Post your own state's college reputations'

College Search & Lists
401

<p>I live in Florida too, so here is what I think of them:</p>

<p>FSU- Everyone’s first choice…if they have the grades. Their admissions are weird though, almost like the Ivies. There are people with 1400 SAT scores, great ECs, and grades that don’t get in, and at the same time people with 900 scores and average ECs and A’s B’s and the occasional C also get in. It is almost random!</p>

<p>UMiami (private) - If people have the cash or scholarships, this is where they go if they can’t get into FSU. Great environment and resources.</p>

<p>UF- I don’t like it. People just seem to go there because they want to be at a party school.</p>

<p>FAMU- Florida’s public historically black university. Great school spirit and student unity. Academics are improving. After FSU and UF, Florida’s oldest university. Has a law school in Orlando.</p>

<p>UCF- What I call the “college of FSU rejects.” People who can’t quite afford to go to UMiami and get rejected from FSU go here. Still something of a commuter school, but trying to change that image.</p>

<p>USF- Ditto what was said about UCF. It is also one of the directional schools some FSU rejects choose to go to.</p>

<p>New College- This is on the Colleges that Change Lives list. However, it is very different from the others on it because it is actually very selective. It is ridiculously small, with a grand total of only a little more than 800 undergrads. It used to be a private school until they got in debt. Then it got absorbed into USF. In 2001 or so it became an independent public school.</p>

<p>FGCU- This is the newest school in Florida. (Excluding New College, if you don’t count it becoming independent from USF in 2001) It isn’t very selective at all. (Just look at their mid-range SAT scores.) However, they reject a lot of applicants. Only a little more than 50% actually get in despite their other low statistics. Their dorms are among the best in the nation, but basically the same as any new dorms at all Florida universities. They feature full kitchens (stove, oven and full size refrigerator) and are right outside the beach. The buildings literally are on the beach, and students can rent kayaks and other small boats to go out on.</p>

<p>FAU- Smaller, striving 4-year college in Boca Raton.</p>

<p>UNF- Smaller, striving university in Jacksonville. Great scholarships.</p>

<p>UWF- Ditto UNF, except in Pensacola.</p>

<p>(time for a little fun with opinion) :)</p>

402

<p>Um, I haven’t seen much covered on Florida’s private schools (except for Miami) so I’ll go ahead and give them a shot:</p>

<p>Rollins College- Set in an upscale suburb of Orlando, this was voted a top party school a few years back and has been trying to change its image since. A very expensive school that has a mix of an increasing amount of students on merit scholarship from local and international areas, and then a bunch of rich, snobby kids from up north. One of the top 5 schools in Florida academically, and well known for its 3/2 MBA program and its highly-acclaimed business school. Also very small at 1800 kids.</p>

<p>University of Tampa- Kind of like Rollins in that it’s a mix of some bright, scholarship students and rich, northern kids. Students of this school proudly proclaim that “you can’t spell slut without UT” Much more kids go here with an enrollment of 6,000, but more kids commute than do at Rollins.</p>

<p>Florida Southern- A little less of a party school than Rollins or Tampa, this is geographically in between the two in Lakeland. Not too well known for its academics, this school is a little bit cheaper than Rollins or Tampa and has a more southern population. Not very much to do in Lakeland</p>

<p>Barry- Down in Miami and that’s about all I know</p>

<p>Saint Leo- the campus here has been described by some to look like that of a “middle school.” Set out east of Tampa, this school doesn’t have very much to say.</p>

<p>Eckerd- Out in Saint Petersburg, this school is well known for its marine biology program.</p>

<p>Embry-Riddle- Don’t know much about this one except that it’s in Daytona and they are more of a feeder for NASA with an emphasis in aeronautical engineering.</p>

<p>Basically FL private schools are filled by Floridians enticed by massive amounts of scholarship money or rich OOS students who want to have some fun in the sun.</p>

403

<p>Wow, this thread is still going? Jeebus…</p>

404

<p>To eddyx77 - UC Irvine doesn’t have a traditional journalism department. Instead, it has a literary journalism major focused on long-form stuff.</p>

