Campus Observations, Ohio State

Parents Forum
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<p>I don’t know if this college visit will be of any interest on this site, but I thought that some of my observations would be useful to some people.</p>

<p>I have a junior and OSU was the first schools that we have looked at. My son is an okay student, not great but okay. He is looking into majoring in engineering. He will not have the grades or the scores to get into Michigan or UIUC. He wanted to stay in the Midwest, reasonably close to home. We looked at OSU because it had an engineering program and we could fit in a visit without taking time off school. </p>

<p>Before we went to Ohio State I was convinced that my son and our family would hate Ohio State. My H and I grew up in a state to the north of Ohio and have always considered OSU as the “evil empire”. LOL! Our perceptions were of a big impersonal university that only cared about its football program. We were pleasantly surprised.</p>

<p>Because my son is interested in engineering, we attended an engineering overview first. About 5 families attended and we had an engineering admissions representative (an African American woman!) give a talk about the college of engineering. The engineering overview was held in the oldest, most run down classroom I think available in the entire university. We were impressed with the content of the talk. OSU claims to retain 89% of its admitted freshman to sophomore status. All of OSU’s engineering programs are ABET accredited. They have 14 majors and 30 specialties. One of the students in the group was interested in a Food, Ag and Bio Engineering major. We had never heard of this major, but the admissions rep practically fell over herself. She gushed that it was a great major for those considering pre-professional degrees and that the placement rate was 100% before they graduated. OSU tried to emphasis that even though it was a big university, the engineering department was trying to make the department more personal and to make the university seem smaller. We enjoyed the presentation and if my son is interested, we will make another trip and look at the engineering department more in depth.</p>

<p>We also attended a general admission session. OSU is trying to make this large university seem smaller. They also emphasized that OSU had many choices because it is so big. OSU seems to be promoting their Honors and Scholars program. If you qualify for this program, OSU will invite you down for a special Honor’s Tour. </p>

<p>I think that the admission office does a good job of making the university seem manageable. Ohio State seems to have many choices in housing. You can live in an Honors dorm; a dorm with people in your major, the list seemed to go on and on. One thing that stood out to me on our tour were the many places to eat. There were coffee shops on every corner. The meal plan system seemed to emphasis the many choices that were available. </p>

<p>We also took a tour. We had a great tour guide who seemed enthusiastic about the school. It was a very cold day and we were outside for an hour and a half. The campus seemed to be under construction! New building and additions abound on campus. We were led into a large lecture hall, seemed very nice and very wired.</p>

<p>I hope that this review was helpful to someone. My son liked Ohio State more than he thought he would. I think that if he qualifies for the Honor’s program, Ohio State could be a good choice for him. I am posting this because OSU was getting bad press on another thread in College Search and Selection and I wanted to address that.</p>

<p>One thing that surprised me about the colleges that we looked at (we also looked at Ohio University) were the senior’s at the tour who had just applied to the school and had not applied anywhere else. Another surprise my H and I had was how nice campuses are these days. Almost like a country club compared to the stone ages when we went to school. The dorm rooms had cable with HBO, rec centers with climbing walls and everything imaginable. No cafeteria food for this generation, wok stations and pasta stations and coffee bars. Makes you want to be this age again!</p>

<p>We also visited Ohio University, I will be glad to answer any questions that anyone would have about this school. I understand that it is a very regional university and therefore of limited interest. We enjoyed this school very much.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for the report. It is helpful and reassuring to read a positive trip report about a Big State U! We toured Indiana U with D almost 3 years ago and found a lot of the same things you mentioned- the school is doing whatever it can to be more personal and seem smaller. We, too, were impressed with the food options and facilites compared to "back in the day". Many of us on the board will have kids looking at Big State Us as well as the highly selective LACs and universities, so I appreciate your input. Tell us about Ohio U, too.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Deb. I recommended Ohio U to a student, and his family was ever so impressed with the place. I lived in Pittsburgh about 8 years ago , and OU was a popular destination. My best friend's son went there, and he loved it. Another close friend has 2 kids at Ohio State and they and she could not be happier. Ohio State is a bit big for me--it intimidates me, but having a city like Columbus right there is a big plus in my book.</p>

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<p>My S is taking post secondary option classes at OSU and has had an incredibly great experience. He started in a Japanese Immersion program in the summer and has continued in the sequence throughout this school year. They have done much to make the university small as well in this department. It's funny, I never once knew a soul in a class when I went there many moons ago. My S is in a class this quarter (not a class in the sequence, but in the Japanese dept) and he knows <em>10</em> kids in it. LOL! </p>

<p>I am also with you deb about the differences from when we went to college. It is amazingly nice now. I also should add since you apparently are from that "state up north" that my S got accepted yesterday into UMich. I admit to some trepidation at the thought and I was ok until I read the second paragraph in the acceptance letter talking about when he would become a "Wolverine". I thought that was going a bit
<strong>too</strong> far. He could maybe go there, but becoming a WOLVERINE...horrors! :-)</p>

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<p>Go Blue!</p>

<p>Must be a weird feeling to be right in the middle of the greatest rivalry in college sports (grow up in ohio - go to school at umich), but I have met so many Ohio-ans(?) here. Congratulations to your son, maybe I'll see him around campus next fall.</p>

<p>Hail to the Victors</p>

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<p>Kdos, I was at Michigan right before the big OSU-Michigan football game. Whooeee, they do take it seriously. I guess you won't put that bumper sticker on your back window if you are going to be driving around Columbus! Congrats to your son on the accept. It's a great school even if he'll turn into a Wolverine.</p>

