. For instance, the business school and hospitality management program are among the top 10 in the country. However, there are certainly dumb slackers here, too.

Not at all. In reality, We get one of the best educations here. The classes are interesting, and push all students to work to their full potential. On the stereotype about party animals, yeah, I am not going to lie, a lot of students do like to let loose once in a while, and while there are some students who party almost every night of the week, most students just don't. It's normally on the weekends that students like to have a good time, but, at what college don't you see that?

With underclassmen, yes, as they often feel compelled to live up to the stereotypes.

As I said, its a huge generalization. Although this may be true, these stereotypes take away from students who actually care about their education and may otherwise finance their college education themselves.

NO!

In my opinion they're horribly inaccurate. As an engineering student, I spend more time in computer labs working on projects than I do partying. I'll usually go out about one night a week. I've never ever felt unsafe at UMass whether I lived on or off campus. I think that maybe the University was less strict about behavior in the past but I believe that that opinion was turned into a stereotype that we no longer embody. I have a lot of pride in UMass and I'm happy to have attended all four years of my college education here.

I think that in part there is a heavy acess of alcohol flowing within UMass and there is often valdalism and crazy acts being done by drunk students. However, as I said school is what you make of it, and ever school has a party scene, it's just that most are covered up better than UMass, being a public university.

These are not correct. There are many extremely smart students here who attended for financial reasons or because of the Commonwealth College Honors Program which is highly regarded. Also, not everyone who attends UMass Amherst is a partier or goes out to riot after sporting events - it's just that you only hear about the bad things.

Absolutely accurate. Ask anyone.

extremely accurate.