<p>This thread has been around for a while… could a Mod get rid of the second apostrophe in the title?</p>
<p>all the posts on the UC’s are very insightful if not downright hilarious. I want to hear more!!</p>
<p>I agree with most of the NY school stuff. I tried to hit the main SUNYs. Though, I didn’t hit them all. Details…</p>
<p>*SUNY Stonybrook: Incredibly high number of Asians and Long Islanders. People tend to be a bit depressed who go there. Or go because of financial/unknown reason (not because they want to). Social scene is dead. A large number of commuters. Um, impersonal as well. Good for sciences. Really competitive Honors College.</p>
<p>*SUNY Binghampton: Really respected in SUNYs. Smart kids go. Only thing to do is drink. Area around it sucks. Pretty campus. Good for business. A decent number of smart potheads.</p>
<p>SUNY Albany: Incredibly Ugly Campus. HUGE Party School. In…Albany. Ick.</p>
<p>SUNY New Paltz: A normal SUNY. Decent party school. Good for sci. </p>
<p>*SUNY Geneseo: As others have said, good suny. Middle of nowhere. Just drinking. Smart kids who want to save money tend to go. Good Liberal Arts.</p>
<p>*SUNY at Buffalo: Good SUNY. A bit of a party school. Has Honors College. A bit hockey-obsessed. </p>
<p>SUNY Oswego, Oneota and Cortland are HUGE party schools for the record. Especially Cortland. They’re sort of in the middle of nowhere leaving drinking/drugs as the main way for having fun. Uh, if you get mixed up in the wrong crowd, you will be pretty deep…</p>
<p>SUNY Potsdam: Good for music!</p>
<p>Tier One SUNYs: Binghampton, Geneseo, Buffalo, Stonybrook.
Tier Two: Albany, New Paltz, Oneota, Oswego, Potsdam.
Tier Three: Cortland…and the rest.</p>
<p>Here’s my take on the UCs, coming from a small town near Santa Cruz: </p>
<p>UC Berkeley: Super-strong academics, most prestigious, fairly strong tilt towards the hard sciences. Competitive atmosphere, but also very politically aware and motivated, although less so than back in the 60s. Located in a liveral, relaxed town</p>
<p>UC Davis: The best UC for life science, awesome people who are really relaxed, but also motivated, in a really calm but fun and environmentally sound town. Around here, it is considered one of the “coolest” UCs.</p>
<p>UC Irvine: No one here talks about irvine much, but it has a decent hard sciences reputation. Perfectly respectable.</p>
<p>UC Los Angeles: Almost as prestigious as Berkley (technically they are tied, but everyong here likes Berkely more) with an active social life. Also considered “cool” because it’s in LA.</p>
<p>UC Riverside: The only time I have heard anyone mention UCR is when they have been talking about last resort UCs (“technically the top 4% of CA students are gaurunteed a spot in a UC, but it could be Riverside or something.”). Probably the weakest reputation academically, socially, and quality of life-wise. I would probably rather go to CSUMB, even though CSUs are generally considered a massive step down.</p>
<p>UC San Diego: A strong school with a fairly relaxed but motivated academic atmosphere. Also considered “cool.” People like it a lot, although they don’t really talk about it.</p>
<p>UC Santa Barbara: A burn-out school, plain and simple. Hard to get into, fairly strong academics, but such a complete party school that that doesn’t even matter.</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz: Politically active and very liberal with a fair amount of drug use. Kind of weak academic reputation among UCs, but still decent comparitively, especially in marine biology and astronomy. No one here wants to go, because they all want to leave home and many want a “better” school, but would probably think differently if we didn’t live here.</p>
<p>sanjenferrer - ahaha, are you being funny by saying no ones heard of university of chicago? i have to agree with a lot of the negative comments people say about it because when i visited it, i felt those same things, boring, pretentious, VERY pretty gothic architecture tho. =)
…and they rejected me, but , ahaha</p>
<p>New York (SUNY):</p>
<p>New Paltz- Getting really difficult to get into. Pretty smart kids go, kinda hippie-ish. A lot of pot and a cute tye-dye store in the tiny town of New Paltz. Decent photo program. Not much school spirit. Still a good school. I think it’s one of the best SUNYs.</p>
<p>Binghamton- Really well-respected for it’s academics. Not an ideal location, but what SUNY is? And it’s great because my uncle works there :)</p>
<p>Albany- Not really difficult to get into. MAJOR party school. Def deserves a spot on the top 10 list of US party schools.</p>
