University of Massachusetts-Amherst

There's an urban legend that the characters in Scooby Doo were based on the schools in the Five College consortium. If true, the University of Massachusetts Amherst might be the eager, over-excited, lovable mutt Scooby. Students have been known to live up to their Scooby-like reputation, with rowdy parties and enthusiasm for a good time. Still, like good ol' Scooby, they know when to buckle down, and they're friendly, if occasionally unruly. With about 23,000 undergrads (plus another 7,000 grad students), students can usually find whatever experience they're looking for at UMass -- although they have to work hard to stand out in such a large crowd. UMass Amherst is the flagship campus in the UMass system. Some of its best programs are in business and communications, but the university offers a wide selection -- with 109 bachelor's degree programs alone, at last count. Students can also take courses at the four other colleges in the consortium: Amherst College, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith. Notable among the school's student groups is the Not Ready for Bedtime Players, an award-winning sex-education theater troupe founded in 1988 as part of a UMass Amherst theater project about the AIDS crisis.