<p>My son is attending Umass for both financial reasons and the fact that they have a highly rated engineering program. He had 3 friends that were wait listed with GPA’s in the low 3’s or under just under 3.0. The Naviance for our high school shows that someone in the low 3’s or under would likely be admitted only if they had a really, really high SAT score. Especially in the more competitive majors like engineering.</p>
<p>The students in his engineering class are smart and highly motivated. Granted, S did not attend a highly ranked high school, but he has remarked on how different it is to be classes with such smart people.</p>
<p>There are so many activities - you can do just about anything you can imagine. The food is good. The only complaint I’ve heard from S is about slow WiFi in his dorm.</p>
<p>And the three people that he knew that were waitlisted? They all transferred out as spring admits.</p>
<p>For many families that don’t qualify for much financial aid, paying $200K for an education is just not feasible.</p>