When I enrolled at UMass Lowell, I was very unhappy. I wanted to go to the bigger party school, and academic reputation out in Amherst. My decision was made because UMass Lowell is much cheaper than UMass Amherst.

I am glad I did not go to UMass Amherst after 4 years. My brother and sister go there as do many of my friends. The only two edges that UMass Amherst gets are better girl:guy ratio and more partying.

The party scene at UMass Lowell is live enough. Thursday night is the big party night. Fraternities and apartments near campus usually have open parties and there are tons of parties in suites and dorm rooms across campus. Friday and Saturday are fun too, but not truly enjoyable until you get a good fake ID. The Brewery Exchange is right across a couple parking lots from the dorms and there is the Blue Shamrock and Dubliner downtown which are cool places to hang out. You can always head to Boston as well - it is only 35 minutes away and an easy drive.

The only problem is once in a while you will have nothing to do on a Monday-Wednesday. Residential North campus has some interesting bands and things going on in Fox Hall, but the rest of campus can get dull.

The location of UMass Lowell is perfect for a college student. Thirty minutes to Boston, and a short, short walk to the Tsongas Arena. Finding a job is cake! There are tons of jobs in retail 20 minutes away in Nashua or Salem NH. There are tons of jobs in high tech along the 495 corridor. It seems everybody has a well-paying job or internship by their 2nd or 3rd year. You won't find that at UMass Amherst! This is also great once you are graduating because you can interview many, many different place before school is even finished.

The academics are very good and very flexible at UMass Lowell. I was a Computer Science major and have found myself to have taken better classes and learned more (although that may be from my internship as well) than students from schools such as UConn, UNH and Northeastern. The great thing is, many of the "General Electives" can be taken with Professor Aste who is very easy and gives everyone a B. There are a lot of other easy electives, so you can focus your time on your major. There are also some very good, focused electives if that's your thing. I took a mix of these and was never overwhelmed with work and quite happy.

I liked living in the dorms for all four years, but had all of my problems at UMass Lowell with Residential Life staff. They break rules, invade your privacy, are not understanding and will never give you the straight answer. I don't know why they never give you the straight answer even when it is obvious. For instance, moving day is from 5-7pm, the side doors become locked and alarmed at 7. Instead of telling you it is on a timer and cannot be changed, they give you some b.s. about it being for "your safety". They also put signs up in the elevator for a few months warning about a video camera. A video camera did not exist and a few months later the sign came down as well. My biggest issue is when they don't allow guests into the dorm for entire weekends as punishment for vandalism. This sucks!

I would recommend moving off campus, but the region has a serious housing shortage and it is very hard to find affordable, convenient, safe housing. Watch out for Universal Property, they are almost as bad as Res Life. Famous for their bait and switch.

Overall these housing problems will not be an issue 99.9% of the time and like I said, I put up with it for all 4 years. I think you need to be somewhat outgoing to take full advantage of this school, but if you are, it will all fall in place and you'll enjoy it! I could say much more about the good times and advantages I got going here, but you get the picture.

Recommended: Yes