<p>It’s actually quite pathetic that none of the UC schools have a journalism school, at all.</p>

405

<p>I could’ve sworn I hung out with a kid whose dad teaches journalism at Cal.</p>

406

<p>New york: </p>

<p>SUNY…lots of options, variety of locations, affordable, attracts students nationally </p>

<p>particulars…
stony brook–fun school, big, impersonal, not necessarily pretty
bighampton–honors college in the middle of nowhere
geneseo–public ivy, small, liberal arts, affordable
albany–party school, state capital
new paltz–artsy, great for education
purchase–alternative kids, piercings and whatnot</p>

407

<p>I should have specified, no <em>undergrad</em> program. Cal has a great graduate school. :)</p>

408

<p>GARDEN STATE–JERSEYYYY!</p>

<p>PRiNCETON U.–IVY"GREAT SCHOOL BLAH BLAH" BUT NO JERSEY KID REALLY WANTS TO GO THERE.</p>

<p>DREW U–TOO EXPENSIVE(TRY $34,000 TUITION) TO CONSIDER. NOT ALL THAT GREAT.</p>

<p>CENTENARY COLLEGE-- KINDA EXPENSIVE(COMPARED TO THE OTHERS) CAMPUS IS NICE.</p>

<p>KEAN U–NOT THAT COMPETITIVE…ALL THE GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE GO THERE.LOL.</p>

<p>WILLIAM PATERSON–ALSO NOT THAT COMPETITIVE…AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL CAMPUS!</p>

<p>NEW JERSEY CITY U.-- ALL THE STUDENTS ARE WEIRD…CAMPUS IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY.(CAMPUS NOT THAT BIG) THE GOOD THING IS THAT ITS CLOSE TO NYC.</p>

409

<p>vcu - downtown richmond, pretty diverse. good safety school. known around va for their med program.</p>

<p>uva - everyone here in southern va thinks its impossible to get in. not many people like uva where i live, seems like the further south you go the more va tech ppl you get. i want to go to uva. also it’s considered expensive.</p>

<p>virginia state university - i live like 20 minutes away from there. i see ads on the tv for this school all the time. if you’re white they’ll pay you a ton to go there cause you’ll be a minority there. im not even joking.</p>

<p>william and mary - it’s a pretty cool school, considered to be almost in the same league in uva. and it’s in williamsburg so you can go to busch gardens. that’s pretty sweet.</p>

<p>radford - don’t know too much about radford, a couple of my friends want to go there.</p>

<p>longwood - i know a few people who have went there, seems like an ok school for the really average kids. </p>

<p>old dominion university - ima go there if i want to be close to the beach. it’s starting to get a pretty good rep around here.</p>

<p>va tech - good tech program, i know a ton of people who want to go there. it’s considered to be hard to get into.</p>

<p>u of richmond - overpriced private school. a lot of people like to go to their basketball games tho.</p>

410

<p>I live in Nevada. 'Nuff said.</p>

411

<p>What about South Carolina schools?</p>

412

<p>Minnesota:</p>

<p>Carleton: top school, great academics, people on the top of their classes go there</p>

<p>U of M: increasingly difficult for a 3.0 student to get in, if not impossible. really good academics</p>

<p>UM–Duluth: party school</p>

<p>St. Cloud State: SERIOUS party school…police cars every night</p>

<p>Macalester: lots of hippies, good location</p>

<p>St. Thomas: racist people???</p>

413

<p>North Carolina</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill: A very good reputation, lovely campus, the students are really happy, LOTS of school spirit (especially for football/basketball), a lot of smart kids from my school go each year, very affordable.</p>

<p>Duke: I think it’s ranked #5 in the nation…so, need I say more? Ivy League caliber students go there, the campus is amazing from what I hear. Good ol’ gothic architecture.</p>

<p>Wake Forest: A place for intellectuals, it’s pretty selective. They also have great school spirit when it comes down to football. One of my friends was recruited for football, but he is also very intelligent and Student Body President.</p>

