Post your own state's college reputations'

wanderlusting · January 8, 2009, 6:14pm

(I thought this was a really cool thread!)
–New Jersey

Princeton: self explanatory, even for out of staters.
Rutgers: The school your science teacher graduated from. Everybody’s safety; parents make you apply just so you can have a full scholarship somewhere. People say it’s decent, but we really have no desire to go there other than having a great safety school, financially. There’s a common misconception that Rutgers has the highest STD rate in the country, which is kind of funny.
TCNJ: Good academics, although pretty much unknown to most outside of NJ. Smart kids go there: those who didn’t get into their first choice colleges and want to stay instate but don’t necessarily want Rutgers. I’ve heard their med school is pretty decent.
Ramapo/Montclair/etc: getting better academically, but they’re your typical lower tier schools.
All other schools: no one really cares about. Which is why if you live in New Jersey you (a) end up at Rutgers or (b) get the hell out of here.

rsxwheeeeee · January 8, 2009, 6:14pm

GT #7 US News Public
UGA #20 US News Public

gthopeful · January 8, 2009, 6:20pm

I don’t know why but I laughed when I read through that site, parent2noles. The UF/FSU mudslinging has to stop though; let’s admit that both sides are trying to whitewash. Since Florida has already been done to death, I will refrain from posting another list.

tonytet · January 8, 2009, 7:33pm

INDIANA!

Purdue- Tech/Engineering. Great deal for IS if you want to be an engineer/tech person. Pretty good in other sciences as well. Respected MBA program as well. More respected out of state than in state for sure. Decent campus, decent athletics.

IU- Party School, hot girls. Kids at my school all get accepted here, and often attend in lieu of other colleges because they can party all they want at IU and still maintain good grades. Good business school, nice campus.

Notre Dame-very prestigious, top 5 best alumni networks in many people’s minds. Beautiful campus, but the weather sucks

Rose Hulman- Tech/engineering school, nothing else. Very expensive and tough to get into, and small.

modo822 · January 8, 2009, 10:19pm

Anyone know any more about Loyola Chicago and Lake Forest College in Illinois? And Ohio University? Comments for out of state students would be appreciated. Thanks

magneticpoet · January 8, 2009, 10:33pm

Well I live in IL but here’s what I know:

Loyola is locally quite well-respected. There’s a bit of debate regarding DePaul vs. Loyola (like which is academically better), but both are pretty good schools.

Lake Forest is a country club for rich white kids. Basically.

modo822 · January 8, 2009, 10:45pm

How’s the social life at Loyola…are there a lot of commuters?

DreamingOutLoud · January 9, 2009, 1:03am

CT- I applied to 3 of the schools on the list and I’m most likely going to UCONN. The views below are mostly from the people that I know

Wesleyan- They’ve never heard of it. I only heard about it months before I applied and I only live about an hour away.

Trinity- It’s a good school but people usually talk about the parties and not the strength of the academics. I’ve heard they have a good study abroad program and it’s strength is in the social sciences.

**UCONN <a href=“Storrs”>/B</a>- it’s fairly cheap in state school. Almost everyone applies there as a safety and doesn’t mind going if the financial aid isn’t as good at other schools or they’re not accepted to many others. People who go there usually say its good and they have fun without working very hard (my freshmen friends have told me its easier than high school)… For some reason, people always say a lot of the students have STDs. I’m not sure if its true though…I’ve seen the campus and it is in the middle of no where but there’s a lot going on in campus.

**Uconn <a href=“stamford,%20torrington,%20waterbury”>/B</a> not nearly as good as storrs. There isn’t a sense of community or fun because they’re commuter schools. People usually try to transfer to Storrs after the first year.

Fairfield U-It’s a really great school that isn’t extremely competitive in admissions. Many Ct residents view it as their top, in state school. It’s seen as a really reputable school in my town and people are proud to say they go there. There academics are great and the social life seems alright even if there isn’t a lot to do in Fairfield though. The high cost of tuition, usually makes people decide to go to UCONN instead.

Sacred Heart- i don’t know much about it. People usually apply to Fairfield U and not SHU. Still, the students I met seemed to like the school and were really friendly.

Quinnipiac-Absolutely beautiful because it’s near Sleepy Giant Mountain. It’s on par with Fairfield U but I don’t know many who go there.

Southern CT State University-Not a good school if your out of state because its 90% CT residents and many commute. It’s seen as way better than community college but I have heard that some of the classes are better taught at community colleges. Many apply there as a good safety while others really want to go because it’s close to home and it’s really cheap. I’ve had many friends/teachers who have gone there and while its not a top school, most say it’s alright.

