University of Maine (UMaine)

Up in the Northeast corner of the United States, the University of Maine is a public research university with “all the opportunities of a large state school, while having the atmosphere of a small school.” Students majoring in Business, Engineering, Marine Sciences, Forestry, Animal Science, Music, and Education majors all rave about their departments, but they also say that with nearly 100 majors, minors and degree programs, “the class choices are amazing.” The great value is another draw: “UMaine provides one of the most affordable university educations in the area” with “great scholarships if you have decent high school grades.” As for the classes themselves, undergrads caution that “the courses are rather challenging,” but there’s a sense of “camaraderie and willingness to...help—not just in professors but in your peers as well.” Professors are generally “passionate, helpful, and actually want to see you at their office hours,” and also bring “real-world experience into their classrooms.” Juniors and seniors advise that “building a relationship with faculty is key” to success both at UMaine and beyond as they “are eager to recruit students to help with their [own] research” and provide connections to outside jobs and research positions in their fields. Other hands-on learning opportunities abound at UMaine, with some examples including “drilling through the ice to collect sediment samples” on a frozen lake and caring for “horses and dairy cows” on the university farm. Students also find “well-established connections outside of college” in the form of hospital internships to placements at local primary schools. Because of this, students seeking “opportunity and a sense of community” find this campus to “feel like home.”

UMaine’s “campus is filled with very welcoming people” who are “down to earth,” “helpful,” “hardworking,” and, as one undergrad phrases it, “wicked friendly.” The student body hails “mostly from the state of Maine or the surrounding New England area” and is predominantly white. Yet students emphasize that the campus is diverse, maintaining a “significant LGBT+ presence on campus” and a mix of social classes, religions, and political affiliations. Whatever the background, most students “share the love and passion of the outdoors.” Additionally, one student tells us, “Everyone has their own different quirks and no one is judged for that.” That acceptance also goes for nontraditional students. For example, the “veteran community is fantastic” and there are “many people with military partners [or] family members.” Another student sums it up: “There is a unique sense of Maine here, and we are quite united under the Black Bear banner.”

UMaine Black Bears are a very active bunch, and “sports, especially hockey, [are] a huge part of the...culture.” At games, “the student section goes crazy (in the best way)” and “the school spirit is...incredible.” Additionally, the school is situated in “such a unique place” that is “super green in the summer and pure white in the winter,” providing this outdoorsy student body with miles of “trails for running and biking and a river [where] people often go paddling, kayaking, swimming, and fishing.” (Yes, there’s an on-campus canoe rental.) Both coastal Arcadia National Park and remote Baxter State Park, where “the Appalachian Trail ends...[atop] pristine Mount Katahdin,” are just an hour’s drive away. The winter season is popular for cross-country and alpine skiing, snowboarding, and other sports. Other forms of physical activity are available in UMaine’s recreation center, which students boast is the “best in New England” and features “tons of equipment and...classes for people of all experience levels.” For those who would rather stay inside during the winter, the campus puts on free movies, “drag shows, trivia nights, [and] amazing Collins Center performances.” As for nightlife, while there are plenty of parties and drinking at downtown bars on weekends, there is little pressure to partake—students say their peers are “chill and accepting of whatever you do and do not do.” While the school may be in a rural environment, that doesn’t mean the students are bored or lonely. As one undergrad puts it: “When everyone’s in the middle of nowhere, no one is.”