University of Massachusetts Boston

Good academics.
Terrible, unhealthy food disguised as «healthy options», provided by Sodexo.
Art is beyond hideous, there are a few things that look like fecal matter, some strange crocodiles, and a giant who appears to be eating and having his period.
Great professors.
Overall, you can get a great education in a pretty crappy environment. Just learn and go home!

Pros: Excellent and highly underrated Accounting and Finance program.
Terrific and extremely helpful professors. What you get out of the program is what you put into it. If you want to learn you have to put in the time and effort and it’s at par or better than similar programs in the Boston area. Bloomberg access is unreal and a must in any business program.
Cons: zero networking opportunities, zero visibility despite the hard work many sincere students put in. There is no brand recognition whatsoever.
Cons: Career services sucks big time and is abysmal. They are useless.
Case in point: Bank teller jobs, sales reps which require high school GED’s not bachelor’s or master’s degrees. They should not be allowed to come to campus because it speaks poorly of the program’s worth.
Last but not the least abysmal parking and the less said about many admin staff the better though some are truly helpful.
To summarize It would be better to apply to universities like harvard extension which does not even require a GMAT score and students would have far better networking opportunities after graduation not to mention brand recognition with a similar program cost.
I have given a 2 star rating only because of the excellent and helpful faculty (many outstandingly helpful and knowledegable) but it would be better to pay more and join a «better» university (from a networking/​brand recognition) perspective than to waste your money here unless your company pays for your education.

Like other reviewers before me, I’m going to break it down for ya. The campus itself, as in the buildings and the surroundings are beautiful. You could stroll along the water and gaze towards the newly «clean» harbor. You can jog and run and walk and stroll romantically. The buildings are very clean, offer excellent places to have a quiet conversation (or a loud one, if you really want the attention THAT badly), and food court options that range from the pleasantly acceptable to things you regard and say, «That’s food?!?» It’s Sodexo, what do you expect.
The administrative services are marginally piss-​poor. For every amazing advisor you’ll meet, there’s gonna be a few unhelpful people. Looking at you, One Stop.
The professors are good, though some teach like you should already know the information. The school provides amazing resources outside of the regular academic setting, though. So don’t be afraid to venture beyond your professors.
At the end of it all, I genuinely like UMASS Boston and am glad I chose this school. You can’t enjoy the great without the not so good. And UMB definitely has a lot of great. Well-​rounded education, leading professionals, good tuition rate, proximity to Boston, extra– and co-​curricular activities. And best of all, free harbour cruise in the summer, y’all!

I went here for a year and a half to continue and finish up my degree and I have to say I was impressed. I’m a little bit older so I honestly had reservations about going here and the type of people I would meet here… but I had a wonderful time getting to know the professors and students. I truly felt the atmosphere was welcoming, conducive for learning, and very supportive. Comes to show the experience is what you make of it and to not judge a book by its cover.

What can I say about UMass Boston?
I came here because they have me a scholarship!
THE LOCATION: Beautifully set on ocean front property,
this campus offers priceless views and water activities galore.
THE STUDENTS: There is a highly diverse student body,
both in sex, sexuality, age and ethnic backgrounds.
I’ve only had a few classes, but only about half the students
seem serious about learning and getting a degree.
The rest are restless, disruptive… and go undisciplined.
THE STAFF: They boast some of the best professors
in the state, for one of the cheapest tuition fees.
I found my teachers a bit lax in the discipline though,
allowing the students to continuously interrupt the classes
with food, talking, phones, laptops and a constant flow
of kids leaving and returning for the entire class time.
THE DEAL: They are under construction right now,
as they expend their campus with new buildings.
Expect big growth from this small school soon.

I’ve been to many college basketball games as a Rhode Island College parent and a Salem State parent and a Mass Bay Community College parent. This is the first time we’ve had to pay for parking and for admission to the gym. NONE of the other schools in the conference are charging. Its just tacky but maybe expected from a crummy city campus.

