Top Ten Reasons

Our Top Ten reasons are below. But don't take just our word for it! Here's what some other sources have to say about studying CS: ACM, UWashington, UColorado, UIllinois-Chicago, Computing Research Association

1. Your potential to make a positive difference in the world. Studying CS at UMass enables you to make a signficant difference in the world, ranging from the sciences (human genome projects, robotics, severe weather monitoring, to mention a few), to financial services, to engineering, to education, and to entertainment.
2. Excellent CS faculty and CS programs. Based on the scholarly quality of our faculty, our program was ranked 18th in the country by the National Research Council (Within New England, we are comparable to Harvard, Brown, and Yale).
3. Broad CS curriculum, small classes, a lot of interaction with faculty. Our curriculum provides a solid grounding in the principles of computing; it further covers the wide range of specialized research areas in the department. Our classes are generally small and are often taught by nationally known professors. It is easy to get to know both your fellow students and your instructors.
4. Early exposure to scientific research. Many of our students get involved in the research program, either as interns or paid employees, gaining important experience to be applied in graduate school or in the marketplace.
5. Summer job opportunities. Many student jobs are available on campus, in the area, or in high-tech companies across the country in the summer time.
6. Many types of lucrative careers. Our CS graduates are in extremely high demand in today's job market. Almost all our graduates get high-paying jobs immediately after graduation, while some of the department's strongest students go on to graduate studies in computer science. In addition, the co-op program at the University does an excellent job of placing computer science undergraduates in three or six month co-op positions.
7. Special residential and academic programs. Special opportunities for computer science first-year students include dorm-based seminar series, honors seminars, meeting other honors students in all disciplines, and living in special Honors housing.
8. Strong support for any student in need. We assign an academic advisor to each student, have a large, caring organization for CS women, and offer additional mentoring for women and minorities.
9. Close interaction with students in the Five Colleges. UMass belongs to the Five College Consortium with Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, and Smith College in the vicinity. Our students can take classes in any college for credit and without pre-approval and participate in many five-college activities.
10. Living in the Happy Valley. The Amherst area is known the "Happy Valley" with fine dining, plentiful cultural and recreational activities, and other essentials to a balanced and healthy life.