UMass or Northeastern? (Boston, Amherst, Northampton: middle-class, appointed, crime)

[Dellmom]

If cost were not an issue and you wanted to major in English which school would you pick and why?

[lrfox]

It's funny, my sister went through the same debate process just this past year (except for Biology as a major). She ended up choosing Northeastern. I'm assuming you mean UMass Amherst and not UMass Boston. If you ARE talking about UMass Boston, the choice is a no-brainer; Northeastern is a far better school than UMass Boston. UMass Boston's only advantage (aside from cost) is the fact that it's a commuter school, so if you were to commute, UMass would be better oriented to suit your needs. If you're talking about UMass Amherst, the decision is a bit tougher to make.

If money were no object, I'd make the same decision as my sister did (yes, even with English as a chosen major). For me, the argument is less a matter of the reputation and value of the degree (they'll be similar, though Northeastern is a bit more highly regarded) and more a matter of what comes with the entire experience. Northeastern is an urban school that lies close to the heart of one of America's greatest cities. The proximity to cultural attractions, entertainment, other excellent academic institutions, some of the best healthcare facilities and the all-round city life is far more appealing to me than what's provided in Amherst. Don't get me wrong, Amherst is great in its own right. It's close to Northampton and has nearly 30,000 students living in the area thanks to the multitude of school in Amherst's surrounds. It's also set in an area of great natural beauty, but for me, the city life trumps all of that.

Amherst will be the more traditional college campus. It's large and sprawling, but it is the epitome of the stereotype of academia (with some twists). There are many traditional collegiate looking buildings in the central campus, but also a good mix of modernist buildings as well. It's in a rural, wooded area and just really looks and feels like a college campus should. Northeastern has a definite campus (some Boston schools like Suffolk, Emerson, etc really don't) and a collegiate environment, but it's part of a larger organism (the city of Boston) whereas UMass Amherst is the center of most activity in the area. Both are excellent college experiences, but Northeastern is a bit less traditional than UMass.

Something else that would support the Northeastern decision would be the Co-op program. Northeastern is a five year program with a mandatory (as far as I know it's mandatory) co-op/ internship program. This program is REALLY effective in helping with job placement after school (it also looks good when applying to graduate programs). I think this aspect of Northeastern's program is vital and incredibly important to the success of a student in an increasingly competitive climate.

Safety is a concern anywhere your child goes to school (I assumed you're a parent from the username. Correct me if I'm wrong). The obvious assumption to make is that the rural school (UMass) will be safer than the urban one (NEU). While I wouldn't argue that being exposed to the city life would be an eye-opening experience to many; I don't know if I think that safety at an urban/rural school is as black and white as many like to think. For instance, most incidents of criminal activity on and around a college campus are caused by and involve college students. As a result, vandalization, petty theft, date rape, minor assault are likely to happen at ANY campus regardless of where it's situated. Northeastern is in a good section of Boston (the Fenway neighborhood). Part of it fringes on Roxbury which is poorly reputed, but the section that Borders NEU isn't particularly bad... it's also not difficult at all to avoid this area as a student. I would say Amherst may be a bit safer for a student than NEU, but not by too much.

In the end, I do have to go with Northeastern if cost is no object (heck, I'd make the same choice on a tighter budget too). It's a bit more highly regarded (making a degree all that much more valuable) and the experienced gained from the five year/ co-op program is invaluable. You don't get that at UMass, no matter how good of a state school it is (and it IS a good school). Finally, the environment at Northeastern is just so much more appealing to me than the environment at UMass Amherst (of course, that's a personal opinion). I would go with Northeastern.

[Dellmom]

Thank you very much for a very thoughtful and comprehensive evaluation of the pros and cons! We are leaving tonight for tomorrow's accepted student open house at UMass Amherst (sorry I didn't specify which UMass). We have already been through the NEU event and my child was quite impressed (as was I). UMass had been the first choice, but I think it's 50/50 now. Hopefully, we will know what the choice is soon. I will share your thoughts. Thanks again!!

[lrfox]

No Problem! I hope you enjoy the accepted student open house. I went last spring with my sister and they did an excellent job (sold my father on the school, he was skeptical beforehand). If you have time and haven't been before, take a quick ride through nearby Northampton (maybe walk around downtown, the weather will be beautiful). It's really the gem of the region. It's a beautiful little town and UMass has buses that go from campus to town. Amherst is nice in its own right, but the real draw is Northampton as that's where much of the off-campus activity is. Good luck. You're debating between two really good schools; I doubt you (or your child) will be disappointed either way.

[holden125]

I don't really have anything to add to lrfox's thorough discussion of the actual schools, but I do have one observation from the perspective of a person who twice chose to go to school in the midst of a large city.