I had such a horrible person in admissions. He pretty much made it sound like I could never get into their nursing program even though I have one college degree already.

The university of Massachusetts Boston is a great place to to study at. However, advising is totally a joke. I met with a guy named Claude at the advising center. He wasn’t professional at all, as he was picking up his hair most of the time! I also met with a girl named priya, she’s an advisor as well. She will make you feel unwelcome, doesn’t smile, make you feel like she hates her job!!! I assure you that your experience at advising will suck! It did for me and my friends. I wish the university removes the hold thing from advising, this way we won’t have to go see them to remove this hold.

I would never recommend the ABA program at UMASS. Feel free to contact me for details, but there are much better ways about getting your BCBA!

Wheatley Building, you need a complete reno (as others have stated). So glad my summer class is over. I do not miss you. There are nicer, newer buildings on campus; this building needs an overhaul.

I really hope that my mind will be changed as I continue working towards my BA in Psychology at Umass Boston.
Pros:
Beautiful location
Immense amount of diversity among students and staff (people from many different walks of life)
Relatively easy to be accepted in
Not the most expensive considering it is in Boston.
Decent amount of activities and social events (including clubs)
Cons:
Disrespectful staff in the campus center (Heaven forbid I ask a question.)
Expensive parking
No on-​campus housing so housing on location can get quite expensive
Some professors couldn’t care less about your education
Some buildings are falling apart — while they continue to build new buildings and leave the ones to crumble.
Lack of parking due to recent construction. (For a commuter school, this is unacceptable.)
Recent increase in class sizes, (I cannot hear my professors during lectures)
Like I said, I hope my mind changes as I continue, but as of right now, I am disappointed in the experiences I’ve had so far.

Great commuter’s school and it is an awesome public institution. There is a red line and commuter’s rail stops at JFK/​UMass station and free shuttle to UMB campus ctr. There is student discount on T-​Passes for UMB students (11%) and there are plenty of campus parking for the students, visitors, and faculty.
The diversity among the student body gives awesome city feeling and there are outstanding professors who contain PhD from one of the best Ivy League schools in US and other countries. Being a math major and having a math counselor who has PhD from MIT and assistant professor from Yale is something hard to get from Public university/​or any University in general. The building are very modern with lots of windows that over looks the harbor and great modern art pieces throughout the campus to enjoy. The nursing office offers annual check-​up and flu or any types of vaccination needed for the students and locals. There are free/​low-​cost child care center for the students with children (age upto 5). The library is huge and has plenty of computers and seats to work on the assignments. Friendly staff and large cafeteria to accomodate hungry students and faculty.
I am glad that I made a right choice coming to UMB for undergrad and I am looking forward to start my grad school in UMB.

I just want to note that UMB is super easy to get to by public transportation. Take the red line to JFK/​UMass and hop on the #1 free shuttle to campus center. From Central Square to UMB, it takes at most, 50 minutes, but you don’t have to wait long for the shuttle.
I’ve also found staff (like at financial aid and the health services dept) at UMB to be extremely helpful and friendly. I look forward to being a student at UMB this year and plan to take full advantage of the computer lab and gym.

…its a public school so the tuition is cheap; it has 57% acceptance rate, so unless you’re an idiot, consider yourself in; and the school itself is nice. Beautiful windows, great views, nice dining facilities, it also offers a great gym, and has free sailing classes. Unfortunately, where it matters most is where UMASS completely fails. The education! This school will set you up for failure if you don’t set and apply your own standards. I’ve had professors do take home test the entire semester! The online classes are a joke… honestly, its on par with paying for a grade. If you can pay for your class, likely you’re going to pass that class. And if you show up for class and actually go so far as to write something on the paper, you will get an A. Its the worst. Obviously we’ve all had a class or two where the «curve» came in handy, but UMASS Boston will handicap you.