Yale- the ultimate reach school. Many seem to apply because of the prestige and not because they love the school. If you go to Yale, you are seen as a genius. If you get rejected, it’s not a huge deal because people know how competitive it is.

tomslawsky · January 9, 2009, 7:58am

"UT Austin- top 10-15 public school, yet people in TX believe it is up there with the top publics. Inflated perception in Texas. "

UT, in my opinion IS up with the top publics. The ones who don’t place it there are the ones who suffer from USNEWS ranking “myopic”.

magneticpoet · January 9, 2009, 2:07pm

modo - not sure, i would wander over to their forum and start poking around. you’ll probably find something there.

Aerienne · January 9, 2009, 8:48pm

From the San Diego area, here, so I’ll give my opinions on a few CA schools:

UC San Diego - I was considering applying here, but I realized they don’t have what i’m looking for and the class sizes would be huge (I assume). A family friend says some of their classes are taught by TA’s or the classes are… idk, not what you’d want from a school that is so selective. Reputation (from my area): Asian/smart/hard to get into.
State Schools - No one really talks about any besides SDSU or Cal Poly SLO. SDSU is a parrrttyyy school although it’s still “good”. In general (note that my school is kinda… preppy ish) if someone fails a test they might say, “Omg dude, I’m gonna have to go to State/Insert Community College here.” This probably says more about my HS than SDSU, of course. Also, San Diego is beautiful. =p Beaches, snow near by… La Jolla IS snooty but there are plenty of things to do here to get out of the area. My mom went to Chico State back in the day and it’s still a party school, apparently. This may not be the case anymore, but everyone rode bikes. I guess it’s a good teaching-degree CSU or something.
UCLA - I’ve always thought of UCLA as art-sy. I haven’t heard that mentioned once here, lol. Is it not true?

And I have a few schools that no one has mentioned - are they that obscure? - so I’ll just mention them.
Emory & Henry College, Quincy University, Cornell COLLEGE (not in Ithica), and although mentioned, University of San Francisco has given me mixed signals. It’s either liberal or religious or not prestigious.

Sparkeye7 · January 9, 2009, 10:26pm

Though Ohio State is ‘Not’ highly selective, its freshman selectivity is nevertheless pretty much on par with higher ranked Big Ten institutions such as Penn State, U. of Illinois & U. of Wisconsin imho.

“The 2007 freshman class had an acceptance rate of 52%, and the enrolled freshman class had the following composition: students graduating in the top 10% of their high school class (57%); the top 25% of their high school class (91%); the top 50% of their high school class (99%). 27% of the freshman class scored in the top 3% of the SAT or ACT, while 72% scored in the top 15%. The middle 50% range of ACT scores for the enrolled class was 26-30, with an average ACT score of 27. Of the 6,122 members of the 2006 freshman class, 290 had been named valedictorian of their high school’s graduating class.” [url=<a href=“http://undergrad.osu.edu/domesticfreshman.html]Admissions[/url”>http://undergrad.osu.edu/domesticfreshman.html]Admissions[/url</a>]

fromthesouth · January 10, 2009, 2:27am

Louisiana

I’m in North Louisiana, near Ruston.

Louisiana Tech University- Pretty easy to get into, almost everyone that goes to college at my school goes to Tech. Decent athletics, decentish academics, above decent engineering. Seems like tons of commuting…nice campus and small city.

Louisiana State University- Easy to get into, hard to stay (from what I’ve heard). Good Honors College. Party party party, EXTREME AMOUNT OF SCHOOL SPIRIT. I’ve never seen another school that has people all over the state, whether they go there or not, that own multiple hoodies/shirts for the school. Basically around 90% of the people in LA love LSU I would say.

LSU-Shreveport-Good medical program, not much else here. Shreveport is kinda dangerous.

UL-Monroe- Don’t know much about it, bad academics IMO, has a pharmacy program which is a plus for some people. Monroe is boring.

U-New Orleans- Eh…NO.

Loyola- Right by Tulane, lesser known and lesser ranked.

Various community colleges…

Bossier Parish Community College- Basically if you can’t afford to go to LSU/LSUS you go here.

Ruston CC (or something like that…): Just want to get a quick 2 year degree.

