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I'm wondering if anyone out there might be able to shed some light on an issue.
I will be attending college as an undergraduate transfer student this upcoming semester. I've got my list narrowed down to two schools: UMass Boston and UMass Amherst.
So, have any of you had to decide between UMass Boston and UMass Amherst? What made you choose one over the other?
Any other thoughts on these two schools would be much appreciated.
Many thanks!
Granted my information as a full time resident might be out of date but I do visit Amherst/Northampton
area every year and have family in Boston whom I visit a few times a year.
I attended graduate school at UMass Amherst. I have a number of very close friends who attended and
graduated from UMass Boston. Friends who graduated from UMass Boston majored in Exercise Science,
Nursing, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering. UMass Boston is a good school and one gets a high
quality education there in the Sciences/Engineering/Health Professions. I don't really know much about the
non-science majors. At UMass Boston more of the students are what I call "grinding their way through."
What I mean by this is some are recent immigrants busting their tails to improve themselves.
Others made their mistakes when they were "young and dumb" and are now buckling down
to improve themselves. Others are balancing a family or career and in school to improve themselves.
For these people they don't have the time to fool around partying all the time. They are there to
get in, learn something, and get out. At UMass Amherst you have more of the party hardy crowd.
There are plenty of serious students at UMass Amherst, but a larger portion of the student body
is into partying as many young people do in college.
UMass Amherst also has excellent science programs (most state schools have good science programs).
A major difference between UMass Amherst and Boston is the student demographic. UMass Amherst
tends to be overwhelmingly "traditional aged" college students. By that I mean those who entered
freshman year of college directly after high school (17yrs-19yrs old). Moreover in the graduate programs
at UMass Amherst tends to be primarily traditional graduate students (MS and PhD) who went to graduate
school directly after undergrad.
While UMass Amherst is not a sports powerhouse per se such as Michigan, the sports teams at UMass Amherst
are more substantial and there are many events a student has access to for minimal cost because of their
student fees. As a grad student, I saw many exciting hockey games between UMass/BU UMass/Harvard
etc. The arts Center at UMass Amherst will get a disproportionately large number of broadway acts, if
that's your thing. It was explained to me that when they travel from Broadway to Boston, they stop
at UMass. At the arts Center I saw all the big named broadway acts including Cats as well as stuff as
Alvin Ailey Dance Company. The entertainment isn't as substantial as Boston but for it's size,
the 5-college area in Western, MA punches above its proverbial weight class culturally.
An added benefit, in Western, MA. I generally felt physically safer. When living in Northampton,
you see women pushing baby strollers walking about at 10pm at night. The somewhat more
laid back vibe of Western MA is also great as a student, so you can study hard by day and relax
at night.
In addition, for UMass Amherst the research enterprise is overwhelmingly more substantial versus
UMass Boston. This will impact your ability to have access to good research facilities, extensive research
library holdings, as well as access to faculty who are pioneers and or experts in their field.
If you are an undergrad, this could translate to your working in a research lab, potentially earning a
research publication, and certainly being able to obtain a glowing recommendation for whatever it is you
wish to do next whether it is employment or going on to graduate school.
At the graduate level, it is EVERYTHING to have such access.
If you are "non-traditional" at UMass Amherst, as I was in graduate school, there are communities
such as nearby Northampton/Florence, that are not dominated by the student culture as Amherst is.
That being said, Western MA certainly has a distinct culture from Boston and the area is stunningly
beautiful. I was a life long Bostonian (the city itself) who fell in love with Western MA for the time I was there.
Never said I did, nor did I say I attended UMASS Lowell. Point is despite UMASS Amherst being the flagship and top ranking overall, it's not an apples to apples when Lowell offers stuff that is lacking at UMASS Amherst (Nuclear and Plastics Engineering and being among them).
I'm not dissing UMASS Amherst, or trying to take anything away from you. Just trying to point out that it's not the be all end all when it comes to certain things. Calm down.
At UMass Amherst, they don't call it Plastics Engineering, rather they call it Polymer Science and Engineering.
