<p>lionswim....i'm not sure how I forgot about KU! I have a good friend applying there and I've heard only wonderful things about it.</p>
<p>I've never been to Pittsburgh, but as far as the map goes, I wouldn't say it's even close to the midwest. Ohio is pushing it.</p>
<p>And Celebrian, I think your friend would looove KU if he decided to attend. I've lived here 15 years and have yet to run anyone who regrets their choice. I've met the chancellor a few times (his son is in my grade) and he seems to really know what he's doing, so I hope that trickles down to the rest of the faculty.</p>
<p>Ohio is definetly midwest, though Pennslyvania is considered atlantic. Trust me, we all consider ourselves midwesterners here. My friend has KU as his first choice right now, with Miami (oh) in a close second. I'll ask him tomorrow what he'll be majoring in.</p>
<p>Oh, and about Ohio...I think I've been there, but I'm not sure. I know I've been to Iowa. I have trouble separating the two--some mental glitch.</p>
<p>I have met people from Ohio, though, and I have a teacher who grew up there. They definitely ACT midwestern, but I was surprised at how far east it was actually located. Actually, Ohio people seem a bit more cosmopolitan that those of the Kansas/Nebraska breed. Maybe that's what happens when your state has more than 8 people.</p>
<p>Slightly off-topic question: Do people from Oklahoma generally think of themseleves as Midwesterners or Southerners? I noticed their behavior seems like a blend of the two.</p>
<p>I always thought they were southerners. Ohio is home to a few huge citie (Cincinatti, Columbus, Cleveland) but outside of those, it really is a midwestern state. We're definetley "traditionalists" over here</p>
<p>barrons wrote: "Purdue which is essentially a specialty school for engineering and business." Not so. Although Purdue has an excellent engineering school, only about 1/5 of Purdue's graduates are engineers - about the same percents as are liberal arts majors. Purdue also graduates a lot of teachers, ag-type people, and pharmacists.</p>
<p>The perception of Purdue graduating educaton and 'ag type' people is also incorrect. Neither are more than 10% of the school. The largest enrollment is the liberal arts and sciences college, followed by engineering and business. The largest school at IU is business followed by education, communications and law enforcement.</p>
<p>I wonder why Purdue has the reputation of being an ag school and IU doesn't have the rep of being a 'cop shop'?</p>
<p>Purdue is an ag school because it is! And there is nothing wrong with that image. The ones who think an ag school (like Cornell...) is somehow less attractive are the ones with a problem, not the schools.</p>
<p>Pittsburgh is, in many ways, closer to the midwest both in terms of geography, especially transportation, and also in history and culture. Pennsylvania is culturally three states: The eastern portion, east of the allegeny mountains, which is true eastern US, the part west of the mountains, from Erie to Pit and on south, is midwest in culture. The middle part, in coal country especially, is true rural america at its conservative small town best, and perhaps has more in common with the rural mid-south (KY, TN, WVA, western VA) than with either the northeast or the midwest.</p>
<p>Only 8% of students at Purdue are enrolled in the ag program. The business school is 3 times larger, the engineering school is 2.5 times larger. Your definition of Cornell being an ag school is also interesting. Cornells ag program accounts for even less than Purdues. The schools of engineering and business are more than twice the size, the biomed and social science departments are 1.5 times the size.</p>
<p>I don't recall anyone saying the school is less atractive because of the ag programs. I just don't think categorizing a school on the basis of <8% of enrollment is an accurate depiction of what the school is about.</p>
<p>10% of a large graduating class is a fairly large number so Purdue does indeed graduate a fair number of teachers and ag students. My point is that the description of Purdue as a "specialty engineering and business school" is incorrect.</p>
<p>U of Chicago has to be the best midwest school, with maybe the exception of Northwestern, right?</p>
<p>Depends what you're looking for.</p>
<p>we're not really looking at The best, but rather the bests, if you get my meaning</p>
<p>Asiaknight, if I had to pick the top universities in the Midwest, not including the LACs, I would say that it would be a three-way tie between Chicago, Michigan-Ann Arbor and Northwestern.</p>
<p>As for the Purdue vs Indiana debate, I think I could very easily substitute the two schools. They are very different, but both are awesome.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I agree that St. Olaf belongs in the LAC list more than GA.</p>
<p>Anyone forgetting Wash U? It's the same level as Northwestern and both Wash U and Northwestern are actually ranked better than Chicago. Chicago is not the school to be at if you want to have a decent social life. Also, Michigan is a great school, but not even close to Northwestern or Wash U.</p>
<p>WashU is so overlooked as Mendy points out.</p>
<p>I thought I read somewhere that WashU sent out advertising material to other college officials to try to up its "prestige", cooked its books, and manipulated numbers and acceptances so as to artificially influence the rankings put out by various groups.</p>
<p>God, people can be sooooo ignorant. Unless you know what you're talking about, don't say anything. Wash U doesn't do that; sure, they do sent out advertising like crazy, but they have good reason to. It's steadily gaining prestige and it's an amazing school that keeps getting better.</p>
<p>As far as Chicago goes, social life is what you make it; many students choose to take advantage of the school and the third-largest city in the US, while some just hole themselves up and study for four years, only emerging to go to graduate school. Also, Chicago gets shafted in the undergrad rankings because it has a higher acceptance rate, despite having a relatively self-selecting application pool.</p>
<p>IIRC Chicago is in the same Div III conference as Wash U, so Northwestern gets the edge as far as athletics go, even if they aren't exactly a powerhouse. :P</p>
<p>I didn't claim to know, but I could have sworn I read somewhere that WashU manipulated statistics to up its ranks.</p>
<p>Is that untrue? I'm almost positive I'm not imagining this stuff, but I could be.</p>