Tulane- Gem of LA…best school. Great academics, somewhat decent athletics. Really good party scene, amazing city (NEW ORLEANS!). The campus is pretty safe, just follow the normal rules for walking around in a city. Around 1/4th Jewish. Really diverse, around 34% from the Northeast, mostly New York. Great alumni connections. Around 75% white (including Jewish) Overall really great school. VERY generous with financial/merit aid.

jdecker1 · January 10, 2009, 9:07pm

I heard this once, and I personally believe there is a lot of truth to it:

“At USC the head football coaches get reserved parking, at berkeley you have to have won a nobel prize.”

USC: uhh, when i see cars on the freeway with USC alum license plate frames i automatically avoid them. they are usually driving BMWs and tailgate no matter what. Then they swerve around you and drive really fast. basically the conservative, richer alternative to UCLA. I hear the area that encircles USC is really sketchy, however, the gangs usually leave you alone because they figure your parents have some of the best lawyers in the state/country.

UCLA: NICE CAMPUS and HUGE. Very well respected and located in one of the nicest areas of Los Angeles. Very urban area and AMAZING access to museums, theatres, and such. Lots to do.

UCSD: Never been there but I hear the area is gorgeous, rich and gorgeous. Campus, from what I can tell on the website is average. Good sciences (oceanography.) Best program in the state for my major yet i have no desire in going there.

BERKELEY: Nice campus. I don’t think it’s as great as UCLA’s, but the area is def a lot more interesting and spirited–not to mention, minutes away from San Francisco. Academics close to perfect. Also huge.

UCSB: Santa Barbara as a city is amazing, but I hear the partying here can get out of hand sometimes.

UCD: Small college town, yet the location is very inconvenient. Respectable. Student driven buses=awesome…you have to be careful with any city located in the middle of california.

UCR: lower-tier in terms of university of Californias, yet i hear it is gaining ground fast. I think Riverside has the largest collection of porn and/or science fiction in their library? is this correct? oh, wait…riverside sucks really bad.

UCI: Although Irvine is probably one of the better looking/most interesting parts of Orange County, it’s still orange county. More of a sciencey type school I think.

San Diego State: Beautiful Campus and beautiful people. However, there is a lot of partying here. and if you drive around the campus after midnight you will see half-naked people falling off sidewalks. I believe it is one of the better cal states as far as academics go…

CSU Long Beach: Long beach has some cool areas. Boring campus. Huge. Pyramid shaped gym that they are very proud of. Commuter.

San Fran State: 70’s style campus a bit out of downtown san fran. I don’t think academics are too spectacular here. I mean, they accepted me a week and a half after I applied. That scares me.

CSU Bakersfield: Never been there, but I have a lot of experience with bakersfield as a city. TERRIBLE. AVOID. I picture a lot of re-entering parents attending this school for some reason=terrible college experience. Not to mention you are in bakersfield, one of the most disgusting areas on the west coast.

CSU Fresno=hear nothing but bad things

CSU Chico: a lot of partying. however, it’s creative partying. One of the better academics CSUs. Nice campus.

CSU Fullerton: Commuter and boring. Close to disneyland though!

Dominguez Hills: huh?

Northridge: math/science/engineering oriented i think.

SJSU: Nice campus…I imagine good job prospects due to its location (silicon valley etc)

Cal Polys:

SLO: Agriculture oriented
Pomona: Engineering oriented

I have heard of people being denied to these schools but accepted to Berkeley and UCLA?

Humboldt: i hear it’s really cool.

That’s all the input I can give…
There a bunch more cal states but I don’t really know much about them. Monterey Bay Otters! yea!

oh,

UCSC: I hear the campus is quite nice, academically though, it’s second tier when compared to the other UCs.

legallybrunette2 · January 11, 2009, 12:35am

NY

SUNYS-
Best College-geneseo, the honors college of the suny system…in the middle of nowhere…very rural

Best University- binghamton, a lot of long islanders, very solid academics

Other good SUNYS—New Paltz(very artsy, hippie, getting harder to get into) Ubuffalo, Stonybrook, Potsdam has a good music school dont know anything else,

Albany–big party school, not pretty at all, albanys a pretty sucky city as they come

Oswego, Cortland, Brockport, Plattsburgh and a million other random schools not that well regarded

The SUNYS suffer from the no flagship so theres not really one school that people outside of NY know

MASS

UMASS Amherst—this is where i go and i really love it. Yes its big but its all what you put into it. There are a lot of really smart kids who go there for the price. The average entering gpa is now a 3.6. There is so much to do on campus and the people are super friendly. You get a good variety too because many people come from out of state. All of my friends love it and we wont leave with massive debt

jehuE · January 11, 2009, 10:31am

Unless you go to MIT, a military academy, or a private religious school, don’t worry about ‘party schools’ - trust me, you’ll do your fair share no matter where you go.

jehuE · January 11, 2009, 11:17am

With that being said though, yes, some schools are better than others for parties. Anyhow, there haven’t been many posts on Wisconsin.

