<p>I'm currently in the process of applying to study abroad next year as part of an exchange program and was wondering if anyone could help me or give advice on the shortlist of universities I've chosen so far? </p>
<p>From what I've been told, my year abroad doesn't count towards my final degree classification so I don't have to worry about the universities reputation or academic standing. I'm mainly using this year exchange as a chance to experience another culture, new people and make quite a few new friends while having a good time; therefore I'm looking for universities that look like they'd be most social and enjoyable.</p>
<p>Bear in mind my choice of universities is limited and I can only choose one university in California; I've narrowed it down to these 5:</p>
<ul>
<li>San Diego State University</li>
<li>North Carolina State University</li>
<li>University of Utah</li>
<li>Kennesaw University</li>
<li>East Carolina University</li>
</ul>
<p>I've chosen these five based on the two criterion below, if you can think of or know any other that might fit, please don't hesitate to suggest them!</p>
<ul>
<li>Comfortable weather all year round, meaning I don't want to be sweating every day or freezing in winter (Rarely dropping below 15F or exceeding 90F)</li>
<li>Large student body, preferably upwards of 15,000.</li>
</ul>
<p>[National</a> and Local Weather Forecast, Hurricane, Radar and Report](<a href=“http://www.weather.com%5DNational”>http://www.weather.com) is your friend. Check today’s high and low at these locations. It is 17 F right now in Salt Lake City, UT.</p>
<p>You may want to reconsider your current list.</p>
<p>Similarly, if you would like to see more of the US relatively easily during school breaks or before/after your program, check for transportation to/from campus with Google Maps, and the Visit Campus pages at the various university websites. Some may be challenging to get to and from by public transit.</p>
<p>Kennesaw State University is a commuter school and will not have near the night life/social opportunities of San Diego State. </p>
<p>If you’re looking for beautiful weather, San Diego State wins by a long shot. Additionally, IMO, San Diego is the best city in Southern California, so there’s plenty to do off campus if you want to get out of the bubble. On campus, nightlife is extremely active. It’s basically the party school of the three schools bearing San Diego in the name (USD, SDSU, UCSD). Plus, because it costs a lot less than UCs (ex: UC Berkeley, UCLA), it tends to attract better students than most of the CSUs (the second tier of California’s higher education system).</p>
<p>You might want to consider University of Oregon, University of Georgia if you can stand humidity, and University of South Carolina. All are big schools with relatively moderate weather in a college town or city.</p>
<p>I agree that of those choices, SDSU offers the best location by far. However, if any of these are possibilities, you might want to consider them:</p>
<p>University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill–great school, great sports, nice college town, good weather
University of California, Los Angeles–LA is a great city, school has tons of spirit
University of Wisconsin–weather is probably too iffy for you, but it’s a wonderful school in a really nice college town
University of Texas, Austin–fun town, great music scene
University of Virginia</p>
<p>I didn’t know Kennesaw State was a commuter university, you’ve just saved me there. I’m really hoping I get placed at SDSU, I have to pick 5 and one of those is allocated so I don’t really have a specific choice and due to California’s high demand, it’s pretty hard to be placed there.</p>
<p>This is the full list of universities I can choose if you’re interested:</p>
<p>Would you be comfortable being in a rural environment?
Here are some of the large universities on the list with less extreme weather (though still not optimal) that have a good social life and aren’t commuter schools
-University of Kansas
-Kansas State University
-University of Nebraska, Lincoln
-Clemson University
-University of Tennessee, Knoxville
-Old Dominion University (I believe the academics are weaker than the others schools on the list)
-West Virginia University</p>
<p>There may be others that I missed. I don’t know about the social life aspect of many schools not in the west, but those are the ones where I’m almost positive you can find a vibrant community. I excluded the ones you’re already considering</p>
<p>What are your academic interests? What do you like to do for fun?
