Is UMass Amherst the Right Choice for My Physics Career Path?

[mankin2006]

Hi, I'm an international student from Malaysia and I recently got accepted to UMass Amherst majoring in Physics for my Bachelors Degree. Should I:

1. Accept the offer and transfer to a better school (if I get the chance).

or

2. Major in Computer Science in a local university that has a American Transfer Degree Program (link: http://www.taylors.edu.my/en/university/schools/adp/us_universities ) and transfer to a good school and later on taking a masters degree in physics after my undergraduate studies.

My main career path is on Physics and especially in High Energy Physics as a matter of fact. I'd just like an opinion on this matter because I don't know if it is wise to go into a school that has the least probability of me transferring to a good* school.

*good as in having a somewhat reputable name, good education quality and a community with the aptitude to learn because UMass is ( as far as I have heard from student reviews ) infamous for being a party school.

 

[jtbell]

UMass is a decent place for undergraduate physics. When I was a graduate student in HEP at the U of Michigan, another HEP grad student that I was friends with had come from UMass. He's now a professor at the U of Virginia, still working in HEP.

So don't turn up your nose at UMass. Just put some cotton in your ears at night if necessary, to drown out the partying noise.