well I'm from westfield ma which is two towns over from amherst. congrats on choosing Umass amherst by the way. I went there myself back a few years ago, it's a great school lots of fun and partying await you my friend. as far as winters are concerned don't worry about it. as long as you have 4wd you should be fine. just use your head and remember you are on snow and you won't have a problem. snow on the roads is not an everyday thing around here. we get a storm maybe once a week at the most. the plows and sanders go out and all is well. I have the grabbers too and they actually work great on hard packed snow which is what you usually drive on during a storm. from the other people I have talked to from cali that went to umass your biggest problem will be clothes! get some warm stuff, you guys have thin blood or something. sorry for the long post but I thought I could be of some assistance. if there is anything else I can help you with just let me know...