As an in-state student, it is pretty easy to guess some of the reasons why I chose to join the UMass family. Amherst is within driving distance from home; I was already comfortable and familiar with western Massachusetts since I have family out here; and, of course, nothing beats in-state tuition. However, as nice as it would have been, my college application process was not as straightforward as immediately knowing I wanted to go to UMass after my first visit.
As a senior in high school, I applied to six universities: UMass Amherst, the University of New Hampshire, the University of South Carolina, Penn State, the University of Central Florida, and Boston University. After being accepted to all of them, I eventually narrowed it down to UMass and USC since they were the two cheapest options. USC actually would have been a couple thousand dollars cheaper for me to attend, making it seem like an obvious choice, but in the end I knew UMass was the right school for me.
When reflecting on why I chose UMass, I realized that there is only one particularly important reason for my decision: reputation. As a student in the Isenberg School of Management, I know that I will be leaving UMass with a degree of equal, if not higher, reputation and value than the students paying tens of thousands of dollars more at many other schools. UMass currently sits at #26 among the nation's public research university, as ranked by the U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges 2019" guide. They have also ranked Isenberg as the #1 Public Undergraduate Business Program in the Northeast for 2019.
While your decision hinges on much more than reputation alone, prestigious annual rankings have shown consistent trends of growth. This means that you can feel confident that a degree from UMass is an investment that will only increase in value for years to come!