I would also vote for Clemson as a great choice for a terrific campus and fun students.</p>
<p>WVU does see a fair amount of snow in the winter, but it is not going to be as hideously cold as UN-L. KU and KSU can go either way depending on the year. Try to get some feedback from people who have done this exchange in the past (or who are there now) to get an idea about the weather. Do you want to avoid snow and cold as much as possible? Is snow OK provided it doesn’t get too far below 0 C? If cold is OK, how cold? Nebraska is in the plains and you can just about bet on a week or two of -30 C with fierce winds in January or February, and a week or two of 40 C in August. Kansas is further south, but still the plains, so that -30 C is likely to turn up, but not linger for quite as long.</p>
<p>If you want snow, why? Utah and Colorado would be best for downhill skiing, but anything in California is not ridiculously far from that, and there even are small slopes near WVU.</p>
<p>How close would you like to be to a decent-sized airport? Check flights with [KAYAK</a> - Cheap Flights, Hotels, Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets, Cheap Travel Deals - Compare Hundreds of Travel Sites At Once](<a href=“http://www.kayak.com%5DKAYAK”>http://www.kayak.com) or another good travel website to get a notion of what your connections could be like. Then check the college/university websites to see how easy it will be to get to campus from the closest airport. That cab/bus/train fare needs to go into your budget.</p>
NC State was a very good pick; keep it on the list. I’d replace ECU with UNCW, though – much better location.</p>
<p>whenhen missed Ole Miss on his/her list above. Decent social life, and football is huge. Oxford is a nice but quiet town, but larger cities aren’t too far away (e.g. Memphis). The downside is that it can be pretty difficult to get to other parts of the US.</p>
<p>Virginia Tech was also missed – well worth a look for the sciences, engineering, or related fields.</p>
<p>Yea I didn’t realize that Virginia Polytechnic referred to Virginia Tech. Also look into Louisiana State University. Great social life, good, but humid, weather, and a ton of school spirit.</p>
<p>@whenhen
Honestly, I think I’d prefer a rural environment over an urban one as nearly all of the major UK universities are in a major city. I’ve looked at all of the universities you suggested and of them I’ve added Clemson, Tennessee, Old Dominion and West Virginia as these four offer Computer Science, I probably should have stated that in my first post! Thank you very much though!</p>
<p>@happymomof1
I’m not too bothered about the odd snow day as we get quite a lot of snow in UK anyway, I do however want to avoid parts of the US that reach -30C for obvious reasons! I think I’d be comfortable with anything above -10C, providing it didn’t last for months on end.</p>
<p>Airport concerns aren’t really a big concern for me, I don’t plan on flying internally and I’ll only be visiting home at Christmas.</p>
<p>What do I want to see? Obviously I’d like to see as much as possible but I’d be quite happy with the “American college experience”, I mean it’d be lovely to see a few landmarks and go sightseeing but it’s not a big priority. </p>
<p>@siliconvalleymom
Right now I study a BSc in Computer Science, hence me wanting to study in California so I can network while I’m up there. For fun I mainly ride my motorcycle although it probably won’t be an option over there. I play Cricket mainly but I know this isn’t a widely played sport over there :P</p>
<p>I can’t believe the response though, thank you very much to everyone that took the time to respond. There’s a multitude of suggestions for me to pick through and I’ll probably be doing it all night into the early hours of tomorrow morning!</p>
<p>If you want to look at a smaller school, I see that Eckerd College in St. Petersburg is on the list. It is on a penninsula, has a small beach, waterfront activities center with free kyaks, paddleboard, sailing lessons, etc. It is close to the city of St. Petersburg, yet has a rural feel. Beautiful campus, free bicycles for use on campus, a fabulous student led activities board. Offers computer science, brand new molecular and life sciences building to open in Feb. Diverse student body. Dorms and classes are airconditioned for the warmer weather in Sept. and May. By Oct., the weather is dry and sunny until May.</p>
<p>I would drop Old Dominion. It’s in a city and has a lot of commuters. The world’s largest Naval Base is located there. My S is in the Navy and is stationed there. He doesn’t love it. The one plus is that it’s at the beach. Son does love everything about San Diego. </p>
<p>NC State University is a good school w/ lots of school spirit. My S loved it. It is in a city though but not a HUGE one. Weather is great. Not too far from the NC beaches.</p>
<p>Everyone I know who goes/went to Clemson loves it. It’s rural but with restaurants.etc. not too far away. Clemson is in a pretty part of South Carolina…lots of school spirit. Won’t have to worry about snow in Clemson.</p>