Amherst College vs UMass Amherst?

nothing_at_all · 11-19-2008, 02:21 AM

I'm applying out of state, from California, and I was wondering what differences these two schools have, besides the obvious (public vs private, tuition). Do you think I'd have more chances at being offered scholarships/grants at one school over another? Is there a big difference in the level of education, the environment, etc? I don't want to apply to both but don't know enough to pick between the two!

: ) · 11-19-2008, 01:10 PM

well... from what i know they're extremely different. amherst is one of the top LACs, and UMass Amherst is - well... it's not a bad school, but the level of education at amherst is definitely higher. you should probably just go look at the websites. the differences are pretty clear.

Ford1998 · 11-19-2008, 01:24 PM

UMass is a large flagship state university. IMHO, it's neither particularly attractive nor especially unattractive. Amherst is a small (1,600) LAC with a very attrtactive campus. They are very close to each other; through the 5 College Consortium, you can take classes at both (as well as Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire).

UMass is a significantly easier admit, even if you are out of state.

Which has better financial aid is not an easy question. Amherst doesn't offer merit aid, but is on everyone's "best-buy" list because they are very generous in meeting need. So if you qualified for need-based aid, Amherst would probably be your best bet. If you don't qualify on a needs basis, then by definition UMass, which does offer some merit money, would be a better bet for financial aid. UMass is also significantly less expensive, even for an out of state student.

There are a lot of other New England college options -- the 6-state area is relatively small. Let us know what you're thinking on the size issue and something about grades, scores, EC's, etc. and I'm sure you'll get a lot of thoughtful advice on other options in the area...

kwu · 11-19-2008, 05:36 PM

You could not compare UMass to Amherst in the same way that you would Berkeley to Pomona.

You need to do some research on your own.
The next time you drop by your local bookstore or library, check out these titles:

Fiske Guide to Colleges
Princeton Review's The Best Colleges

Catfish · 11-19-2008, 09:37 PM

I have a hard time thinking of any reason why an out of state student would have both Amherst College and UMass Amherst on their list. Do some more research on each of the schools and the differences between large universities and small LAC's in general (the posters above have suggested several good resources). You'll probably form a preference pretty quickly for one kind of school over another.

b'smom · 11-19-2008, 09:50 PM

they are so very different, but you can take classes at either with the 5 college plan if I'm not mistaken.

nothing_at_all · 11-20-2008, 11:19 PM

my 9-11 GPA is 3.6/4.1, SATs are 2130 (m-680, cr-660, w-790), all my SAT IIs are between 540 and 680.... and I'm an IB diploma candidate so all 8 of my classes last year and all 6 this year are IB/AP.
Major ECs: mock trial, 4 years & co-captain; journalism 3 years, writer & editor; varsity swimming 4 years; CSF 3 years & treasurer; NHS 2 years & secretary. i volunteered regularly at a library for 3 years and was vp of the teensReach program there, and did an internship last summer w/ the County Supervisor as part of an organization trying to increase Asian-American civic participation. btw I'm Indian.

But thanks, I'll look furthur into both of them! I know that Amherst is obviously the better school, but my major concern for applying out of state is financial aid.... I won't be eligible for much and my parents are very hesitant in taking out loans.

paying3tuitions · 11-22-2008, 12:10 AM

Quote:

you can take classes at either with the 5 college plan if I'm not mistaken.

I hope a current student will weigh in on this. I don't think it's an equal or reciprocal arrangement.

I think that students from the 4 private colleges can take classes anywhere in the 5-college consortium, but due to the huge numbers of students (25,000 or so) at UMass at Amherst, the UMass students can't cross-enroll into classes at the 4 private colleges.

I don't know if that is for all classes or some classes, but I know the UMass students are limited for such cross-registration, unlike the situation for a student who goes to one of the 4 private institutions where they cross-enroll in all 5 places.

On the other hand, there are many more course offerings at UMass, so if a student at Amherst College wants to take an unusual foreign language, it might be found at UMass and not in the private school catalogues.

EC's are more open and fluid. For example, I've seen theater productions at Amherst College listing cast and crew students from UMass, Mt. Holyoke, Hampshire and Smith. There were Hampshire students singing in the Amherst Concert Choir. My Amherst college son went over to UMass at Amherst to be in a student-produced musical, and participate in religious services for a change of scene from Amherst College.

asfh09 · 11-24-2008, 05:40 PM

I live in MA, so I hope I can shed some light on this.

Umass Amherst is a bit of a party school. I remember some people telling me about going to Amherst College and then going to Umass for parties. But you can take classes there, too, through the 5-College Consortium. I don't know about any limits, but that means you have something like 5000 courses you can take. And it's pretty easy to get from one college to the other - I'm pretty sure they provide busing.

Amherst College is currently ranked #1 (tied with Williams, also a great school) in terms of liberal arts colleges, while Umass is considerably farther down the list. It's also smaller and a lot harder to get into (18%). You'll generally find that students are a lot more focused on grades and studying at Amherst, which makes sense since it's such a top school. There is an Honors College at Umass that you could maybe get into, but it's not exactly the same. I'm not saying that Umass isn't also a good school, but it's definitely not on the same level as Amherst College.

As for financial aid, check out these sites: https://www.amherst.edu/admission/financial_aid
UMass Amherst: Undergraduate Admissions: Financial Aid

middsmith · 11-24-2008, 06:08 PM

If you're from CA, why on earth would you apply to UMass Amherst? Isn't the worst UC > UMass?

nothing_at_all · 11-24-2008, 10:40 PM

yeah, I'm applying to UCs as well, but I want to get out of state -__- I'm probably just gonna apply to Amherst College though, thanks for the help everyone

sinkcole · 10-18-2009, 02:29 PM

I actually go to UMASS and its not as big of a party school as you all make it out to be. Also, if you go to ANY of the 5 colleges (Mt Holyoke, Smith, Amherst, Hampshire and UMASS) then you can take 3 classes a semester at any of the other 5 colleges. You just have to make sure you take at least one class at your home institution.