U Mass Amherst or Northeastern (for pure math PhD)?

[flying_frog]

I'm trying to decide between the math PhD programs at UMass Amherst and Northeastern.

I visited both schools and met with some faculty and some students at each.

The impression I got was that the department of UMass is more of a community: there's a weekly tea, professors and students talk to each other when they run into each other, people seem to know each other, the students also seem enthusiastic and happy and friendly. It's also a sort of hub within the five colleges area, with professors from nearby colleges coming to give seminar talks, etc.

Northeastern has the advantage of being in Boston, near Harvard, MIT etc, so there's a much larger range of seminars and graduate courses that I'd be able to attend, which I think would be awesome (if overwhelming). It also hopefully means there will be far more grad students around working in my area who I can talk to. But when visiting I definitely felt less of a sense of a community than I did at UMass Amherst (no department teas, no common room / lounge, didn't see much interaction between different professors). The students were friendly but less enthusiastic, though I spent less time with them than the Amherst students so it's hard to judge.

In terms of faculty interests, both departments seem similar (in the sense that I don't know exactly what I want to do, but there are roughly the same number of people in each place who I can imagine working with).

So... anyone with experience of either Northeastern or U Mass Amherst, your thoughts would be appreciated! (And if you're at Harvard or MIT and thinking "no way would I chat to someone from Northeastern", or "yeah, NEU students definitely are/can be a part of our mathematical community", that would be helpful to hear.)

[spade20k]

I'm trying to decide between the math PhD programs at UMass Amherst and Northeastern.

I visited both schools and met with some faculty and some students at each.

The impression I got was that the department of UMass is more of a community: there's a weekly tea, professors and students talk to each other when they run into each other, people seem to know each other, the students also seem enthusiastic and happy and friendly. It's also a sort of hub within the five colleges area, with professors from nearby colleges coming to give seminar talks, etc.

Northeastern has the advantage of being in Boston, near Harvard, MIT etc, so there's a much larger range of seminars and graduate courses that I'd be able to attend, which I think would be awesome (if overwhelming). It also hopefully means there will be far more grad students around working in my area who I can talk to. But when visiting I definitely felt less of a sense of a community than I did at UMass Amherst (no department teas, no common room / lounge, didn't see much interaction between different professors). The students were friendly but less enthusiastic, though I spent less time with them than the Amherst students so it's hard to judge.

In terms of faculty interests, both departments seem similar (in the sense that I don't know exactly what I want to do, but there are roughly the same number of people in each place who I can imagine working with).

So... anyone with experience of either Northeastern or U Mass Amherst, your thoughts would be appreciated! (And if you're at Harvard or MIT and thinking "no way would I chat to someone from Northeastern", or "yeah, NEU students definitely are/can be a part of our mathematical community", that would be helpful to hear.)

Hey! So I go to UMass now (not in the Math program but I know a bunch of the students, but I was a math major in undergrad at on of the 5Cs -- not umass (trying to show that I'm not 100% biased)) and in terms of Math, they are really trying to build up the program and have made the program a lot more selective than it use to be. Also, I know nothing about Northeastern's program, so I can't compare the two. Basically, I can give a breakdown of the Amherst area as well as UMass, etc.

Program/Professors/etc.:

Like anywhere, they have good and bad professors (teaching wise). Across the board, the professors seem to //really// care about the students. I took a few math grad classes (pure) at UMass as an undergrad and the professors always made themselves available, even if you couldn't meet with them during their office hours. Not only is there the TWIGS (The What Is... Graduate Seminar) at UMass but there are number theory, geometry, etc. seminars at Amherst and the other colleges. Also, GEO (Graduate Employment Organization) is probably one of the best groups, EVER. As a GEO member (if you have a TA/RA) you're entitled to benefits such as reduced health insurance ($58 semester or year -- I forget which but the health insurance is AMAZING), reduced parking permit fee (so $60 for the lot that you would park in if you had a car rather than $300+), and a few free events with food. GEO is something that I'm really going to miss when I leave UMass.

Amherst area:

So from the people I know in the department, they actually avoid living in Amherst and tend to prefer Northampton. The Pioneer Valley in general stresses locally-grown, owned, and anything else you can place "local" in front of. It gets cold in the winter and can get very hot in the summer. There are a few chain stores at the malls, but in the towns the stores and shops are independently run and owned. The upside is that a lot of the seasonal fruits and vegetables are grown in the valley and it's nice to know that you're supporting the local businesses and farms without paying a premium price to do so.

Amherst is a very cute/quaint town that is definitely overrun by stereotypical UMass undergrads. It's amazing in the summer and there are festivals/fairs/carnivals/etc year round on the Amherst Commons that make it a very enjoyable place to live -- I live in downtown Amherst and during the fall/spring/summer I LOVE the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. In Amherst, the bars close at 1am and they really kick you out at 1am -- which seems incredibly early coming from New York where they close at 4.

Northampton is the "city" in the pioneer valley and has a lot of very good (decently priced) restaurants and concert venues. I don't go to Northampton very frequently because I live in Amherst and for me Amherst has pretty much everything I need. There is a bus that runs between Amherst and Northampton which is free for students/faculty/5C affiliates.There is definitely more to do in Northampton than there is in Amherst. It is less overrun by undergrads and in general it seems to be a very laidback and liberal town. Just for completeness: the bars in Northampton close at 2am but stop letting people in at 1am.

Housing:

If you choose to go to UMass, housing (compared to Boston) is cheap. If you want to live alone, that is considerably more expensive. A single in Amherst can run you anywhere from $500-$950/month (utilities are usually included when you get towards the more expensive properties). There are a few studio apartments in Amherst and I included those in the price of a single -- the studios I've seen run from $500 (+heat, hot water, electricity) to about $695 (heat, hot water, and electric included) and the studios are SMALL. If you want a 1-bedroom, I would suggest paying a little more a true one bedroom. A 2 bedroom is about $500-$700/month depending on who you rent from. I pay $650/month and all utilities (+ internet/cable) are included. Apartments/houses on a bus route are more expensive than those not on a bus route, but I think everything balances out in the end. You can pretty much find any type of housing you want in the Amherst area and with the buses, you really don't need to have a car but it does make shopping a lot easier. This may be premature but you really want to avoid the apartment complexes just North of campus (if you choose to live in Amherst) -- Puffton, Crestview, Presidential, Townhouses, and Brandywine get very loud on Thursday-Saturday nights.

Students:

First let me say that there is a //really// strong community at UMass among the math students -- they really do hang out all the time, going bowling, movies, diner, etc. So basically, what you experienced at UMass wasn't a charade. I visited a school in Decemeber and the students //seemed// to get along, but when I saw a few of the students in January, I found out that there is a lot of animosity among the students. Also, I should probably stress that Amherst/Northampton/UMass is //very// liberal and that includes the students -- I don't really care one way or another, but you might so I figured I would just put it out there.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps!

Edited March 16, 2011 by spade20k