<p>NC State: One of the best public tech/engineering schools in the country. Again, lots of school spirit! The campus is very nice and pristine.</p>

<p>Davidson: Again a very selective private college. Really nice (pre)law program from what I hear.</p>

<p>East Carolina University: Amazing if you want to go pre-med, but it sucks for everything else. They accept pretty much anyone.</p>

414

<p>This is some impressions that I have gleaned over the years concerning the colleges and universities in western Pennsylvania. I previously wrote about the reputations of the colleges in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.</p>

<p>Carnegie Mellon – The apex of higher education in western Pennsylvania. Legendary drama department. Superlative engineering department. Top notch science faculty and facilties. Some of the world’s finest young minds in the student body. Drawbacks: your roommate and your professors don’t speak English as a first language. Classmates can be extremely competitive.</p>

<p>Pitt (aka The University of Pittsburgh) – It is amazing what winning athletic teams, a savvy public relations department and an infusion of state money can do for a university. What was once a run of the mill (pun intended) institution is now considered to be hot school among high school students. I say “If you can’t go to college, go to Pitt.” I will note that I have a master’s degree from Pitt.</p>

<p>Duquesne – DU has to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up. Its original mission was knock the rough edges off of the children and grandchildren of immigrants, creating a middle class from blue collars. Hasn’t responded as quickly to the changes in the demographics and economy of western Pennsylvania. Its pharmacy, business and music program are still pretty good, but in many ways the university doesn’t realize its reputation is fading. I will also note that I received my BA from Duquesne.</p>

<p>Robert Morris – Primarily for business majors. Two campuses, one in Pittsburgh’s western suburbs, one in Downtown Pittsburgh.</p>

<p>Point Park – Its theater and dance departments have begun to challenge CMU.</p>

<p>Chatham – Likes to think of itself as the Eighth Sister, the long lost soror to Bryn Mawr and Mount Holyoke. Pretty campus, not connected to the region as the other colleges are. Rachel Carson was an alumna.</p>

<p>Carlow – Traditional Catholic women’s college started to admit men a regular basis a few years back. The convent college knew what it was going to be once it grew up. Still strong in eduation and nursing, the college has a strong commitment to serving non-traditional learners. Carlow grads are the first to roll up their sleeves and get a job done, while Pitt, CMU and Duquesne people are arguing the best way to change a light bulb.</p>

<p>La Roche – Pretty campus in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh. Good art program. Drawback: without a car, one is stuck in the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh.</p>

<p>Washington and Jefferson – Pre-med capital of the region. A number of doctors, dentists, veterinarians in the region are W&J grads. Even the science majors who don’t get into med school do well. W&J is often overshadowed by other private colleges in the state, such as Dickinson, Gettysburg and Franklin and Marshall.</p>

<p>Waynesburg, Geneva and Thiel – Three small colleges that get lost in the shuffle.</p>

<p>Allegheny – A strong liberal arts college overshadowed by Dickinson, Gettysburg, Haverford and Swarthmore. Good pre-med program.</p>

<p>Westminster – Another small college lost in the shuffle. Supposedly a good music program.</p>

<p>Grove City – Strong engineering program. Most of their academic programs are very strong. Conservative theologically, academically and politically. No liberals, no Democrats, no gays need apply.</p>

<p>St. Vincent – A small Catholic liberal arts college on one of the prettiest campuses in the nation. Gave President Bush a honorary degree. Some outcry from alumni and faculty. Current administration is pretty conservative. </p>

<p>Seton Hill – Another convent college that recently began admitting men. Best known for its family and consumer services (aka home economics) and art departments. A good looking campus (in Pennsylvania, a lot of the college have great looking campuses)</p>

<p>St. Francis. – A rural Catholic college on an attractive campus. Apparently, SFU is focusing its efforts on its health-related professions.</p>

<p>I am writing this late at night, so if there are any typos, I apologize. </p>

<p>Maybe in the near future, I will write about the rest of colleges in the state.</p>

