The best students in Massachusetts do not go to UMass. It is nothing like the dynamic that UVA has with Virgnia, UNC with North Carolina, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the kid have any strong inclination of where they want to be after college? If Boston area, go to UMass. If DC go to VT.

But also, be sure you are comparing costs apples-to-apples. VT is not really $36k. Tuition, fees, room & board comes out to $30k (and we definitely spend less than that now that our son lives off campus). Their published "cost of attendance" includes books, transportation, personal expenses, loan fees. All more IME than we/DS pays.

I
Umass is a perfectly fine school but on a good day Boston is about 90 minutes to 2 hours from UMass. Do not go there if you really want to be in Boston.

When we visited U Mass Amherst, we were surprised by how it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. Nice campus and the students we met seemed to love it, but it's definitely not near Boston or with easy daily access to Boston.

Fall is beautiful at VT too ^^

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMass has the consortium with the other Five Colleges, which is definitely nice. VA tech is closer though

How often is that actually used?

A lot of students do use it, though I don't have numbers. It also means there are a lot more cultural and social events.

It can be used by anyone who bothers to do it. Point about more events is significant too. There are 3.5 (not sure what’s going on at Hampshire these days) private colleges who bring in all sorts of music, events and speakers. There’s a lot going on. More extensive art and music curricula. There are party dorms at both schools, and honors dorms at both schools. Honors at Tech offers a smaller community within the university and some programming that gives it a bit more of a liberal arts college feel.
Though UMass is in western Mass, it tends to be a little less provincial than VT.

Unlike those who think being to closer to home is an advantage, if your kid has the independence, going away introduces new people and perspectives. It’s not bad to get out of Virginia.

Mount Holyoke College is gorgeous and Amherst and Smith are nice too. UMass is lively and vibrant, but it’s not beautiful. Study in the other colleges’ libraries. There’s a free bus system that runs among them all.Tech in spring is lovely. In winter, when the wind blows between the mountains, it can be as cold as UMass.

With no honors college offer, I’d go with UMass. With honors college offer, I hope your kids visits both… in spring!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMass has the consortium with the other Five Colleges, which is definitely nice. VA tech is closer though

How often is that actually used?

Exactly. Consortium is a just marketing pitch, and not used by most students.

It’s used by Amherst College boys who want to meet better-looking girls than they have on their campus.

Anonymous wrote:Does the kid have any strong inclination of where they want to be after college? If Boston area, go to UMass. If DC go to VT.

But also, be sure you are comparing costs apples-to-apples. VT is not really $36k. Tuition, fees, room & board comes out to $30k (and we definitely spend less than that now that our son lives off campus). Their published "cost of attendance" includes books, transportation, personal expenses, loan fees. All more IME than we/DS pays.

I
Umass is a perfectly fine school but on a good day Boston is about 90 minutes to 2 hours from UMass. Do not go there if you really want to be in Boston.

OP - I'd let your child decide if you are willing to pay. College is a great time to explore a new part of the country and meet people from other places. While both schools will have students from a range of places - your VA kid will meet more new type of kids in Massachusetts than in Blacksburg. Remind them that going to UMass could mean their first job is more likely to be in Boston/NYC/NY/New England based on the recruiting net at UMass. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I went to college in Boston and my first job was there. I ended up relocating back in the mid-Atlantic - but I loved my time at college and at my first job. These were great explorations and I learned a lot about others and myself - including the eventual discovery that Boston wasn't where I wanted to call "home" as an adult - and then being responsible for doing something about it. But it also meant when I got my job, there was no "staying at home to save on rent" option (not that I wanted that anyway)

The best students in Mass don't go to UMass. The kids from Wellesley, Newton, Dedham, Weston, etc. if they want in state or local (and Harvard isn't an option) will go to BU, Tufts, NEU, BC, etc. over UMass. There is just a different mentality in how the flagship is perceived.

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shame: this board used to be a place where reason could prevail. Instead we have posters saying the third best state school in Virginia — a tech school at that — is better than the state flagship of the most educated state in the country for, get this, social sciences and humanities. All I can say is have fun in Blacksburg. Not like Amherst is a better town…

Ah. I see one of the dimwits who thinks that having “Tech” in the name must mean a school is completely focused on STEM. Engineering is only 20% of the academic offerings at VT. All “tech” schools also have liberal arts colleges - GA Tech, MIT, CalTech, CMU, etc.

Blacksburg is a great college town in a beautiful location.

And finally, rankings:
UMass: 67
VT: 47

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don’t understand the Virginia Tech homers here. UMass is a far superior school for humanities.

LOL a mediocre state school with 70% acceptance rate is supposedly "far superior school for humanities" LMFAO

Per the most recent published CDS data, the acceptance rates are effectively identical at ~ 58%.

DP. Per USNWR, acceptance rates are:

UMass - 64%
VT - 57%

Common Data Set is fact-based ... these schools have near identical acceptance rates as of last year.

Regardless, the PP was wrong on the facts (it's not 70% in any event) and wrong on the sarcasm (VT has the same acceptance rate)... but you do you, Hokie!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don’t understand the Virginia Tech homers here. UMass is a far superior school for humanities.

LOL a mediocre state school with 70% acceptance rate is supposedly "far superior school for humanities" LMFAO

Per the most recent published CDS data, the acceptance rates are effectively identical at ~ 58%.

DP. Per USNWR, acceptance rates are:

UMass - 64%
VT - 57%

In person visits will be more helpful for your DC. VT is a great option but not for everyone. UMass is a great option but not for everyone.

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone go to UMass instead of VT? VT is an amazing school and UMass kind of sucks.

Love to know what this is based on, aside from personal opinion.

Anonymous wrote:It’s a shame: this board used to be a place where reason could prevail. Instead we have posters saying the third best state school in Virginia — a tech school at that — is better than the state flagship of the most educated state in the country for, get this, social sciences and humanities. All I can say is have fun in Blacksburg. Not like Amherst is a better town…

You clearly don’t know Virginia Tech well

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMass has the consortium with the other Five Colleges, which is definitely nice. VA tech is closer though

How often is that actually used?

Exactly. Consortium is a just marketing pitch, and not used by most students.

This is actually not true. Open access to all libraries (and borrowing), events almost every day on one campus or another, free buses between them, parties. Almost every student will do several of these at some point. To to mention the students taking classes…