<p>Alexandre, it's the same thing as what I said about Berkeley. A lot of the buildings are quite beautiful on their own, but none of them match. I spent a summer at Michigan and it was one of the best times of my life! Ann Arbor is the best town I've ever been to, I loved everything about it. I can remember being out on the grass watching fireflies--I'd never seen them before that. But, it lacked a central campus feel, in my opinion. Gothic buildings were next to redbrick ones, which were across the street from modern office-building types. Believe me, I LOVED Michigan, I still adore it. Just...not quite as much as UVA. :) The differences in the buildings really quite irritated me, as shallow as it may be. Ugly isn't the right word. Perhaps eclectic?</p>
<p>I know what you mean. Michigan definitely has a "central campus feel", but I agree that the architecture is very varried.I just think that "ugly" is way too harsh a word to describe the campus. Eclectic may also be too much a word. I would just say that it is not very uniform.</p>
<p>I agree about Wisconsin. I have roots in the state of Michigan, but I've always liked Wisconsin, and think the campus much prettier than Michigan's--you gotta like the lakes, and the buildings aren't as huge.</p>
<p>Alexandre mentioned on another thread that Michigan's landscaping is poor. I think it's ok, it's just that the individual buildings are so gigantic that any flowers, bushes, and trees near them are almost unnoticable.</p>
<p>Also, in another thread CalX pointed out that Berkeley's weird building placement is meant to give each building a great view of SF bay. So there may be a method to the madness. To me, that grayness of the older buildings is just too bland, and sort of disappears in the context of the red tile roofs and the lush green foliage. But great sunsets!! Wish we could find some pictures of them somewhere...</p>
<p>Excellent description, Alexandre. I'll use that from now on instead of "ugly". :)</p>
<p>A lot of premiere state universities have a good balanced reputation because all kinds of people go there. My sister graduated cum laude from Ohio State University in pharmacy and went on to get her doctorate. All through this, though, there was very much a double major in beer and parties. Haha. OSU is a nice balanced school. </p>
<p>Georgetown has a "work hard, play hard" attitude, but I think I'll take a break from promoting it for a while. Everyone has an agenda, haha.</p>
<p>I agree with Wisconsin-Madison. One of the major reasons why I am choosing it is becasue of the "work hard, party hard" mentatlity. It has academics that rival the best in the country. They're especially strong in sociology, political science, economics, business, and an abundance of other majors. </p>
<p>If you ask me, it's big-ten all the way if you're looking at a balance between social and academic.... especially with Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and even Northwestern.</p>
<p>Yet you forget PSU, and Indiana. Both great schools.</p>
<p>totally (in response to the big ten comment). Although I think some NU students complain about social life, having chicago next to the campus would be neat. Also, Indiana/PSU are pretty good schools, but they comprise the "second tier" of the Big Ten.</p>
<p>I think NYU has not been mentioned enough in this thread. If you like the city culture, NYU will be a great mix.</p>
<p>As much as i have a personal vendetta against PSU, I cant deny how great it is. It is for sure equal to UWisc and UIUC.</p>
<p>Why the vendetta, lol?</p>
<p>I think PSU/UIUC are good schools with many top departments (UI engineering is one of the best in the world for example) but even UIUC in the well known and recen admissions news stories discussed how it is fighting to compete with UM/UW at the top. In the end, it's silly squabbiling (is that how it is spelled?) b/c it will matter what a student does at the PSU or Michigan or Indiana rather than actually graduating. I find that this website's posters often forget that when comparing peer institutions, that is key.</p>
<p>Because everyone from my school ends up going to either Penn or Penn State after HS, but mostly PSU. I didnt think about applying to PSU for a second.</p>
<p>Private Univ.-Duke, Notre Dame, Stanford, Northwestern, HYP, Dartmouth. Selective LAC's-Davidson, Holy Cross, Colgate, Williams, and Bowdoin. State schools-UNC, UVA, Texas, Michigan, UCLA.</p>
<p>NYU barely has sports teams and is far from a laid back or strong academic atmosphere. It's more for people that want to live in a exciting city first and foremost with a collegial community feel not a priority.</p>
<p>yes, and for those people, it is a great mix. It has in many departments great academics (although I think it is deserving of around a 40ish rank) and city life. What a better combination of a future investment banker type who loves city culture than Stern and living in NYC...</p>
<p>Transfer, I think the thread is about blanaced universities. Yes, NYU has the benefitof being in the heart of a decent city like NY, but the university itself is hardly well rounded. Academically, it is excellent, but in all other ways, it is lacking.</p>
<p>I wouldn't even call NYU academically excellent and would rather go to your beloved UMich first, Alex. I'm not quite sure what the OOS cost difference between the two would be.</p>
<p>In terms of tuition, NYU is only about $4,000/year more than Michigan. But if you take R&B and cost of living into consideration, NYU is roughly $10,000/year more expensive than Michigan.</p>
<p>Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Wisconsin, Penn, UMich, Indiana, Williams, Wesleyan, UCLA, Northwestern, Texas, Duke, though not all of these really have "great" undergraduate academics.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, UVA, UNC, Wake Forest, USC, Lehigh and Boston College.</p>
<p>To Par72, posterX orangeisland83 and others,
Thank you for your lists of schools, but as I don't have personal knowledge of many of these schools, I was hoping to learn more about them and why people feel strongly about them. If you have the time and energy, please give me a little more insight into why you feel that the schools you listed have the best combination of excellent academics, strong social scene, topnotich athletics, and attractive physical characteristics such as beautiful campus, well located, handsome architecture, pleasant climate, etc. I also would welcome any other readers' dissenting remarks as I am trying to get a fully informed view. Thanks.</p>