415

<p>New Mexico:</p>

<p>College of Santa Fe: Good arts program, good creative writing program. Took a class there in Sophomore year of high school. Professor was crazy, work was easy, but class time was always interesting. Not known as a hardcore school for anything, including academics.</p>

<p>New Mexico State University: Eh. Considered pretty uptight and out of place - a strange combination of conservatism and low-income. No one in Northern New Mexico wants to go there. If you’re National Merit, they send you this certificate thing and offer tuition + a couple thousand discretionary to attend. I’m still not applying. Who wants to live in Las Cruces for college?</p>

<p>New Mexico Tech: One of the most underrated Tech schools. Really great for in-state students (I have a friend who is literally making a couple thousand a year just attending). Known locally mostly for owning a whole town to blow things up in. </p>

<p>St. John’s College, Santa Fe: It’s a “books college.” A lot of Greek stuff, not in the frat way, but in the “They actually enjoy in-depth analysis of Homer” kind of way. Great for people who enjoy discussions - all classes are seminar. Considered to be full of harmless weirdos, much like Santa Fe itself. (By the way, I love the “harmless weirdo” nature of my city, but it’s certainly not for everyone.) When I was little, my sister and I went to Somethingorother Day (the name escapes me, it’s late) and got T-shirts with a cyclops eating the bell tower and a “hilarious” quote from the Iliad about drinking.</p>

<p>University of New Mexico: A “whatever you make it” kind of school. Great Law program. Good nursing program. Terrific if you care about geology or Native American issues. There’s a party atmosphere, certainly.</p>

416

<p>Ugh. Okay, I live in NY, but we have a lot of schools, so I’ll just stick to the ones I know best. Disclaimer: These are just the reputations! Not my fault if some are harsh!</p>

<p>SUNY Stonybrook: Where long islanders go if they are semi-smart. Where non-long islanders go because they don’t know any better. The school with the worst campus in existence. Majors other than sciences are neglected. Professors very involved in their own research and not necessarily good at teaching. If you want 300-person lectures delivered through microphone, go here. Expect to bring your ID to tests because your TAs sure as heck won’t know if you are you. See stonybrooksucks.com <–real website</p>

<p>SUNY Binghamton: Good reputation. “Ivy of the SUNYs.” Depressing, but cheap. </p>

<p>SUNY Farmingdale: 13th grade. Suffolk CC is considered the better option. Beautiful campus.</p>

<p>Nassau and Suffolk Community Colleges (long island): Best community colleges in the country. Suffolk riverhead is the hippie campus (think ultimate frisbee and sandals year-long); Suffolk selden is the big and pretty one, filled with rich, white kids; Suffolk brentwood is the diverse one trying to catch up to selden’s reputation, but failing because once upon a time someone was stabbed in brentwood.</p>

<p>NYU: Great school, huge, place where people kill themselves (literally). More artsy than columbia. Good reputation, but not as good as Columbia’s. Cut-throat. Going to Stern earns you respect. </p>

<p>Columbia: The only school good enough to risk getting stabbed in Harlem (don’t worry, the area has a lot of students and if you are smart about where you go and when then you’ll be fine). Ivy status says it all. Not in the heart of the city, but right by a subway stop. Pretty campus. Has cockroaches (seriously, this one isn’t a rumor!)! Awesome research facilities. New York’s favorite child.</p>

<p>Barnard: Either “Great school,” “but don’t you want to meet guys?” or “what’s Barnard?” The place to be if you’re into dance or writing and have a vagina. Columbia’s basement. Horrible campus.</p>

<p>Vassar: Hipsters who who spend summers at the cape pretending to be hippies. Good school.</p>

<p>Bard: The reputation is that most Bard kids cut themselves, want to major in interpretive dance, and have tortured but artistic souls. Great for writing and theatre.</p>

<p>Cornell: Lol. We talk about how so many idiots want to attend a school with a frickin suicide bridge. “Easiest to get into, hardest to stay in.” Depressing.
Maybe worth the ivy degree. COLD! Especially good in sciences. </p>

<p>Skidmore: Artsy, rich, and homogenous population.</p>

<p>SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo: crappy party schools that many students need to drop out of because they boozed up too much. The schools for students who couldn’t get into Binghamton.</p>

