Could someone please compare/contrast Ohio public unis?

College Search & Selection
1

It looks like the Ohio public unis might be a more affordable option for OOS students with decent stats like D, but I have no idea what the various state unis in Ohio and the different areas of Ohio are like. Would anyone mind sharing their knowledge, especially for a kid who would like a medium sized school with an orchestra but not one in an urban area (by East Coast standards).

For example, what are the campuses and surrounding areas like at Kent State, Wright State, Bowling Green, etc? (I don’t think she’d get significant merit to make Ohio State affordable so I’m leaving that out.)

The campus vibes?

What is distinctive about each one?

Do they all clear out on weekends?

Any notable biology, chemistry, or neuroscience programs in the bunch?

Is there one you really love and why?

Is there one to avoid for any reason?

My dd does not want to be a number in a large school, but I think honors opportunities might alleviate that. And I really think she’ll bloom where she’s planted as long as there are a nice variety of opportunities.

She’d also like something with wellness housing or a similar option that would keep partying and general chaos to a minimum in her dorm. She would like to go out to have fun but come home to peace and quiet to be able to sleep and get work done, probably more than the typical kid as she tends to get overstimulated.

FWIW, I went to school in a higher crime area and I would like dd to be spared some of the experiences I had without necessarily sheltering her too much, in other words be safe but with opportunities to be involved in an economically diverse community.

Thanks in advance for sharing any info and experiences, and I’ll apologize now for not knowing yet how to reply properly to individual comments, meaning the blue @ and name. :-\

2

Wright State is mainly a commuter school with very good sciences (including engineering) and outstanding music theater and voice. I’m not sure about their orchestra options or if non-music majors can play in them. More suburban though near Dayton.

3

BGSU is a large school. It is a “middle of nowhere” kind of place. It is set in a small town surrounded by farms and other small towns right off an interstate. It is all very walkable and it is a fun atmosphere.

The campus itself is very large. Not spread out, just large. I think people are shocked at how big it is. It has a huge music center, rec center. The sports teams are ok, not div 1.

It is as bucolic a setting as you can have for a uni that size. It is largely kids from Ohio.

4

Look into Ohio University in Athens Ohio. It’s going to have a good Chemistry/Biology program and has a very good orchestra (and a superb band) . It has around 18 thousand undergrads and the campus is beautiful. The school is in an area of Ohio called the Hocking Hills which are in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. It has a party reputation which the school hates and is rather part and parcel of being a mid sized college in a college town. It does offer a substance free dorm. It has a rather artsy, liberal vibe to it and the students are friendly. It’s key strengths are in the areas of Communication and Healthcare. The area around the college is very alive with some interesting local restaurants. When visiting there are cabins (with hottubs) everywhere near the campus. Good luck.

https://ohioensembles.squarespace.com/orchestras/
https://www.ohio.edu/cas/biosci/undergrad/index.cfm
https://www.ohio.edu/cas/chemistry/

5

Consider Miami U. It is situated in Oxford, which is a fairly rural setting about 30 minutes northwest of Cincinnati. Oxford has a charming small downtown area with restaurants and music venues that is walkable from campus. Miami is a good school all around academic school, so has good science programs, but if your D switches majors later on, whatever she might switch to would also be decent. Campus itself is a little spread out with beautiful buildings and traditional quads, lots of trees and otherwise nicely landscaped. I can’t speak to special interest housing, but I know they have an orchestra.

6

Miami has a beautiful campus, startling for a public Uni. The town is really cute. Rural, hilly area, quite beautiful. Pretty nice campus housing too.

7

Ohio University in Athens is what came to mind. It’s in a gorgeous, rural part of the state. It does have the reputation of being a party school, but nobody’s forced to party if they don’t want to.

My sister went to Miami and didn’t seem to like it. Other people I know loved it.

8

Miami University and Ohio University look very similar on paper. Similar size, similar architecture, same age, similar sized college towns, however they feel very different. Miami whether or not it actually is feels more conservative and less laid back. They are on par with OSU in terms of the students they accept and their financial aid. Miami is more expensive especially for an OOS student. It is very undergraduate focused though it does have some good graduate programs. Miami is also much more Greek oriented. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a third of the students belong to a Greek organization. Miami’s forte is is their business school.

9

Thank you, Erin’s Dad for the comments about Wright State. The sciences seem good and all the music theater performances would keep life interesting but it might not be the best option if it’s primarily a commuter school. Very helpful.

10

Lvvscf, wustl93, and HRSMom, Miami sounds very appealing but I don’t think it would offer the merit D would need to make it affordable. It might be worth a shot depending on the price if the application.

Simba9 and lvvscf, Ohio seems more affordable with a nice setting. The party school thing turns me off, and I can understand why they would resent that label. I made the mistake of watching a video on you tube of partying at OU. But I know there’s more to the school than that.