1) UW-Madison - Best in academics. Best parties, especially on game days. And the Badgers play there… it’s THE place to go if you did good in high school. Otherwise, a lot of people go to the U of Minnesota. Many people will go one or two years at a different UW school and then transfer here. I donno - people treat it like an Ivy League school but anyone from WI can transfer here if they don’t do ****ty. I know a ton of people content with just staying at EC or LAX.

2) UW-Eau Claire - A lot of people rank this school third, but I’m going to put it second. I think the academics are just as good as La Crosse, if not better (having gone to both schools). Plus, the Water Street area is an absolute riot on weekends. I’d rank it second in parties as well. Hell, the dorm parties are as good as other school’s house parties - with the exception of Madison. In a previous post, I saw La Crosse was the only one on the Prinston Review’s Best Value Colleges. That actually changed this year… now it’s just Eau Claire. Madison didn’t even make the list. [Best</a> Value Colleges for 2009 and how they were chosen - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/best-value-colleges.htm?loc=interstitialskip]Best”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/best-value-colleges.htm?loc=interstitialskip).

3) UW-La Crosse - Can’t say enough good things about this campus. I went there for a while. Lots of cool people, great academics, but not quite as fun as EC - the party and bar scene are lacking a bit.

UW-Green Bay - Average academics, average parties.
UW-Whitewater - Average academics, average parties (after you get a house). One of my best friends from high school goes here. He said the first couple years aren’t as good - no dorm parties whatsoever.

UW-Stout - “When in doubt, go to Stout.” Not the greatest academics, but it has a pretty average social scene - there’s always something going on during the weekend. It’s super close to Eau Claire too - which is even better for parties - so it’s pretty common to have a few Stout kids show up every now and then.

UW-River Falls - Not that great at all for academics, especially anything within the College of Business, including Computer Science. It’s comparable to high school. It’s only good for Agriculture and Education majors. The party scene is definitely kind of weak - the bars are awful and it’s the same parties every week - “The Blue House”, “The Football House”, and the “Lacrosse House”. But like I said earlier - anywhere you go, there will be parties.

UW-Milwaukee - Very often confused for being a real good school. It is a big school, not a good school. I’m not very familiar with this school, but I think they do have one or two good majors though - I forget - I think maybe Engineering???

UW-Rock Falls (2 Year SchooL??) - Basically high school. For people who couldn’t get into high school. Lot’s of drunks, but at the same time they are smaller parties though. Lots of people go home. I’m pretty sure they don’t have dorms but I could be mistaken.

UW-Oshkosh - Similar to the school above, but it’s a 4 year school.

Don’t know anything about the other schools, sorry. If your grades/ACT are up, take my advice and pick one of the top three that I ranked.

KansasGirl · January 17, 2009, 3:17pm

The information on Kansas is a little thin - so I’ll take a stab at it:

University of Kansas - KU - Jayhawks: located in Lawrence, somewhat between Kansas City and Topeka. Those who live in Lawrence love it. Not a huge city, but lots of charm. KU has a reputation for a very strong basketball team - and now football is getting strong. The medical school is well known, as well as the William Allen White journalism school. It usually makes a top 100 list, such as Kaplan’s or USA Today. More expensive than KSU. Lots of people from Wichita, and Kansas city end up here - as well as a lot of folks from out of state. Good reputation. Large, hilly, sprawling campus. STrong Greek system.

Kansas State University, KSU, Wildcats in Manhattan, Kansas. Excellent engineering school, vet school. Had a strong football program that has faltered in last couple years - just hired back former coach that went into retirement. Beautiful campus - smaller than KU’s - but makes it much easier to not have a car. Aggieville is well-known - adjacent to campus that has bars, shopping, laundry, restarants, book stores - very popular with the kids. Fairly new football stadium, arena, and rec center. Plenty of good programs.

Wichita State University, Shockers, in Wichita, Kansas. Largest city in Kansas - so there are plenty of opportunities for part-time jobs, internships, etc. Basketball and baseball are the big fan sports - no football team. (Dropped some years ago when team crashed in a snow storm in Colorado.) Lots of excellent programs. The journalism program is very good. IT programs - lots of local ties with LSI, local company. Nice campus, not too large. In an OK part of town. Seems to have strong international ties.

