University of Massachusetts - Amherst Reviews

"Wonderful library, beautiful farm area, works well with conservation and recreation groups, doesn't spend money wisely on all items."

"I had a very positive experience at UMASS. I was also part of the Commonwealth Honors College, which I would recommend as well. Even though the classes are on the larger side in the Communication Disorders department, I was able to make valuable connections with professors."

"Good teachers, great classes (when they don't cancel them due to lack of funding), terrible career guidance, very good food for an institution, lots of living options, parking isn't terrible, buses are convenient and student run, and lots to do on and off campus."

"UMass gave me the opportunities of a large university, while the Isenberg School of Management gave me the focus and attention of a smaller college. The ISOM advisors were really great and encouraged me to take a second degree, which turned out to be valuable to my career and not much additional effort. Lastly, I found my professors to be super accessible and they actually cared to help me and my professional development, which seemed surprising to me given the size of the school. One professor even connected me to my first job out of college and provided a great reference for me as I went on to other opportunities."

"Great teachers, great classes, a large and very varied amount of classes, beautiful campus, fun activities, all sorts of great stuff - but be prepared to have to fight tooth and nail every time you deal with the ridiculous inefficient bureaucracy of the administration."

"Umass has an excellent audiology program academic wise. Some of the areas that need work are finding more rounded clinical placements for students and adding more career support for students."

"I believe ultimately every graduate program is what you make of it. Umass provided excellent academic support to me and my peers and prepared us with the knowledge we need for clinical audiology positions. Some drawbacks of the program are the difficulty of finding off campus clinical placements and the lack of career support from the school."

"I love my graduate program! It's a great community of students and faculty, and the university offers so many opportunities and networks."

"Faculty are very supportive and willing to work with students."

"UMass is a great campus, with great research happening in most of the labs. The people here are very supportive, which makes grad school a much better experience."

"The quality of the professors and their scholarship is top-notch. They are all passionate about their subject areas, very accessible, and willing to help with items such as reference letters and scholarship information. Given the nature of my program, I'm now in touch with networks on 2 continents which has been helpful for study & work opportunities. Teaching Assistantship opportunities are available for dedicated students. The only area I felt could be improved is the guidance offered for graduate theses. I wish there had been more structure and check points involved in writing my thesis. Overall, an exceptional program filled with accessible, engaging, passionate professors and students. Go UMass!"

"Pros: - The coursework encourages the students to ask questionsand, think critically about sciences and research, present and apply their ideas to the research. - The graduate coursework not only strengthens basic knowledge, but it also gives useful ideas to students about literature critique, proposal writing and applications of science to industry. - The scope of the research done in the department covers both theoretical and applicable research. There are various themes of research covering 4 traditional chemistry field and biological chemistry. Other than life science research which is popular currently, the research on theory, materials, energy, and sustainability still exists. - A number of professors also have collaboration either within academy - intradepartmental, interdepartmental or inter-university - or with pharmaceutical and other industries. Cons - Some physical structures - laboratories and buildings - are quite old, disorder, and broken. They need renovation."

"Umass is a great place to do a PhD in Neuroscience and Behavior. Students in the program really help each other out and faculty seem to want us to succeed. I also don't feel like I'm dying, which is a plus since I expected that graduate school would be extremely stressful and scary. Yes it's difficult, but the support system here is really wonderful."

"Great education and faculty. Excellent connection and internship/job opportunities after graduation. As a graduate student, I have probably slept about 5-6 hours a day during the semester, I'm constantly exhausted. The workload is brutal at the graduate level. There is pretty much nothing to do in this town."

"Need to offer more aid on student's career."

"Supportive yet challenging program. Students have great work ethic without seeming overworked/over stressed. Very social and collaborative department."

"Each professor is required to teach every few years and it seems that professors who are excellent researchers, BUT have no teaching skills are inflicted upon the graduate students because the department feels that we (the graduate students) are at a level where we can learn on our own. I have had some professors at this institution that rank among the best in my educational experience but I have also had several that are among the absolute worst. The non-major laboratories (for which most of the grad students TA) are desperately in need of new equipment and better facilities. However, I am very impressed with the efforts of the faculty to update and improve upon the lab curriculum for these courses."

"Pro: pick advisor after first semester and majority of research at this program is very good Con: the professional development is lacking. There is almost no chances to teach. Ta-ing only consists of grading papers. And overall there is little focus on students attending conferences to increase their network."

"The faculty in the graduate program are incredibly accessible, the student body is very diverse and together they provide an ideal collegial and collaborative environment."

"A very competitive grad program. Top-notch research facilities Strong collaboration with other top tier schools and companies"