I’m currently in the process of looking into universities to attend for my year abroad in the U.S. I’m an American History student at a top university in the U.K. and our university has exchange links with about forty universities in the U.S., so I am a little overwhelmed about making this important and costly (!) decision. I was hoping you would be able to provide me with some more guidance.
I know as an American History student I should look into studying on the East Coast which is of more historical significance than other states but I am planning on writing my dissertation, which we are supposed to research on our year abroad, about U.S. foreign policy, so studying in a specific region isn’t really necessary for me (e.g. it would be better for someone planning on writing their dissertation on the American Revolution to attend a university in the northeast). Most of my peers want to go to California, but this doesn’t interest me hugely and it is very expensive. I would like to spend my year abroad in “fly over country” because studying somewhere like California or the East Coast would just be like a long holiday in my view. To get to grips with American culture, I feel I should study in the Midwest/South. I’ve always had a romantic notion of the Midwest and parts of the South as being the quintessential regions of the U.S. so studying abroad there would be fantastic. However, I was wondering if you think a foreign student would get bored studying for a year in somewhere like Kansas?
I love the idea of studying in a college town and really want to avoid a big city environment. In my first year at university here in the U.K. I only ventured off campus about five times. I am easily entertained and would prefer hanging out with some friends and having a BBQ by the lake than going to the hottest new club downtown, so I think college towns appeal to me in that respect. A lot of my peers want to go travelling around the country when on their year abroad but I would be content saving travelling for the end of the academic year and just travelling locally for the most part.
I’m an atheist and would automatically rule out overly religious universities. From what I gather, Note Dame is the only religious university on the list and I really liked the look of ND but being in a religious environment would make me uncomfortable. I want to avoid universities that are cliquey and I guess the cliquey universities are the liberal arts colleges. Moreover, I wish to avoid private universities as they will cost too much on my budget.
Politically speaking, I am a centrist so going to a heavily Republican-dominated university would be a no-go for me. I am not really far-left and would like to avoid universities with hippie/Bohemian student bodies.
Reputation: not too important as my home university’s reputation is more important and is respectable. As long as the university is considered average minimum then it’s fine.
Frats: I hate the whole idea of frats and a place not dominated by the frat scene would be ideal. I don’t mind a university with frats but not one where the social scene is ran by frats!
I can’t really think of anything else to help you advise me where to go so I will leave you with the list below. Thanks!
University of Alaska, Anchorage, AK
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Binghamton University, Vestal, NY
University of California, All Campuses (exc. Merced and San Francisco)
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Florida International University, Miami, FL
Framingham State University, Framingham, MA
George Mason University, Fairfax, VA
Goucher College, Towson, MD
University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI
Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
University of Maine, Orono, ME
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
University of Mississippi, Oxford
University of Missouri, Columbia or St. Louis, MO
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
SUNY Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY
University of Redlands, Redlands, CA
Reed College, Portland, OR
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
University of Richmond, Richmond, VA
Roanoke College, Salem, VA
Rutgers SUNJ, New Brunswick, NJ
San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Stetson University, DeLand, FL
St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Westminster College, Fulton, MO
At the moment my list is roughly (in no order):
— University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
— University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
— University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
— Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
— U of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
Thoughts on current list too?