Look, it’s a public university. That’ll explain almost everything you see here. You’re not going to get a lot of ornate buildings or grand architecture. It was mostly built in the 60s and 70s, when public buildings were plain, and this is as true here as it is for most public universities across the country. The newer buildings are pretty nice looking though.
But hey, the cost of tuition here is way cheaper than anywhere else around here. And the views from the school are probably some of the best for any university in the state. It can be a pain taking that shuttle from the T station, but it’s free and it comes quite often. For what you’re paying in fees, you’re really getting a great deal at this school.
Now, what they really need is a bar on campus!

I came here back in 2002 for my B.A. in history, and now I’m back for my M.Ed. wouldn’t do it any other way. I love this school even though it can be super slow do to the fact that it’s a public University with limited financial resources unlike some of the other schools in the metro-​Boston area. However, I do feel that the faculty and staff here are on a different level and I have greatly valued the mentors and leaders with whom I have spent a great deal of time with here at this institution, especially the faculty in the Education, American, & Asian American studies departments.

This Place sucks — Its falling down, Rats in holes, poor education, Dirty and Professor not willing to help and teach and worst of all — the place is falling down
ITS DANGEROUS !!!

Due to constant screw-​ups on the administrative end, I will be graduating a year later than expected.
Classes, professors, student body are all pluses here, but expect to fight an uphill battle against asinine policies and a complete lack of support.

Though Massachusetts doesn’t treat its public school system particularly well, UMass somehow continues to do better than the state legislature wants it to, thanks to a exceptionally caring faculty that ranks at the top of the research game (of Boston-​area schools, only MIT faculty publish more papers every year) — and, just as important, the student body, which surpasses that of many of the better-​funded private schools in town. It’s hardly surprising that the students are better because, after all, UMB students didn’t pay the school a bribe (read: $ 40,000 tuition) to get in.
Don’t let the exceptionally unattractive buildings turn you away. The real problem with UMB is with the crusty administrative structure imposed on it by the state. If the state would step up, it could build dorms and encourage a restaurant or two to move to the neighborhood. Instead the indifference of the state legislature creates a bit of a bunker mentality, when there are in fact a lot of little things that could be fixed with effort, starting with that parking garage.
Follow-​up 10÷12÷11:
I’d originally rated 4/​5, but nothing has been done about the deteriorating conditions on campus. Recently the administration revealed that Wheatley Hall will not be replaced until 2025, despite admitting that asbestos installed at time of the corruption-​fueled construction of the building (1974) has not been removed, and despite the destruction of the roof which has resulted in flooding. Mike O.‘s pictures of the science building are great, so I’ve added some from the humanities building (Wheatley).

I’ve been at UMB for three years now… almost done. I’m starting to see that little speck of light at the end of this tunnel filled with quizzes, tests, homework and alcohol. Hum. anyways, the teaching staff is decent, although I’ve had some very, very bad professors. I’ve also had some good ones. I guess that applies to every college but their college of management and nursing are both top notch. And the tuition is, compared to most places, a lot cheaper.
They recently announced their 25 year plan to change the entire campus. They will be introducing dorms over the next few years and new buildings as well. Thank god. The structure of some of the buildings are crumbling and caused the university to have to shut down their indoor parking lots. Parking at the moment is tough but they are working on that issue and building new lots as we speak.
The campus itself isn’t too big and you can circulate from building to building using a catwalk if you want, which is nice when the weather is bad or cold.
The student body is ethnically mixed and quite international… And students there have an age range going from 19 to 60. Yeah, I’ve had 60 y/​o people in some of my big, lecture classes. Speaking of which, the classrooms are in most cases, under 30 students which is really nice and I highly recommend the laid back summer classes.
The only thing that isn’t so great about UMB is the fact that, due to the fact that it’s a commuter school, people don’t really stick around the campus or get involved as much as in other schools. They are very few interesting events and when there are some, no one really knows about it or no one really attends. This is a school you should go to if you want to graduate without many distractions. Occasionally they will have a cool event. They had Kanye West over for a concert a couple of years ago. Good times.
But as I mentioned things are rapidly changing on that campus, so we’ll see what the future will reserve for the school. It’s definitely looking very promising though!