<p>Purchase- DO NOT GO HERE. You may think you want to go, BUT YOU DON’T. Major drug scene. You’ll go in as a person who likes art and will party sometimes when you can, and leave as a heroin addict. Or just end up in rehab after the first semester. When it comes to academics, you can’t cross over and take classes from a different major. For people with one real interest and no others (except drugs).</p>
<p>Oneonta- AKA Stoneonta. Pretty good school. REALLY in the middle of no where. Good parties, Good theater facilities. </p>
<p>Buffalo- Be prepared for a lot of snow. If you’re into music, be aware that it’s not a good marching band. Esp if you’re in the color guard.</p>
<p>Potsdam- Amazing school of music. Also really cold and in the middle of nowhere.</p>
<p>Old Westbury- Basically a joke.</p>
<p>Farmingdale- Most kids who didn’t get into any of the schools they got into end up going. Or if you hated your school and wanted to come home.</p>
<p>I thought I should add some private schools in NY…</p>
<p>Sarah Lawrence- Nice school, independent and usually artsy kids go. Really expensive. Populated by girls mostly.</p>
<p>Ithica- Good for music, no one really applies from my hs.</p>
<p>NYU- Great school. Mad expensive. Good programs all around, nice location. In order to go and be successful, you really need to know who you are.</p>
<p>Cornell- Everyone I know who goes there likes it a lot. Also a nice campus.</p>
<p>C.W. Post- Aka Long Island University. Kids who want a good school and who want to stay home usually attend. Huge theater where a lot of local long islanders will go see performances. I’ve been a few times.</p>
<p>SUNY Brockport- No one really wants to go, not outstanding for anything, except maybe STDs. </p>
<p>SUNY Cortland- Also not really outstanding, party school.</p>
<p>Fashion Inst. of Tech- Not a difficult to get into as you would imagine (for certain majors). No campus, completely dry dorms. Low tuition no matter which state you live in.</p>
<p>Parsons- Overpriced but a good art school, if you can afford it.</p>
<p>Labratory Inst of Merchandising- The reject fashion school. If you want to do fashion merchandising and don’t get accepted to FIT, you go here. New dorms cost more than tuition to live in. You’re better off getting a nearby appartment. Lots of parties and people who club.</p>
<p>Wagner- Not all too popular, but a nice school with a nice campus. The only problem is it’s on staten island. </p>
<p>Iona- Decent athletics. Semi-decent academics. Not far from the city.</p>
<p>CUNY Queens- Good school, public ivy.</p>
<p>CUNY Hunter- Really good honors program. Also a really good theater program. </p>
<p>Briarcliff, Adelphi, Hofstra, etc.- Same level as C.W. Post. Nice schools for kids who want to stay home. But not amazing.</p>
<p>CUNY John Jay- The best you can get for forensic studies.</p>
<p>Fordham- Well-liked. Good academics. Pretty chill place.</p>
<p>Pace- Expensive. Great English dept. Nice campus.</p>
<p>^ As a NY resident as well, I agree with everything there. Though I have a bit of a deal with Pace - they are a pretty crap school. No one here thinks about going there - it’s one of the worst schools possible, and charges way too much for a less than community college experience. I’d say if you had to go somewhere, either go to Community College or CUNY rather than Pace and save several tens of thousands of dollars and get a better academic and social experience. Sorry for the rant, but Pace is absolute crap. SUNY Brockport is superior even</p>
<p>ouuuchhh to pace haha. brockport? wow i’ve never heard of it being bad! </p>
<p>anyone have insight to indiana university of penn?
virginia commonwealth u? - how do they have a marching band/guard if there’s no football team??
western michigan?</p>
<p>Ohio:</p>
<p>Ohio State- Big school, very diverse and getting better every year plus its in Columbus which is pretty neat city
Miami- Preppy, in the middle of no where, people say its better than Ohio State though its not really true
Ohio U- All around party school, also in the middle of nowhere
Cincinnati- An alright school in the middle of the getto
Kent State- Where the 2.0 students go
Toledo- Decent campus and in a nice part of town, academics aren’t too bad either
Bowling Green- Out in the cornfields, great if you want to be a teacher or go into sports management
Case Western- Considered the best in Ohio but kind of nerdy</p>
<p>NO one has done Texas in a while, I will.</p>
<p>UT Austin- if you’re not top 10% you’ll be summer freshman’d or CAP’d. Biggest party school in the South. Known for it’s academics as well. A bunch of burnt orange. Public Ivy.</p>
<p>Texas A&M- Okay school in the middle of nowhere. Drunk hicks. That is all.</p>
<p>UT Dallas- Best Austin alternative.
