The University of Massachusetts - Lowell

Date: Nov 04 2012
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
I like to think of UML as a revolving door school. A lot of people who start here transfer or dropout. A lot of people transfer here from CC's or other schools due to financial reasons or not being able to hack it, or any number of situations. Because of this professors and students are generally welcoming to newbies; you'll never feel isolated for transferring in or being non-traditional. Because of this element, coupled with the lack of a large cohort of intelligent people (there are some, but they're hard to find) and the large commuter population, UML is a glorified community college really, and that's the reputation it has amongst the nearby towns.

That being said, the students may be stupid but the professors are fantastic. My department was very tight knit among students and faculty, and its something I miss. They are great people, scholars, and educators.

In terms of resources for students it varies by college it seems. The top of the food chain is engineering and it shows. Sciences is next, followed by business. Fine Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities are left with the scraps, with Music getting first dibs. Access to JSTOR is severely limited as are physical materials, especially as a lot of humanities resources were removed from the library collection in the consolidation/ move to Lydon. The move of humanities/ social science resources from South to North also affects students on South negatively.

The gender ratio is also an issue. The university is mostly male, so parties are often awkward and is the reason for frat parties being bro-fests.

The university itself is split into 3 campuses (don't pay attention to people making mysterious comments about West Campus… It no longer houses anything useful) which makes it hard to feel like a university. University Crossing as a 4th (5th) campus located between North and East is supposed to unite things a bit, but it still isolates South, which is the closest to having a real university feel.

Bottom line: If you skated through life and want to go to a cheap school, UML would be good for you. If you consider yourself intelligent, go elsewhere to preserve your sanity. If you have any money, you can go to Assumption or Saint A's and get the same unintelligent schmucks with a real college experience.