While it can be fun, and I'm generally a city person, I sometimes regret not having gone to a school with a more traditional campus in a quieter town. There will be plenty of opportunity to live in Boston after graduating, and a good percentage of UMass classmates will be there after graduation too. But if you go to school in Boston, you will probably not live in Amherst or a town like it for a long time, if ever.

I spent four years at school in the city, worked in cities for four more, spent three more years of school in the city, and worked in cities for yet another five years. Looking back at the last 15-16 years, it has all been in cities. If there was going to be a time that wasn't in the city, the time I was in school would have been it.

[goyguy]

I'm going to go against the flow here and put in a vote for UMass. Northeastern is geared far more toward "marketable" majors such as business and engineering, with the co-op program (by no means "mandatory") feeding into that. Liberal-arts majors are a weak link in the chain there.
The on/off campus environments are diametrically opposed: UMass is in a suburban/rural area with a largely homogeneous population, but boasts a highly diverse student body. Northeastern's surroundings are dwelled in by a mosaic of humanity, but the kids who go there are overwhelmingly White/suburban/middle-class. One of the things "they" say about college is that you go there for an education and take classes while you're at it. The potential for a varied and enriching real-life education is higher at UMass, at least it's more readily at hand. A good indicator of this is the prevalence of "Greek houses." Sororities and fraternities are on the social and geographic periphery in Amherst, somewhat less so at NU despite how easy it is to make one's own fun in Boston. Living on campus at UMass also affords an array of choices, not only in terms of "residence area" (dorm cluster) but also right down to house corridor. There are "quiet floors," special-interest suites i.e. one for Japanese-studies majors and Japanophiles, a co-op living dorm, you name it. Undoubtedly the same sort of options exists at Northeastern, but they aren't played up as much.
The "ZooMass" reputation lives on, but the school has gotten steadily tamer as years go by. While laughable, there are rules against possession of alcohol in the dorms and students do occasionally land in major hot water if caught. It's true that every university contends with crime issues, but rarely if ever are people randomly attacked on the streets of Amherst or Northampton while this is hardly unheard of in Beantown. By far the most sketchy of UMass' "residential areas" is Southwest, the section with high-rise dorms, where collegiate hijinks have sometimes meant post-sporting-event melees and pizza-delivery holdups and so on. Even there, though, the primary issue is noise. Despite how popular iPods are, there's still that adolescent urge to crank the tunes!
Complete course catalogues for both schools should be available through their Web sites. That should be a deciding factor, but if the offerings appear to be roughly equivalent then you know what my choice would be.

[DreamworksSKG]

I would choose Boston University over both, but Northeastern is pretty good compared to Amherst. Also at NU you're right in the heart of Boston :-)

Amherst is kind of out in the sticks so to speak
compared to Boston anyway

[Dellmom]

Thanks for your thoughts. My son really loved UMass on Friday and he saw two of his friends there. I'm still kind of bugged by the fact we really saw and heard very little about what the academic experience would be like. Northeastern was quite the opposite. I hope he will give serious consideration to why he is there in the first place - to get an education!

[Dellmom]

Thank you for your thoughts. One of the cool things that happened while we were there happened while we were taking a quick look at the hotel rooms on campus. The assistant manager gave us the tour and in doing so mentioned that she hires students for jobs at the hotel. My son has a job as an assistant manager at Market Basket. When she heard about his customer service skills she practically started interviewing him on the spot for a front desk job. She said she liked that he was clean cut, asked for his name and made a point of telling him to contact her in August. I think a campus job would really help ground him. He loves to work and does better when he is busy!

[DreamworksSKG]

Umass does have a good education, but its kind of out in the middle of nowhere, to get anywhere to do stuff he'd have to have a car.

At NU you could take the "T" all over the city and you'd be right in the city
with all Boston has to offer.

UMASS is also known as a "party" school. So I don't know if you want him to go to a place where he might be distracted by parties and not study as much.

Freshman year can be a little odd for people who were just in hIgh school.
They think they have all the time in the world, to make up for lost time, and missed classes. They also think its like highs school where if you miss a week you can still make up the work. College isn't like that. you miss a week, you're sunk. You might miss an exam, or important information for a upcoming paper, or exam. Course work is heavy in college esp. freshman year and sophomore year.

So I guess its up to whether you want him to be at more of a party school out in the boonies where it would be harder to see the area, on days off
Yeah the berkshires and pioneer valley are nice, but if you dont have a car, you wont see any of it.

Its not like Boston where there's lots of public transit .

Boston is the place to be. I would say NU all the way

Tho I prefer BU to NU :-)