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.