UT Arlington- Middle of nowhere. Still up there.
UTSA- No one graduates from here. They mostly transfer sophomore year to UT Austin. Muchos mexicanos. Where your dreams go to die. Barely above ACC.</p>
<p>Texas State- HUGE party school. Wow. No learning goes on here, not anymore.</p>
<p>Texas Christian University- Sub-par rich kids. Need-aware admissions. VERY need-aware.</p>
<p>Baylor University- tre conservative, in the middle of the Ghetto aka WACO
Mary-Hardin Baylor- didn’t make the Baylor cut</p>
<p>Rice- Texas’ own Ivy</p>
<p>Austin College/Southwestern- nice LACs</p>
<p>Blinn- When A&M won’t accept you, Blinn will.</p>
<p>ACC- Anyone Can College</p>
<p>University of North Texas- Good for communications. Not much else.</p>
<p>reputation of st. thomas, houston, tx?</p>
<p>St. Thomas, TX: Catholic school, throws money at you. Lesser known. In the montrose area, has an amazing scene…nice museums and coffeeshops. Right next to the street with the best restaurants</p>
<p>Baylor: Very Christian. Everyone who goes there gets married right after college.</p>
<p>Steven F. Austin: Party school. Where you go if you get rejected from UTSA, UT Austin, and Texas State.</p>
<p>Texas State: Also a big party school. Located in San Marcos, 3rd best place to shop in the entire country.</p>
<p>Texas Con’t:</p>
<p>St. Edward’s: Technically a Holy Cross school, but has a prayer room for Muslim students and active Hillel, so it’s very welcoming. Great location in Austin and great theatre program with a relationship with the Actors’ Equity Association. Very small (3k-ish). Not very academically challenging or selective. “That OTHER school in Austin.”</p>
<p>Concordia Austin: It’s right next to UT, so if you’re desperate to be close by but can’t get into UT or St. Ed’s, go there.</p>
<p>razoredsuitcase: Can you elaborate about Purchase? </p>
<p>Is it really that terrible?! Tell me more! </p>
<p>I just got accepted there, today…into the Creative Writing program. (They called me. It was awkward.) I know it’s not seen as the best school academically (far from it), but I’ve heard that the so-called “conservatory” programs are actually pretty decent, and somewhat selective (visual art, music, drama, creative writing, dance, etc). Is this true at all, in your opinion, or in the opinion of the general public? Or is Purchase just generally crappy, regardless of one’s specific field of study?</p>
<p>The predominantly indie/alternative culture, and the location (small town but still SO CLOSE TO NYC) both really, really appeal to me…but I do care about academics, of course.</p>
<p>AND, just so this comment isn’t COMPLETELY off-topic, here’s the perspective of yet another Florida resident. Based on what I’ve heard over the years…and my own, personal opinions, inevitably:</p>
<p>UF- UF does seem to be largely regarded as “the best” state school in Florida. It’s generally ranked the highest (with FSU close behind). UF is indeed the first choice of most, in terms of Florida state schools. Football is a big deal, supposedly. Lots of school spirit. Huge in size. Greek life and all that…kinda makes me cringe. Especially good Engineering program. Good Journalism, too, which seems random. Significant partying, of the binge-drinking persuasion. Pretty campus. Gainesville itself seems quaint but kind of boring. </p>
<p>I have some friends who went here, all very bright… All have turned into zomg die-hard GATORS FANS 4L!!!1 I’m not gonna lie; it scares me a little. </p>
<p>FSU- FSU seems to be largely regarded as second to UF. (For reference, US News ranks UF 49 in National Universities, and FSU 112 in National Universities. To be fair though, unless you count NCF, no other FL state school comes even remotely close to either of them, and they are competitive in many ways. UCF and USF are third tier, while FAU, FIU and FAMU are fourth. Not sure about the others, but you get the idea… I’m pretty sure I can safely say UF and FSU are both ranked MUCH higher than all the other traditional, Florida schools, with the first ranked a bit higher than the latter.) </p>
<p>Football is a big deal, supposedly. Lots of school spirit. Huge in size. Greek life and all that…kinda makes me cringe. But I’ve heard that FSU is more artsy than UF, generally…and that there is more partying, also of the binge-drinking persuasion (though NORML has an active chapter here, so surely there is a prevalent stoner population, as well). Pretty campus. </p>
<p>If you’re interested in politics/government, Tally is probably a good place to be. Although I am liberal/didn’t support him (hey, at least Jeb Bush is gone), I think it is worth mentioning that our current governor is one of many politically-successful alumni. And the one time I visited, there was an old-school, hardcore protest happening, which I thought was kind of interesting. Being in the capital could have its advantages, though the surrounding area (North Florida, South Georgia) seems dull and a bit hickish to me (though Tally itself isn’t like that at all). </p>