11

HRSMom, thanks for the description of BGSU. It seems like a friendly school and I’m surprised I haven’t heard more about it.

12

The thing about the term “party school” is that most residential colleges in college towns are party schools. My oldest D goes to Purdue and was in the honors dorm as a freshman. My younger D goes to OU. Both report the same thing. There are those who party and came home in the middle of the night drunk and sick and the majority who didn’t. OU has it’s Halloween Party and Palmer Fest (a neighborhood block party pretty easily avoided) and Purdue had Grand Prix weekend (which actually lasted about a week for some). The thing which most affects how much partying goes on at a school is how many people commute to the school. People who commute are less likely to “party” on campus. The second is going to be access to campus area bars and most college towns will have them, whether it’s W. Lafayette, Oxford, Bowling Green, Athens, Ithaca NY (Cornell) … the list goes on it doesn’t matter. Finally, is the presence of Greek houses. They make it easy for a lot of students to be together in one area with little or no supervision. The parties may be less official but they go on. Party reputations are usually brought about by large organized events. OU definitely has those but in some ways they are very much controlled. The Halloween Party at OU is well known because of how many attend from outside of OU. ( it’s about 2 to 1 visitors to students). They limit access to the dorms and guests have to pay a $50 fee to stay in the dorm and there is a 1 guest limit. The number one thing people are arrested for is public urination. My D went to a play at the Baker Center and just avoided the whole mess.

13

BGSU Is a D1 school along with other MAC schools Miami, Ohio, Akron, Kent and Toledo.

14

@MACmiracle - we live in Ohio. Here’s my take -

Miami U - I have a D at Miami who is in the orchestra - viola performance major with a pre-medical studies co-major. D didn’t plan to major in music, but Miami gives music scholarships only to majors. She was offered a very generous music scholarship that stacked with merit making Miami very affordable. It is quite common at Miami to double major with music, especially with a science, although it makes for a very full class schedule. My D is not in a sorority and is not into the party scene. She is very happy at Miami and always finds plenty to do - she does not have a car. The campus is beautiful and D has had some amazing professors. I don’t think there is wellness housing, but D lived in the Arts dorm her freshman year and it was pretty calm. Honors housing also tends to be much quieter. We found the professors at Miami to be very accessible, so be sure to set up meetings with profs and advisors if you visit. D visited several times for music lessons and to meet with the chemistry and premed profs and advisors.

Ohio U - D visited and auditioned at OU, which has a very different feel. To us, the campus felt much larger - not as planned. The strings department at OU is much smaller than Miami or BGSU (they were excited at the prospect of having a second viola major.) It was not at all for D, but she has friends who love it there. It’s in a very beautiful area of Ohio.

BGSU - D didn’t visit or audition, but I’ve been on the campus several times. Academically, the university admits students with much lower stats than Miami or OSU. Definitely apply for the honors program. The BGSU strings studio is much larger than Miami or Ohio U.

University of Cincinnati - much larger, urban school. D has several friends in the conservatory there. There is at least one orchestra for non-majors. It has a very good neuroscience program.

15

@Violinviolamom , thanks for your reply and for sharing your knowledge of each of these schools, especially the music and science info!

16

I wouldn’t mind if our S18 checked out Bowling Green. It wouldn’t cost any more that our state schools in MD, has some cool sounding majors, and has Division 1 sports (a draw for him). I used Google street view to look around town, and the downtown area looked appealing. I haven’t checked out the transportation from the DC area, though.

17

In case this is helpful for anyone…I’ve taken ~10 classes at Cleveland State University through dual enrollment and cross registration.

The campus is located along Euclid Avenue, basically in downtown Cleveland. Most of the important buildings are connected by bridges. I would say half of the buildings are older/plain and half of them are newer and look nice.

There are students of all ages, and most students are commuters who live in the area. I think the university is trying to increase the number of students living in the dorms, though. As it stands, the campus is dead on weekends and none of the non-dorm buildings are open later than 1:00 a.m. as far as I know.

They have an honors program which comes with a full-tuition scholarship.

They seem to have a good relationship with Case Western Reserve University, where I’m earning my degree. CWRU gave me transfer credit for all of my CSU classes (although I’d say the CSU classes are somewhat easier). In addition, students from both schools can cross-register for one class each semester at the other school.

I really liked all of my CSU classes and professors, but I didn’t consider getting my degree there because they have very few advanced/graduate classes in my major. They have very few Ph.D. programs of any kind.

I went to a “career day” kind of thing at the Key Bank a couple of years ago, and one of the financial analysts was a CSU alumna who said it was harder for her to get her job compared to CWRU graduates who applied. I’m not sure how much that holds for other fields.