Commonwealth College
If you are looking for a significant academic challenge and peers who love learning as much as you do, Commonwealth College, the honors college at UMass Amherst, will provide the intellectual rigor and engagement you seek. Commonwealth College offers the advantages of a small honors college, but also the wide-ranging opportunities of a nationally recognized research university. (The best of both worlds—you’ll experience this again and again at UMass Amherst).
As a Commonwealth College student you’ll find among your peers approximately 2,800 academically talented students with a variety of academic and social interests who share your desire to explore and excel. You’ll experience the challenges of a dynamic curriculum that includes interdisciplinary seminars, enriched honors courses, colloquia, independent study, service learning, a “culminating experience” and an honors thesis or project, as well as the option of special living-learning accommodations.
The Course Atmosphere
Courses are intensive and small, allowing you to develop strong relationships with faculty, especially through the regular “Pizza and Prof. Night” seminars. You will be encouraged to question your presuppositions, to grow beyond the strengths that earned you a place here, and to discover new depths of understanding of the world in which you live that prepare you to be a player in shaping that world.
Community Focus
With a strong outward focus, Commonwealth College will prepare you to significantly impact your community. Through the College’s Office of Community Service Learning, you’ll be able to integrate academic theory and practical experience by combining course work, community service, and guided reflection. Additionally, the nationally recognized Citizen Scholars Program offers scholarships and leadership training for students engaged in challenging work that links academics and community outreach.
Fellowship and Awards Program
Commonwealth College also recognizes student achievement through their fellowship and awards program. The Research Assistant Fellowship Program supports and encourages students participating in laboratory research, scholarly activity, or service learning. These students work under the supervision of a faculty member on the professor’s research or scholarly project. At most other schools, only graduate students participate in such projects, but at UMass Amherst undergraduates have the opportunity to experience cutting-edge research firsthand.
How Do You Join?
You can join Commonwealth College in several ways. As an incoming student, you may be invited to join if you meet the eligibility criteria, including combined SAT-I scores above 1300, a high school GPA of 3.5 or higher, and a high school class rank in the top 10 percent. However, if you aren’t invited as an incoming first-year student, you can apply after you complete one semester on campus. This process uses different criteria for acceptance, which are based on your college career at UMass Amherst. Transfer students may also apply once they arrive on campus.
