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Amherst?

1453

Monkey
So I got my second acceptance letter of the year, my first one was to a masters-to-PHD to UC Berkeley, and today I got in UMass Amherst for a PHD.

Anyone from Taxachussetts know anything about it? the people I asked either love it or have never heard of it, but the thought of the financial support that come with a PHD program is enticing.
 

I Are Baboon

The Full Dopey
Aug 6, 2001
32,383
9,289
MTB New England
Don't know but if you go there you could ride with me, Splat, Quo Fan, MMcG and the crew. :thumb:


...not to scare you away or anything.



BTW, I work at one of the area hospitals.
 

skyst3alth

Monkey
Apr 13, 2004
866
0
Denver, CO
I went there for 2 years for undergrad (Mech Eng). I had an excellent time, and thus don't remember a lot of it. :)

Course-wise they were solid, had more than a few excellent professors and interesting courses. My brother is currently going there for Accounting, he's doing great and enjoys it as well.

What do you want to know about the place? It's definitely a college city.
 

1453

Monkey
well to start the weather and riding situations, and how much the city costs as far as living costs go. I grew up in a college town and went to Berkeley for my Undergrad so college towns are in my blood so to speak.

But I have a feeling that doing a PH.D. will take the bulk of my time and my riding time will suffer even more than my undergrad days.

Don't know but if you go there you could ride with me, Splat, Quo Fan, MMcG and the crew.


...not to scare you away or anything.
sweet. I will enjoy watching MMcG chaning bikes on a bi-weekly basis.
 

skyst3alth

Monkey
Apr 13, 2004
866
0
Denver, CO
well to start the weather and riding situations, and how much the city costs as far as living costs go. I grew up in a college town and went to Berkeley for my Undergrad so college towns are in my blood so to speak.

But I have a feeling that doing a PH.D. will take the bulk of my time and my riding time will suffer even more than my undergrad days.



sweet. I will enjoy watching MMcG chaning bikes on a bi-weekly basis.
Great local trails closeby, and Jeepeater for your DH fix, no worries there. Weather is typical new England, cold winters, decently warm summers. Spring is muddy, fall is absolutely epic.

Not sure how much housing costs or anything, I was on campus the entire time.
 

Smelly

Turbo Monkey
Jun 17, 2004
1,254
1
out yonder, round bout a hootinany
Housing prices are reasonable, cheaper than more urban areas, more expensive than some similarly sized areas without colleges. Being from Berkeley, you'll probably enjoy living in Northampton. Check Craigslist (western MA) for all sorts of housing prices.

Though IAB and Splat do plenty of great rides (by the sounds of it), there's no need to travel far. There's so much great riding within half an hour. There is everything from technical cross country to fast, tight, singletrack cross country. Seems most of the folks on the trails around here are riding hardtails or 4" bikes; I ride a 6" bike and it's perfect everywhere except the boring trails. Wendell State Forest (about a half hour north) has tons of new trails being built with lots of rock work and the loamiest dirt around. That's my preferred place to ride.

Length of riding season varies from year to year. Last year it never ended. This year road riding can be done year round, you could ride periodically in the woods with fat tires and/or studs (depending on the day). The weather is typical New England. Lowest temps in the winter are around zero, highest temps in the summer are 95 or so. We get rain, snow, sleet, fog, humidity, haze, and bugs on a irratic rotating schedule. You learn to cope and develop a willingness to ride in any conditions.