UMass Polymer Science and Engineering is ranked #1 Nationally. It is a graduate only department (no undergrad major).
Different schools name certain disciplines differently.
Granted my information as a full time resident might be out of date but I do visit Amherst/Northampton
area every year and have family in Boston whom I visit a few times a year.
I attended graduate school at UMass Amherst. I have a number of very close friends who attended and
graduated from UMass Boston. Friends who graduated from UMass Boston majored in Exercise Science,
Nursing, Computer Science, and Electrical Engineering. UMass Boston is a good school and one gets a high
quality education there in the Sciences/Engineering/Health Professions. I don't really know much about the
non-science majors. At UMass Boston more of the students are what I call "grinding their way through."
What I mean by this is some are recent immigrants busting their tails to improve themselves.
Others made their mistakes when they were "young and dumb" and are now buckling down
to improve themselves. Others are balancing a family or career and in school to improve themselves.
For these people they don't have the time to fool around partying all the time. They are there to
get in, learn something, and get out. At UMass Amherst you have more of the party hardy crowd.
There are plenty of serious students at UMass Amherst, but a larger portion of the student body
is into partying as many young people do in college.
UMass Amherst also has excellent science programs (most state schools have good science programs).
A major difference between UMass Amherst and Boston is the student demographic. UMass Amherst
tends to be overwhelmingly "traditional aged" college students. By that I mean those who entered
freshman year of college directly after high school (17yrs-19yrs old). Moreover in the graduate programs
at UMass Amherst tends to be primarily traditional graduate students (MS and PhD) who went to graduate
school directly after undergrad.
While UMass Amherst is not a sports powerhouse per se such as Michigan, the sports teams at UMass Amherst
are more substantial and there are many events a student has access to for minimal cost because of their
student fees. As a grad student, I saw many exciting hockey games between UMass/BU UMass/Harvard
etc. The arts Center at UMass Amherst will get a disproportionately large number of broadway acts, if
that's your thing. It was explained to me that when they travel from Broadway to Boston, they stop
at UMass. At the arts Center I saw all the big named broadway acts including Cats as well as stuff as
Alvin Ailey Dance Company. The entertainment isn't as substantial as Boston but for it's size,
the 5-college area in Western, MA punches above its proverbial weight class culturally.
An added benefit, in Western, MA. I generally felt physically safer. When living in Northampton,
you see women pushing baby strollers walking about at 10pm at night. The somewhat more
laid back vibe of Western MA is also great as a student, so you can study hard by day and relax
at night.
In addition, for UMass Amherst the research enterprise is overwhelmingly more substantial versus
UMass Boston. This will impact your ability to have access to good research facilities, extensive research
library holdings, as well as access to faculty who are pioneers and or experts in their field.
If you are an undergrad, this could translate to your working in a research lab, potentially earning a
research publication, and certainly being able to obtain a glowing recommendation for whatever it is you
wish to do next whether it is employment or going on to graduate school.
At the graduate level, it is EVERYTHING to have such access.
If you are "non-traditional" at UMass Amherst, as I was in graduate school, there are communities
such as nearby Northampton/Florence, that are not dominated by the student culture as Amherst is.
That being said, Western MA certainly has a distinct culture from Boston and the area is stunningly
beautiful. I was a life long Bostonian (the city itself) who fell in love with Western MA for the time I was there.
Hey guys, I am 28 years old and I am currently attending a community college studying computer science. I did some research on UMass Lowell and UMass Amherst before because I am interested in transferring after I get my associate degree. One thing that intrigued me the most was the price tag from both schools and their corresponding ROI. Note I only did research for computer science degrees so I can't speak for other majors.
Anyways, if you look at the salary below you can see that software engineers from both schools make about the same amount after they graduate. As for expenses, Amherst is more expensive and they require the first year students to rent their rooms, even if you are a transfer student. Last time I check UMass Lowell doesn't have this requirement for transfer students. So personally for me, UMass Lowell is definitely the winner here.