<p>Hofstra: Long Islanders are baffled by why ANYONE would want to apply to Hofstra from out of state. Hofstra is known for rich idiots who either live on long island or want to be close to NYC but don’t realize that you can’t survive on long island without a car. Pretty campus. Hot girls. Close to Nassau coliseum, making it a good location for people who can afford the shows. </p>

<p>SUNY Geneseo: Good school. Underrated.</p>

417

<p>New Jersey:</p>

<p>Rutgers: The freakshow that anyone who didn’t make their top choices gets thrown into</p>

<p>Rowan and TCNJ: Where all the teachers went, so they’re automatically not cool</p>

<p>Ramapo/Montclair: Typical 3rd tier schools</p>

<p>NJIT: All the geeks who didn’t make MIT go here; quickly gaining a good reputation</p>

<p>Princeton: Paradise</p>

418

<h2>Maine</h2>

<p>University of Maine at Orono: Biggest school in the state. Over half the kids in the graduating class at my school go here. It has a pretty solid engineering program. It is located in the northern part of the state and the biggest activities are binge drinking and attending hockey games (the team is very good).</p>

<p>Thomas College: Incredibly easy classes. Mostly anyone can get in. They promise job placement. Campus is drab and far from unique although they are pretty technologically advanced.</p>

<p>University of Southern Maine: Located in Gorham/Portland. There is a split campus. The population of this school is more “urban” than Orono. </p>

<p>Colby College: Located in my hometown. The population is very liberal. Most of the kids are from the suburbs of Boston. Pretty competitive. </p>

<p>Bowdoin College: Probably the most competitive school in the state. It is very similar to Colby although it may be more liberal. </p>

<p>Bates College: Competitive liberal arts school in Lewiston. Lewiston doesn’t have the best reputation but I think Bates is set apart from the rough parts of the town. Not many in-state kids apply here in comparison to Colby and Bowdoin.</p>

419

<p>what about UNC Ashville, Charlotte, Greensboro?</p>

420

<p>Ohio (In order of general prestige)</p>

<p>1) Case Western Reserve University- Generally thought to be full of weird people, like 70% male and 30% female, excellent for pre-med, science, and business, but overall a miserable place to be, world-class medical school</p>

<p>2) Kenyon, Oberlin, (maybe Denison??)- thought to be small schools full of liberal northeastern types, once again generally percieved to be full of weird people,</p>

<p>3) Miami University- Preppy, wealthy, east coast feel, excellent business school, most people in my part of Ohio seem to think it’s a better academic school than Ohio State. </p>

<p>4) Ohio State University- HUGE, excellent engineering programs, good professional schools, diverse student body, an Ohio State degree is extremely well regarded anywhere within Ohio</p>

<p>TIE-5) Ohio University- Party school, nice campus, good quality of life, average students, good journalism school, school motto: “Ohio university. We don’t make alcholics, we recruit them.”</p>

<p>TIE-5) University of Cincinnati- supposedly in the middle of the ghetto, people from my area think its full of thugs, excellent engineering programs, world class medical school, good law school</p>

<p>7) Dayton, Xaiver, Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein- These are arguably better than UC and OU, depending on who you are talking to, Students at these schools are generally pretty happy, for the most part middle-upperclass white students, Not bad but certainly not great</p>

<p>8) Kent State, Youngstown State, Bowling Green, Akron, Wright State etc.- For the most part, these students are Ohio State rejects. Not well regarded within Ohio, but better than community college.
-however, Kent State does have an excellent fashion design program<br>
-also, some Akron, YSU, or Kent Students may be involved with NEOUCOM, which is a prestigious 6 year BS/MD program</p>

<p>Additionally, Northwestern University (Although not in Ohio) has an extremely strong reputation throughout Ohio. This school has an excellent reputation in Ohio, better than many Ivy League schools</p>

<p>This list isn’t all inclusive, but it gives you a pretty good idea. Generally, most top students from my area go to either Miami, Ohio State, or OU .</p>