Life at "Zoo"Mass (UMass) Amherst
Written: Jun 12 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Big-time variety
Cons: Some shady happenings
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| irish88's Full Review: University of Massachusetts-Amherst |
They call it "ZooMass", and there is definite truth behind my university's title. Social life is huge at UMass Amherst, so huge that many never escape from its clutches to get to those pesky classes they had to sign up for! However, for the people who party on every day that ends in "y", the stay at UMass is usually not long. They tend to drop out after a semester, maybe two, of frighteningly low GPA's. For the rest of us, who go to school with the goal of actually coming out with a degree, social life then becomes something to be balanced, sometimes with varying degrees of success!
Ok, if you're headed to the Amherst area for school (There are 5 colleges in the immediate area, UMass, Hampshire, Smith, Amherst, and Mt. Holyoke), there is obvious a plethora of interesting activities to choose from at any time of day (or night).
There are of course, the requisite lets-get-totally-smashed parties to be found on every campus on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. These can be frat parties if you're underage, because frats will serve their cheap, watery beer to anything that moves, especially if it's female. This warrants a serious warning: beware of frat parties, the drinks are shady and the brothers are suspect (duh. you knew that. but you'd be amazed how common sense goes out the window on some weekends...).
Ok, if you're underage and aren't in the frat party mood (like me, almost all of the time) there are a few other things you could do. You could go to the movies--Mountain Farm 4 right down the road on route 9 has a good student discount. You could go out to eat--there are TONS of great restaurants around. In Amherst theres Bueno y Sano (Mexican), Panda East (Chinese) Judie's, Pasta e Basta, Bertucci's, Applebee's, Chili's, Antonio's (great pizza). In Northampton there's Spaghetti Freddie's, Fitzwilly's, Cha Cha Cha (Mexican again), and Spoleto's. Good coffee shops are Bart's (in NoHo and Amherst) and Rao's (in Amherst)Many yummy choices to choose from. You could go hang out in Amherst Common on a nice night, or have a snowball fight on campus on those snowy occasions (nothing better than a snowball fight on the concrete at 2 a.m., ah, UMass).
There are also a few interesting places to go dancing if that's your thing, though it's not really mine so I can't speak expertly. I've been to Klub Kai (right next to the Mt. Farms movie theater) a few times, it's over 21 (shhh don't tell...they usually enforce that though), it's little and hot, but it can be fun. The Pub, a restaurant in Amherst, also has dancing on a few weekend nights, but I hear it fills up quick so if you go, go early. There's a place called Prudie's downtown also, near Amherst Chinese Food, that I usually hear is too hot and crowded and annoying to be worth the trip.
Ok, well that was a long rambling bit on life out at UMass. Of course there are countless other places, people, and things to see, so exploring is always an option! Have fun and stay safe!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
irish88
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Member: Kate
Location: The Bay State (and tell me, why did all of our sports team have to decide to stink all at one time?? What happened to the days o
Reviews written: 67
Trusted by: 16 members
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