To be honest as a CS student it doesn't really matter where you go but more about how motivated you are to learn things outside of class. School is there to you give you a good foundation, and whatever you want to do with it is up to you. I am sure all of you would agree with me on this, and I know for a fact this is true for us CS students.
As for expenses, Amherst is more expensive and they require the first year students to rent their rooms, even if you are a transfer student. Last time I check UMass Lowell doesn't have this requirement for transfer students. So personally for me, UMass Lowell is definitely the winner here.
If you are transferring in after earning your Associates degree you will come in as a Junior and you are not required to live on campus at UMass Amherst.
The costs are almost identical, $110,000 vs $108,000. UMass Amherst only requires freshmen to live on campus. After the first year, you can have lower expense living in surrounding towns, Hadley, Sunderland, Belchertown, and etc. PVTA has free buses to those towns. You need to rent a room in Lowell off campus too for the first year.
If you just want to be a software engineer, both schools are fine. I think the employers pay more attention to your skills and experience than where you graduated. But if you want to become a faculty, I believe UMass Amherst is better. It ranks much higher, and there are more ACM/IEEE fellows at Amherst too. I also believe that the top Amherst students will do better than top Lowell students on average. Your data shows that Amherst CS graduates have a higher average salary than Lowell.
I just browsed CS faculty list at UMass Lowell, and found a familiar face. He got his PhD from UMass Amherst.. I don't think you can find a faculty at UMass Amherst graduated from UMass Lowell.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pk7677
Hey guys, I am 28 years old and I am currently attending a community college studying computer science. I did some research on UMass Lowell and UMass Amherst before because I am interested in transferring after I get my associate degree. One thing that intrigued me the most was the price tag from both schools and their corresponding ROI. Note I only did research for computer science degrees so I can't speak for other majors.
Anyways, if you look at the salary below you can see that software engineers from both schools make about the same amount after they graduate. As for expenses, Amherst is more expensive and they require the first year students to rent their rooms, even if you are a transfer student. Last time I check UMass Lowell doesn't have this requirement for transfer students. So personally for me, UMass Lowell is definitely the winner here.
To be honest as a CS student it doesn't really matter where you go but more about how motivated you are to learn things outside of class. School is there to you give you a good foundation, and whatever you want to do with it is up to you. I am sure all of you would agree with me on this, and I know for a fact this is true for us CS students.
The costs are almost identical, $110,000 vs $108,000. UMass Amherst only requires freshmen to live on campus. After the first year, you can have lower expense living in surrounding towns, Hadley, Sunderland, Belchertown, and etc. PVTA has free buses to those towns. You need to rent a room in Lowell off campus too for the first year.
If you just want to be a software engineer, both schools are fine. I think the employers pay more attention to your skills and experience than where you graduated. But if you want to become a faculty, I believe UMass Amherst is better. It ranks much higher, and there are more ACM/IEEE fellows at Amherst too. I also believe that the top Amherst students will do better than top Lowell students on average. Your data shows that Amherst CS graduates have a higher average salary than Lowell.
I just browsed CS faculty list at UMass Lowell, and found a familiar face. He got his PhD from UMass Amherst.. I don't think you can find a faculty at UMass Amherst graduated from UMass Lowell.
I've interviewed and hired hundreds of people over the years. Both UMass and UMass-Lowell have always triggered the caution flag. The SAT Math scores just aren't that high. Neither is on the list of schools where you know anyone who got admitted and graduated is smart enough to to the work at my company. You have to do extra screening to validate that they're bright enough to handle the work. The top employers won't bother. They have plenty of strong paper from new grads from the top schools.
I've interviewed and hired hundreds of people over the years. Both UMass and UMass-Lowell have always triggered the caution flag. The SAT Math scores just aren't that high. Neither is on the list of schools where you know anyone who got admitted and graduated is smart enough to to the work at my company. You have to do extra screening to validate that they're bright enough to handle the work. The top employers won't bother. They have plenty of strong paper from new grads from the top schools.
And it's just a coincidence that you are no longer employed by any of those companies?
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