<p>I was like you once. I was the valedictorian of my high school class. UMass was my last choice, but it was the only college I could afford.</p>
<p>I promise you, there are smart people here. The school is filled with smart kids who couldn’t afford to go anywhere else, or just liked the atmosphere of the school and the surrounding area, or came here for a specific program, etc. After hanging out with my new friends for a few months, we discovered that most of us were in the top 10 in our respective high school classes. What are the chances of that?</p>
<p>Yes, there is a party scene at UMass. But from talking to my friends who go to different schools, there’s a party scene everywhere. Some colleges are just better at hiding it than others, and UMass can’t really do that due to its sheer size.</p>
<p>If you got into the honors college, I would recommend living in an honors RAP for freshman year. That’s where I met all my friends.</p>
<p>Now I see that I was lucky to not get enough financial aid to go anywhere else. The area surrounding UMass is beautiful - its gotten to the point where I consider it my home. (It actually is my home, I moved here for the summer). In the span of two years I went to not wanting anything to do with this school to not wanting to leave this school ever.</p>