<p>Good for certain sciences. Also, especially good Film, Theatre and Creative Writing programs. (Check out The Atlantic’s Top 10 for Creative Writing: [The</a> Best of the Best](<a href=“http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200708/mfa-programs]The”>The Best of the Best - The Atlantic). Although this is referring to grad school, FSU does offer an undergrad creative writing program–English with a concentration in writing–with a quite solid reputation, from all I’ve heard.) </p>
<p>I’m one of the only people I know who wants FSU more than UF, although I’m not incredibly enchanted with either one.</p>
<p>UCF- Take your pick: Under Construction Forever, or U Can’t Fail. Not very hard to get into, though it’s becoming more selective, apparently. A LOT of people from my area end up here. Nobody seems to care much about academics. Of course, there is a lot of partying. I don’t know enough to comment further. </p>
<p>USF- From what I understand, it’s basically like UCF, but in Tampa (instead of in Orlando). Like some previous posters have mentioned, I honestly can’t figure out why the University of SOUTH Florida is in Tampa. I don’t know enough to comment further.</p>
<p>FAU- Find Another University. Fourth tier. Need I say much more? Not good academically. Not good socially. Not particularly good for anything, as far as I know.</p>
<p>I live in Boca Raton, unfortunately. I’ve lived here for most of my life, and I’d rather kill myself than graduate from FAU. (Harsh, but sort of true.)</p>
<p>I’m not going to bother with the other traditional, Florida state schools. They’re not really worth elaborating on.</p>
<p>NCF (New College of Florida): It is technically a Florida state school, but I see it as kind of separate and different… It’s the “Honors College” of Florida now. It’s an extremely progressive, selective, public LAC, and it’s tiny. I constantly hear two very different things about typical NCF students: 1)They’re pretentious and 2.)They’re hippies. Um. … Pretentious hippies?! Kinda seems like a contradiction to me, so I’m not entirely sure what’s true. (Perhaps there is a fundamental difference going on here, in interpretation of the word “hippie”.) No grades, just written evaluations. Lots of drugs. NCF is ranked 87 in Liberal Arts Colleges by US News, and was deemed #1 in public LACs in the '07 edition of America’s Best Colleges.</p>
<p>UM (University of Miami)- Ideal for rich preppy kids.</p>
<p>Eckerd College- Ideal for rich hippies.</p>
<p>Lynn University- Ideal for rich idiots.</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Of course, these are shameless generalizations (and obviously biased)…but uh, yeah. Interesting thread!</p>
<p>UC Berkeley: Best UC you can get into! Very liberal… and lots of hobos in the surrounding town. Competitive students… cut throat even. Apparently there are some awsome parties here however.</p>
<p>USC: University of Spoiled Children. Many rich people attend because they buy their way in all the time. But it’s still a great school and many peoples dream school! Very hard to get into (unless you pay of course) but in the ghetto.</p>
<p>UCLA: Another top notch UC and is in SOCAL, which many people like. Very good school. Almost as good as Berkeley, in fact, many people who get accepted to Berkeley get rejected from UCLA</p>
<p>UC San Diego: Very good medical school. Apparently the social life lacks the most at this school because everyones studying so hard to get into a good med school! so almost no party life</p>
<p>UC Santa Barbara: Party school! Hey but it’s the 4th hardest UC to get into so they deserve to party! Lots of white people.</p>
<p>UC Irvine: Asianville! If you’re asian and didn’t get into UCSD, UCLA, or UCB, they attend here! Nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>UC Davis: Very good vet school, and overall good academics. Lots of cows, but apparently there are amazing parties here too!</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz: Known as the UC you go to if you can’t get into the schools listed above. Lots of granola hippies and just plain hippies. Nothing to do but drink, smoke, and school.</p>
<p>UC Riverside: It’s a no no. Go to community college before this.</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO: Looked as just as good as Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara. VERY good engineering schools. Lots of guys at this school.</p>
<p>San Diego State: Best party school!!! People from UCSD and USD come to this school to party. </p>
<p>CSU Chico: Alcohol <3 you can get in with a 2.0</p>
<p>^ wheres the love for UC Merced? =P</p>
<p>The consensus opinions of my fellow classmates–
Yale–the valedictorian at my school is always in love with the school and everyone else–realizing they wont get in–rejects it as a marxist ultra-intellectual place where noone has any fun
UCONN–everyone derides it for being in the middle of nowhere–but then 20% end up going cuz its a good school, and the parties are dece
