I’m wondering what the general school vibe is at the following schools:
U of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Emory
Northwestern
Wash U in St. Louis
Tufts
Tulane
U of Miami
Lehigh
UCLA
University of Texas
These are all great schools. I’m not sure how true these things are, but here’s what’s I’ve heard:
UMich Ann Arbor - It’s in a nice town. The school can be “altered” to fit each student. The only complaints I’ve heard have been about the weather, and that it’s expensive.
Emory - A rigorous school, one of the most expensive in the country. I’ve heard it’s cliquey.
Lehigh-A good school. The wealthy students say it’s in a “sketchy area”. It’s not visually appealing, but it’s not dangerous. 99.9% of the state is safe. I’ve heard there’s a lot of drugs, but you can avoid them.
Northwestern - An extremely rigorous school, possibly to the detriment of the students. I’ve heard complaints about the weather, and the work. I’ve heard the location is great, and there’s economic diversity.
Wash U - I haven’t heard much, except the food is great.
Tufts - A great college experience, with lots of opportunities. A bit of a party school.
Tulane - A big party school. Sounds like there’s a lot of access to drugs, which should be expected at a wealthy school. It’s not very diverse, mostly northeastern students. I’ve heard they have a good double-major program.
U of Miami - A good school, although not as great as the Ivies. Lots of pre-med students. Very diverse, more so than the Ivies. Another party school, although students say it’s easy to avoid.
UCLA - Great location, diverse. One of the lowest priced schools on the list.
U of Texas - Which one?
I don’t think depending on what random people have “heard” is worthwhile. You might do better posting in each of these colleges’ forums, where actual students may step up to give you their experiences. And if there is a particular issue that is important to you–e.g., social life, competitiveness–you’d be better off being specific about your concerns rather than just asking about the “vibe”. Many of the available college guides offer some sense of what life is like on each campus–have you looked at them?
If you haven’t already I’d look these schools up in the Fiske Guide and/or the Insiders Guide as they provide reviews that include the “vibe” of each school. You can probably find the books at your guidance dept., the library, or a bookstore.
I’ve been to Emory many times, and also to Texas and Michigan. Those three universities are entirely different from one another.
UT-Austin is in the heart of Austin in walking distance from some artsy neighborhoods with lots of murals, and is also next to the state Capitol and office buildings. There seems to be a lot of energy around there. Austin is known for its live music performances. The city is rather hilly and has a river running through it and a large lake, so there are plenty of outdoor activities as well. I’d say the overall vibe is an odd mix of alternative and preppy. The students who dress “casual” are typically wearing designer T-shirts and designer jeans with styled hair, and those who dress alternative might have extreme looks that are anything but polished. There are two million or so people in metro Austin, and it is within a few hours of San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. There’s a ton of school spirit at UT-Austin that extends well beyond the university – all parts of Texas have UT spirit-wear and other goods for sale because of the large alumni base.
Emory is technically close to the heart of midtown and downtown Atlanta as well as the wonderful city of Decatur, but the area right next to the university has historically had very little in walking distance – just one street with a handful of cafes and stores. That is changing a bit, as there are some new mixed-use developments next to Emory. The campus is still quiet though. The students tend to be wealthy and segmented into their groups such as Jewish, Asian, LGBT, Black, etc. These groupings exist in official student groups from undergraduate through graduate school and beyond into the alumni groups. Atlanta itself has a lot going for it and is the capital of Georgia with about six million people in the metro area. It is very diverse. Emory has a skeleton for its mascot, and is not known for spectator sports or school spirit. It does have lots of school pride though, and a strong reputation. They’ve had some administrative issues the past couple of years, and have gotten rid of some of their most-loved educational programs.
Michigan is in the heart of Ann Arbor, a wonderful small city with lots of cafes and shops around the square. Some people make the best of the snow by going cross-country skiing. The area feels very safe, and like a lively, ritzy version of a small town in a way. Students are still walking around and hanging out at cafes well into the night. The area has close to 350,000, and is very close to Detroit with about five million people. I loved Ann Arbor when I was there. Michigan of course has lots of school spirit and is part of the Big 10. People seem down to earth.
All of your other universities are vastly different from one another in size, location and “vibe.” I suggest reading websites with student reviews, and also checking out the “street view” of these campuses and surrounding cities on Googlemaps. Think about whether spectator sports and related school spirit are important to you or not, and what type of climate and size city you want to live in. Also consider what you want to be doing when you are not in class, and which place offers those activities.
Thanks so much to all who responded!! I appreciate it!!
Totally wrong about Tulane. How could a school with such strong stats (ACT 30-33; 60% in too 10%) be written off as a “party school” with “access to drugs?” 25% of the class have SATs above 2160. Many students study abroad, and most go on to medical, law, business and other graduate study. The architecture school is uber-rigorous, as is the engineering school. Latin American Studies is top 2 in the country, and Tulane has become cutting edge in interdisciplinary instruction. Last year’s class was its strongest and largest ever, and this year’s class will be smaller and even more competitive. I suggest that you do a little research before you write!
I don’t think Tulane should be regarded primarily as a party school, as it’s an easy school to recommend for academic reasons, as I have done at times. However, if “research” is at issue, then Princeton Review’s Top Ten Party Schools will be found, a category in which Tulane appears. The validity of PR’s lists can certainly be called into question – as I have done occasionally in my own posts – but the publication does constitute a type of “source,” rightly or wrongly.
@NJDad68 Seems like you are suggesting that smart kids don’t party, but kids with lower ACT scores do? There are a lot of strong academic schools out there and some of them, in addition to smart kids, do have a party reputation.
@merc81, your point is fair, but the mistake newjerseygirl98 made was that she called it a big “party school” (and worse) and neglected to mention the academic rigor, the community service atmosphere, the culture of New Orleans, etc. Yes, it was ranked as the No. 9 party school by Princeton Review, which probably wasn’t unfair either, but the Princeton Review also put it in the Top 10 “Students Most Engaged in Community Service.” It also put Tulane as being in the Best College City (#4), having the Best Quality of Life (#12), and having the Happiest Students (#4). Just recently, ESPN ranked Tulane as the third best “College Campus for Recruits to Visit, Non-Hoops Version,” writing “No. 3. Tulane University. If you think a weekend in New Orleans doesn’t sound like a big deal, you clearly haven’t been to New Orleans. Tulane sits a short streetcar ride away from the French Quarter and smack in the middle of the Garden District (home to the Mannings – as in Archie, Peyton and Eli). It’s beautiful. The food is ridiculous. It’s New Orleans.” Perhaps I am over-reacting, but like all negative stereotypes, this one needs to be refuted by the truth.
@NJDad68: True, negative stereotypes are challenging to react to evenly. If you read around the site, though, most colleges have been labeled with them in one way or another at various times. In the end though, you were able to include some positive comments on Tulane, so the forum fortunately does have this self-correcting aspect.