Born, raised and continuing to live in Maine here. The UMaine system in general isn't a bad selection of schools - each has their own strong points - example, UMO (my alma mater) is known for engineering and nursing, UMF is known for teaching, USM is known for business, etc. At UMPI and UMFK you get a completely different experience, they're the smallest of the UMaine system schools, very very very rural, which there is nothing wrong with that, you just have to be prepared. The closest actual "city" is Bangor - unless you cross into Canada - Bangor is about 2.5 hours south. As for school focus, going to such a small campus and being isolated from many distractions of the modern world may actually help. A handful of the smartest kids in my engineering classes came from Caribou and Presque Isle. I would say that all UMaine schools will provide you with a good education, just be prepared for being in the middle of nowhere. That takes some people by surprise, but there is literally potatoes, farms, and miles and miles and miles of no cell phone service, woods, hunting and forestry land. Personally I find it peaceful and would move up there in a heartbeat if there were more jobs.