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<p>Deb922, I knowa frequent poster here has a son going to Ohio Uni as an out of state student - what %age out of state does OU and OSU have? Do any of their honors or scholarship programs aply to out of state candidates?</p>

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<p>ozma </p>

<p>are you enjoying being at UM? The rivalry is awesome. Went to an OSU-UM hockey game 10 days ago and we had 14,000 people there. I swear that they could have been playing tiddlywinks and it would have drawn a crowd. Great game, btw. 2 good teams!</p>

<p>jamimom</p>

<p>Thanks for the congrats. To even make it weirder, I moved to Mich years ago and besides doing my part to stir up the rivalry (not sure many of those Wolves will ever get over seeing my red OSU cowboy hat every Friday before a game during football season) I also met my UMich alum H there. Have you ever seen that commercial on ESPN about that mixed marriage? I admit it gets strange around the 3rd Sat in November. I took my S to THE GAME this year and told him at the time that if he ends up going to UMich he needed to see the rivalry in person from "our side" as opposed to the "dark side" first. It's so hard to get tickets here it was his first time. We had a blast! Anyway, depending on money and other possible merit, he may go north after all. (My parents think it was strange enough I married one, not so sure they could handle their beloved grandchild becoming a "WOLVERINE".)</p>

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<p>My daughter also toured OSU engineering, ended up visiting the campus a few times. We too expected to hate it, just toured as it was a school we could visit in a day. The engineering program, particularly the honors program, had more hands-on work from the beginnning than others she visited. People there seemed HAPPY to be there. There was the chance to be in the OSU marching band. . . . .OSU went from a "why are we even visiting" to her number 2 choice, ahead of CMU and RPI. OSU may not be a school for those who live and die on presitge and USNWR rankings, but for those who are secure enough to go where they find "fit," it's a great place.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your kind words. I will post my observations of Ohio University in another post.</p>

<p>Kdos, congrats to your son. My H said we could look at Ohio State, our son could attend Ohio State, but he could never become an Ohio State fan! Loyalities run deep in this part of the country!</p>

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<p>I wish more people would post trip reports about public universities - especially ones like OSU where it is hard to get a sense for the school without an actual visit. Thanks Deb!</p>

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<p>this response is late but i hope it can help somebody out. </p>

<p>i reluctantly went to ohio state on a full ride from 2000-2004. i had really wanted to go to northwestern but my parents just couldn't afford it and the idea of being tens and thousands of dollars did not seem appealing to me at all. </p>

<p>i thought i would hate ohio state but i ended up falling in love with it. yes, it's a gigantic school, but it NEVER felt large or overwhelming for me. the school does a wonderful job honing a manageable and "small school" atmosphere. </p>

<p>additionally, most of my friends did really well for themselves after graduation. since this post is specifically about engineering, i had three friends who all pretty much ended up working for their top choices in terms of career. three of my electrical engineering friends now work at Boeing and two work for various car companies such as chrysler-mercedes and toyota. these were smart, bright students who were definitely challenged and studied very, very hard as undergraduates.</p>

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<p>This is what I have been saying for many months here as a proud OSU alum. Large universities are made up of many smaller colleges and departments which can provide an intimate academic environment. AND, the education I received at the College of Engineering was, based on my graduate school experience at Cornell, equal to any I could have received at any other university with perhaps one or two exceptions(MIT-CalTech specifically).</p>

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<p>Educators, I appreciate your posts about OSU. Did you feel safe walking around the areas surrounding the campus?</p>

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<p>Deb - thanks for the trip report! OSU is on my junior daughter's list as well, and we plan to visit in the spring. I have a relative in the college admissions business who has great things to say about the OSU honors program.</p>

<p>By the way, we live in that "state to the north" as well, and my D absolutely refuses to consider either UofM or MSU (maybe familiarity breeding contempt?) It's no big deal to my huband or I - we're transplants to this state and have no huge affinity for either school. Good thing we're apathetic to the whole rivalry thing; it could get really heated at work over the next week or so!</p>

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<p>deb922, just curious. You said you don't think you S could be admitted into UM or UIUC, but are looking at OSU and OU. Why not Michigan State? It's not quite elite in engineering (except for the materials engineering, which is), but it is very strong with a number of outstanding facilities and activities for students. Moreover, a number of top national corps annually recruit MSU engineering and a number go on to top grad schools as well.. Also, MSU's engineering students place very well in the various national academic competitions.</p>

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<p>dstark:
i feel that the general rule of thumb in any remotely urban area is to never walk around alone at night, particularly if you're female. that being said, i felt that the ohio state campus itself is a very safe campus. whenever i was walking around ON campus, i was very comfortable even when walking alone no matter what the hour. </p>

<p>whenever i stepped off the campus area at night (beyond high street around student off-campus housing areas), i always made sure i was with at least one other person. perhaps it's improved since i was there (2000-2004) but i felt that the off-campus student apartment areas were not very well lit at all. since then, i know there's been a big push for lighting, so perhaps it's gotten better. i think that it has inevitably improved though... particularly around the south campus off-campus living area which has been experiencing a commercial and "clean-up" boom in the past year or two. </p>

<p>i lived off campus in the a quieter area of the north campus area and never had any problems. we had three locks on our doors, never answered to unknown knocks, kept all windows shut/locked and also had wooden blocks in place for any sliding windows and doors. we also kept mace around in strategic locations. i know that sounds neurotic, but we were a house of four girls wanting to avoid any potential trouble :). </p>

<p>in a nutshell, campus housing is likely the absolute safest option. off-campus is a very popular option, but people should obviously use common sense with this. overall, i felt very safe during my four years at the university.</p>

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<p>Educators, thanks for your reply.</p>