Others that I don’t know as much about:

Friends University - in Wichita. Quaker college.

Newman University - in Wichita. Catholic School

Fort Hays University - in Hays, Kansas. Western Kansas

Emporia State University - in Emporia, Kansas

Lots of strong two-year Junior Colleges - with solid academic programs and very strong athletics, such as Butler Community College - which has the top football program in the country.

Kansas is not some place everyone thinks about to go to college. It’s not for everyone. But there are some very good schools with good programs - and with far less traffic, crime, etc. Skiing can be found in Colorado - which is not that far of a drive. Pro sports in KC and OKC. Good college sports everywhere. For the most part, a mid-western hospitality that you won’t find a lot of other places.

Zeronax · January 17, 2009, 5:33pm

New York:

Columbia: Located in Manhattan and one of the top universities offering a wide variety of academics.

Cornell: Huge school with so much to offer. Another Ivy League school that is very popular.

NYU: The dream school that everyone wants to attend apparently, although the lack of a campus is its only downfall. Other than that, you pretty much have the whole city.

RPI: Great tech school for those interested in anything related to engineering, technology, and media.

RIT: Constantly gets bad remarks for the administration, professors, and social life. However, it is solid for IT and graphic design.

U of Rochester: Great school that is highly underrated and has no core requirements.

Syracuse: School that is somewhat underrated. Also shares the campus with students from SUNY ESF.

Cooper Union: “Where your best just isn’t enough.” Insane academics, but free tuition for all students. Only the determined stay.

St. John’s: Known for its law and pharmacy programs, but not much else.

SUNY Binghamton: Number one state school with the best reputation. Best in business apparently.

SUNY Stony Brook: Gets the worst remarks for its lack of school spirit and community due to commuters. Regardless, the best SUNY for the sciences and great in terms of grad placement.

SUNY Geneseo: Is known as the liberal arts SUNY that places emphasis on undergrad education.

SUNY Albany: From what I’ve seen, the campus really is pretty dull, but is a short bus ride away from many locations such as the Crossgates mall. Not sure on academics though.

SUNY Buffalo: The SUNY for its pharmacy program (I think).

snelli1027 · January 30, 2009, 4:12pm

UNC-Asheville: Small (3500), liberal, hippie/artsy. The kids who would have gone to a LAC in the northeast if not for the price/location issues. Where the smart-stoner types go from my high school. Nice rooms, in the mountains.

UNC-Chapel Hill: Big, parties, CRAZY about athletics, perhaps doesn’t live up to all the hype. Where all the blonde tennis player girls go from my high school. Somewhat stuck up/preppy. Cool area, Beautiful. Oldest public school.

UNC-Greensboro: Big school, safety school, alot of smokers, commuter school. Boring area. No one I know thinks about going there.

UNC-Wilmington: For the kids who don’t get into Chapel Hill or the kids who are interested in Marine Sciences/going into film. Preppy, beachy types. Bigger school, good parties. Right on the coast. Lots of girls.

App State: Big, in the mountains, Kids who ride bikes and hike. Mountain-men/women. Good sports, more laid back then UNCW, NCstate, or UNCCH. More comparable to UNCA only much bigger.

NCstate: Tend to be either rednecks or engineers, or both. Kids who go here hate UNCCH kids usually. ****ty city for partying, but not as bad as Durham (Duke). Very big school, pretty ugly campus and bad food. Awesome engineering program.

Davidson: Not many people think about going here. Very small, good reputation. Close to Charlotte, NC, but not a very good party scene. Kind of a nerdy-kid school. Only private LAC in the south.

Elon: Beautiful Campus, pretty boring town. Pretty people. About as liberal as UNCCH (which isn’t very liberal), popular with girls. Good school, kids who want to go to a smaller school that is not unlike UNCCH (preppy, frats, semi-liberal)

Duke: Smaller, Not well liked in NC. Seen as overpriced, and snobby. Beautiful gothic architecture. A northern transplant college in the south in many respects. HUGE on sports. Either nerdy kids or partiers. Cliquey. Bad town.

Wake Forest: “Work Forest” Not many kids go here that I know. Like Duke only lesser known everything: athletics/academics. Party hard. Big on athletics. Small.

East Carolina: Safety school. Either for nurses or kids who slacked in high school. Huge party school.

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