sadwalrus2 t1_j9n1yjd wrote on February 23, 2023 at 3:31 AM

Please please please go to Suffolk instead.

Transfered into UMB and have had nothing but problems, have not met a single student or professor that is in any way happy with this school.

Ceiling panels literally falling down, an entire building has an excess of carbon dioxide that makes people sick so much so that the tours they send through the place skip the building entirely. Who tell the people they aren't going there because "it's exactly like the other buildings so why bother" LMAO.

The different buildings are covered every few days with hundreds of posters accusing the president and dean of liberal arts of being anti-Black and racist. That doesn't include the posters put up by the grad students TAing that mention how UMB pays them a couple hundred bucks to do their jobs, professors putting up union signs about how UMB is breaking labor laws...

They have many good people to come in and do talks...and only bother to send out emails and put up posters THE DAY OF THE EVENT. I've literally seen them put up posters for events that HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED lmao.

Don't expect to get anything done at this college. Anyone who has been able to do anything openly admits that they've essentially had to fight this beaurocracy at every single step of the way. For example, I still don't have a program advisor, even after multiple semesters, because the sole person who's job it is to do that never bothers responding to anyone. Which speaking to others, she's notoriously known for doing. Literally sends out emails to apply to internships a few hours before the application is due.

The fact that taxpayer dollars go to fund this is appalling to me. It is a shame because they have some excellent professors, but quite honestly so does every school in Boston. Whatever money you may think you are saving on the sticker price is NOT worth it, you will have to fight every step of the way to get even the most basic things done. I genuinely now wish how much better the rest of my life may have planned out if I went to a better school.

Torch3dAce t1_j9otkm8 wrote on February 23, 2023 at 2:50 PM

When did you attend UMB?

sadwalrus2 t1_j9pdj0y wrote on February 23, 2023 at 4:59 PM

I am currently.

From what I've seen, anyone with good things to say about the school went there years ago. Have had a professor admit to me that the school has gone super downhill since COVID hit. Partially due to COVID, but also many institutional things that just happened to occur around that time.

sadwalrus2 t1_j9pdji7 wrote on February 23, 2023 at 4:59 PM

I am currently. HAD school today but they decided to cancel classes from 11AM on at checks watch 10AM that same day, because of the weather. If only there was some way to be able to see a day into the future to know what the weather will be! Just one example of how broken down this school is :)

Torch3dAce t1_j9pe7nh wrote on February 23, 2023 at 5:03 PM

I attended pre-COVID so your depiction of the current situation is more accurate. That's too bad 😕

sadwalrus2 t1_j9peool wrote on February 23, 2023 at 5:06 PM

Yeah. School used to have the highest amount of Ivy League teachers outside of the Ivy Leagues themselves only a few years ago. School genuinely had a lot going for it, but IMO is an abysmal place now and absolutely not worth it. Extra debt at another school would be worth it when you consider that you aren't going to do any networking whatsoever at UMB, and I'm literally being taught stuff that I learned in the eighth grade, so you're not really learning anything of value either.

When I talk to people who used to teach and attend UMB they seem really surprised. Most of the good teachers and faculty that made that good experience have left (and also in some cases pushed out).

ZipBlu t1_j9ob1fk wrote on February 23, 2023 at 12:12 PM

I’ve been to this campus a few times for conferences and I got the same vibe you’re describing from my short visits. I just didn’t really want to be around campus. And that feeling is more important than you’d think.

Freshman year is a difficult time and for students to make it through, it’s important that it’s a place that feels welcoming and they can make a community of friends. It seems to have more of a community college vibe, which could make that difficult for a traditional first year student.

Another problem with UMass Boston is how heavily they rely on part time faculty. Every college uses some, but UMass Boston relies on them more than other schools in the area. Some part time faculty are incredible teachers, but they are paid very little so they spend very few hours in campus and are nearly always balancing multiple jobs and they have less job security so they aren’t invested in the college (and might not be there when you need a recommendation later). I was part time faculty for a year (elsewhere) and it was awful.