The University of Massachusetts - Amherst

Date: Nov 29 2003
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
The university can be overwhelming, but I like to think of it as overwhelming in the sense that it offers so much. UMass bears the advantages of most large public institution, namely a diversity of resources, students, academic, sports, and social programs as well as relative affordability. Professors were often experts in their fields (e.g. I took a literature class with the world's leading Beowulf scholar). Some classes and discussion sections are taught by graduate assistants but they were usually very good. The five college system, which comprises UMass, Hampshire, Amherst, Smith, anf Mt. Holyoke, is unparalleled: as a UMass student you can take courses and use the libraries at any of these private colleges. The towns of Amherst and Northampton are exceptional for their sizes (12,000 and 31,000 permanent residents respectively). Wonderful restaurants, cafes, non-profit organizations, international music acts, festivals, and so forth abound. Join the Honors Program, live in a quiet dorm like Orchard Hill, move off campus after two years into one of the many interesting New England communities. Do your Junior Year abroad. Approach your faculty, ask to do independent studies for credit under their expertise. I recommend UMass highly, despite the shortcomings that have been referred to thus far. You have to seek out the vast opportunities here, and I can assure once you start looking they won't be hard to find.