Yeah, the list seems pretty good. I only met two students on my interview and they both seemed bright and motivated but at the same time very down to earth and approachable. I'm not sure how orthodoc40 was able to meet enough people to discover the student body was immature and I'm not sure what high-schoolish means. Let me know.
Sure - well just to add, I did say "seemed" - in order to leave room that I certainly couldn't know this from the time spent with people there. One of our guides was incredibly just - young. I don't really know how to describe that for you, but the other candidates who were interviewing with me mostly agreed when I asked if it was just me or if that was their impression, too. On our tour, we were stopped in the student lounge & there were lots of current students in there gathered in groups together, a little cliquey looking. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves - but it all just felt high schoolish. Everyone looking at the "interviewees", whispering, giggling - c'mon! Hey, its just the sense I got there. I'm just one person. I'm not sure anything I can write here will explain what I meant, but well, I tried...It wasn't the main impression I got - just part of it.
People also had a lot of enthusiasm and our questions were well answered & thoughtfully answered - by our other guide. And like you said, they seemed down to earth, and approachable.
As a current first-year student, I'd like to emphasize the fact that despite the appearance of people gathered in the lounge, the students here are some of the most open, least-cliquey people that I've ever interacted with. Obviously, anywhere you go, you'll tend to hang out with certain people, and class personalities can change from year to year, but I (and I dare say most of my peers) feel comfortable hanging out with pretty much anyone in our year.
In terms of immaturity, I'm an older student, and yes, there is a somewhat of a difference between those that have just graduated and those that have taken some time off. All I can say is that I wouldn't let your impressions from the lounge be your sole take-away for the collective personalities here. On the whole, almost everyone is friendly, approachable, and personable.
Finally, it's been a LONG time since I've logged on to StudentDoctor - I was here last year trying to decide between UMass and a number of other schools, so I just want to make a plug for UMass. The "positives" that were listed in a previous post were all true, and apart from the cliqueyness, I'll admit that the negatives were true as well: Worcester's just not the most exciting place to be. However, the education here is amazing, and for the price, it's damn-near unbeatable. If accepted, I'd urge all of you to give UMass serious consideration.
If there are questions, feel free to PM me. I'll give you my honest impressions.
