Fishercat, i just moved from Massachusetts and even though i have only completed a two-year degree (Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, MA) i think i had a good grasp on how education works in Massachusetts. i mean, it's "education", but i really didn't think the state does a great job in that department. i briefly attended Berkshire Community College (Pittsfield, MA, where i lived) and found the staff there to not really give a crap about the students. of course, that school was having a lot of problems. i did think of going to the University of Massachusetts, but heard that even though it's a very popular university in the New England area, it's very much a "drinking university" and that their technology-related programs were less than par-for-the-course as far as universities go. Schools up there are WAY over-priced, my wife and I went to visit Hartford University and walked away shaking our heads that a very expensive university like that couldn't even keep course and admission-related catalogs on hand, and DIDN'T KNOW WHERE THEY COULD FIND THEM. Hampshire College could very well be "different", but I prescribe to the thinking that schools are usually on par with those that encircle them. Just one opinion.