SCSU–Southern Connecticut State University–also known as Second Chance State University…if you don’t get into UCONN you go here, but apparently it has a good teaching program
Housatonic Community College–HuU is commonly laughed at by most–you go here if you can’t get into any of the state schools</p>
<p>I had heard some negative remarks about Purchase in the past, but obviously blew them off and wanted to see things for myself. My mom really wanted me to check out the school and apply there (a public art school - cheap and my major, worked for her) so we visited last september. It’s kind of located on what I like to call Long Island Farmland - it’s not on a farm or LI, but it’s just a whole lot of grass and spread out buildings.</p>
<p>I went through some of the art halls (fine arts section) and found the facilities really really dirty and not well-kept, which is exactly what my brothers girlfriend told me she thought of it when she was looking 4 years ago. No matter where you go, you’ll be bombarded with smoke. It’s like landing in France and walking onto the Purchase campus have the same effect! </p>
<p>I found out about the huge drug scene through my best friends sister who went there for a semester. She was a pretty average art student, wasn’t really into drugs, probably smoked pot a few times, but that’s about it. When she came back, she was about a step away from rehab. She HAD to drop out. She spent December in a depression and even somewhat of a withdrawl. But luckily, she went to Farmingdale for Spring semester and transfered to SUNY Binghamton. So her story ends well :)</p>
<p>That’s just one person, right? Yes, but the stories I’ve heard from her first-hand experience seriously freak me out. Acid legit scares me now lol. A lot of her former classmates droped out or took time off because they just got way too caught up with drugs. I think I personally have a pretty strong personality and I’m not always easiliy influenced by people, but from the things I heard, there were two options for people who don’t want to become drug addicts: A, You become one anyway because it’s the social thing. Or B, you don’t have many friends. At all.</p>
<p>For the actual academics, no it’s not very good. They like to think of themselves as this amazing conservatory. Which in a way they do have that set-up. I was going to be a photography major there, and as one I would not be able to get involved with the Theatre dept at all. The only way you’d be into it is if you’ve very one-dimentional with your major. Which is not many people. Yes, I love photography and want to be a photographer. But I also love stage-managing and would like to do that as well. And no, there are no double-majors or minors.</p>
<p>I personally found my visit confusing and cold. The visitors office didn’t help one bit, they scheduled my tour for the wrong date (I did it over the phone) and the admissions rep I spoke with just did not make the school seem appealing. I got there optimistic about the programs and location (A close friend goes to Iona, right nearby) and left with a bad taste in my mouth.</p>
<p>chairman meow ok i added merced just for you… sorry it does not have a good name at my school at alll.</p>
<p>UC Berkeley: Best UC you can get into! Very liberal… and lots of hobos in the surrounding town. Competitive students… cut throat even. Apparently there are some awsome parties here however.</p>
<p>USC: University of Spoiled Children. Many rich people attend because they buy their way in all the time. But it’s still a great school and many peoples dream school! Very hard to get into (unless you pay of course) but in the ghetto.</p>
<p>UCLA: Another top notch UC and is in SOCAL, which many people like. Very good school. Almost as good as Berkeley, in fact, many people who get accepted to Berkeley get rejected from UCLA</p>
<p>UC San Diego: Very good medical school. Apparently the social life lacks the most at this school because everyones studying so hard to get into a good med school! so almost no party life</p>
<p>UC Santa Barbara: Party school! Hey but it’s the 4th hardest UC to get into so they deserve to party! Lots of white people.</p>
<p>UC Irvine: Asianville! If you’re asian and didn’t get into UCSD, UCLA, or UCB, they attend here! Nothing wrong with that.</p>
<p>UC Davis: Very good vet school, and overall good academics. Lots of cows, but apparently there are amazing parties here too!</p>
<p>UC Santa Cruz: Known as the UC you go to if you can’t get into the schools listed above. Lots of granola hippies and just plain hippies. Nothing to do but drink, smoke, and school.</p>
<p>UC Riverside: It’s a no no. Go to community college before this.</p>
<p>UC Merced: Worse then riverside. might as well do community college for 2 years to get into one of the other UCS</p>
<p>Cal Poly SLO: Looked as just as good as Davis, Irvine, and Santa Barbara. VERY good engineering schools. Lots of guys at this school.</p>
<p>San Diego State: Best party school!!! People from UCSD and USD come to this school to party. </p>
<p>CSU Chico: Alcohol <3 you can get in with a 2.0</p>