UMass Amherst’s engineering programs are highly competitive, with a lower acceptance rate compared to the university’s overall rate of 64-66%. Students applying to engineering programs at UMass Amherst should be prepared to showcase a strong academic profile to increase their chances of admission. With a focus on innovation and hands-on learning, the engineering programs at UMass Amherst attract top-tier students from around the world.

In order to be competitive for admission to UMass Amherst’s engineering programs, applicants should aim to achieve a high SAT score composite of around 1358. While there is no minimum GPA requirement, having a GPA of 3.5 or higher will make an applicant more competitive in the admissions process. Strong math and science coursework, along with extracurricular activities related to engineering, can also strengthen an applicant’s profile.

The admission process at UMass Amherst considers various factors, including academic performance, standardized test scores, letters of recommendation, and personal statements. In addition to meeting the basic admission requirements, applicants are encouraged to demonstrate a genuine passion for engineering and a desire to contribute to the university’s vibrant academic community. It is important for applicants to carefully review the specific requirements and deadlines for the engineering program they are interested in to ensure a successful application process.

UMass Amherst Engineering Acceptance Rate	Data
Overall Acceptance Rate	64-66%
Engineering Acceptance Rate	Lower than overall rate due to competitiveness
Average SAT Score for Engineering	1358
Minimum GPA Requirement	No specific minimum, but over 3.0 is recommended
Competitive GPA	3.5 and above

Umass Amherst Engineering Acceptance Rate

University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Address	374 Whitmore Building 181 Presidents Drive
Total Engineering Research Expenditure	$47257
Admission Rate (Undergrad)	8497 (Applications), 3475 (Offered admissions), 703 (Accepted)
GPA (for Undergrad)	85 [percentage of students ranked in top 25% of their high school class]

UMass Amherst is home to 10 different schools and colleges. Four of those schools and colleges are considered competitive. So, in order of their selectivity, the first is Nursing. So, Nursing has around a 10% acceptance rate here at UMass Amherst. It’s an extremely small college. We only have room for 64 students per year and that’s out of a freshman class of over 5,000 so you can see, with those numbers and it is a strong program, why it’s very selective. I often say that Nursing is kind of its own little world so if you’re thinking about applying to Nursing at UMass Amherst, it’s really important to communicate with us about that. Talk to the Nursing department and talk to Admissions to make sure that you have all the information about what that process looks like because, again, it is just a little bit different.

In addition to being fairly selective, UMass Amherst has been ranked as one of the top nursing programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report every year since 2013—and we like to think this is due in part to our unique student-focused approach: Our average class size

At UMass Amherst, we have six schools and colleges that are considered selective or competitive. The College of Natural Sciences has open majors, which means you can apply to any major you want. The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences has open majors as well. Then we have the College of Information and Computer Sciences. That typically has around a 25% acceptance rate and these rates can vary year to year depending on how much room we have, how many students are graduating, and how many students are coming in. Then we have the Isenberg School of Management and the College of Engineering. Those typically have around a 30% acceptance rate. And many of these schools and colleges have more than one major within them. Engineering has seven different types of engineering you can study and the Isenberg School of Management, which is our business school, has many different majors in it, as well. All of the majors that fall within a selective school or college are going to be considered selective or competitive and, again, maybe a little bit more difficult to be admitted into than something in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences or the College of Natural Sciences which have open majors

On the UMass Amherst Common Application, as it stands right now, you’re going to be asked to choose a first-choice major and a second-choice major. So, for students who are applying to an open major- like, let’s say History or even something smaller like Japanese- you’re really not going to have to worry too much, generally speaking, about the second-choice major. You need to put something in but, essentially, if it’s an open major that you’re applying to and you’re admissible, odds are that you’re just going to be put in your first-choice major. If your first-choice major is something within a competitive program, then you really wanna give yourself a strong backup option by putting an open major as your second-choice major.

So, for example, I would not recommend that a student put Computer Science as their first-choice major and Computer Systems Engineering as their second-choice major. They’re in two different schools and colleges, but both schools and colleges are competitive and difficult to be admitted into. So, if you’re not admitted into Computer Science, the odds are not that great that you’re going to be admissible into Computer Systems Engineering since they’re both competitive. So, the same thing goes for applying to two different majors within the same competitive school or college. So, I wouldn’t recommend putting first choice Finance and second choice Accounting because they’re both within the Isenberg School of Management, which is a competitive program. So, a better option in those situations might be putting your first choice as Computer Science and your second choice as Math. Math is in the College of Natural Sciences and is considered an open major.

So, if we feel that you’re admissible to UMass Amherst and we’d like to have you here and give you a yes but you don’t meet the selective academic requirements for Computer Science, then we at least have another option as to where to put you and can admit you into your second-choice major. So, for the Isenberg example, a good second choice option could also be Math or maybe something like Economics, which is in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences. So, you always just wanna cover your bases. I always say that if you want to be here, we wanna make it possible for you to be here, so you wanna give yourself options and not limit yourself by putting two competitive majors as your first and second choice. So, there are several different majors within the UMass academic system that are considered competitive or selective and that may be a little bit more difficult to be admitted into than some of the other majors.

But I also wanna emphasize that just because a major is not considered competitive or selective in the admissions process doesn’t mean that it’s not a strong, well resourced, excellent major here at UMass Amherst. It simply means that those majors that are considered open majors have enough room to accommodate all the students who are interested in studying that major whereas some of the competitive or selective programs.

umass amherst engineering ranking

The College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been ranked in a seven-way tie for No. 56 overall and No. 30 among public engineering programs (five-way tie) in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 rankings of the best undergraduate engineering programs. The college also retains its status as the No. 1 public engineering program in New England.

Rising an impressive seven slots overall, and four in public rank since 2021, the engineering college at UMass Amherst tied with Auburn University, Clemson University, University of Delaware, and University of Pittsburgh among public institutions, and with two private universities — Rochester Institute of Technology and Tufts.

The published rankings are based solely on reputational surveys of deans and senior faculty at peer institutions. The University of Massachusetts Amherst was included in rankings of institutions where the doctorate is the highest degree.

At the campus level, the University of Massachusetts Amherst maintained its status as one of the nation’s best public universities ranking No. 26 among the 209 national public universities evaluated in the 2022 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Guide, the same position as last year. Among all 392 national universities, both public and private, UMass ranks No. 68.

umass amherst engineering starting salary

University of Massachusetts Amherst comes in at #6 in this year’s ranking. UMass Amherst is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of Amherst. EE majors who obtain their bachelor’s from the school make an average salary of $66,000.

The average amount in student loans that EE majors at UMass Amherst take out while working on their bachelor’s is $24,129. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $280.