<p>Planning to look at the State Universities in New England- UMAINE ORONO, UNH, UVM, UMASS AMHERST, UCONN and URI. We need feedback:</p>
<p>Most College Spirit- Both in Sports and School Pride
Best Campus- Traditional College Appearance- lots of Green space and academic and residential buildings that have been kept up.
Location- Near Great College Town
Location near the great outdoors for skiing, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking
Academics- Challenging and strong in Political Science/Public Policy/Public Health
Ultimate Frisbee Club- seems minor but important to my son</p>
<p>UMass Amherst offers a great college town with the added benefit of the 4 other schools in the consortium. Always plenty to do. Are you prepared to pay full OOS tuition to an OOS public, which won’t offer as much money as your own in-state or OOS privates might?</p>
<p>I would say UVM and UMass have the best college towns. (UConn is in the middle of rural farm land) Both would also be great for outdoor sports, along with UNH.</p>
<p>UConn and UNH (haven’t been to the other schools ) have beautiful campuses, green space, quads, nice buildings.</p>
<p>UCONN is very spread out and VERY cold and windy in the winter. A number of friend’s children go there. Unless you are in a “theme” dorm, the dorms are very large and impersonal, very little “bonding”, most people keep their door shut. Student union is wonderful, lots of clubs. It is located in the middle of nowhere. There is no college town, lots of drinking, State Police patrol area during events and make numerous arrests. Skiing other than cross country is about 45 minutes to 1 hour away. Another friend’s daughter attends UNH and loves it, her other daughter attended UCONN.</p>
<p>Of course, we would love to be able to pay in-state tuition. One problem is that my son did not care for UMASS AMHERST in his visit. He did, however, like UNH.</p>
<p>As a parent of both a current UCONN Storrs student and recent graduate, I can say the experience has been very positive. Dorms and floor personalities have varied through the years, but all have had a mix of open and closed doors with many friends made along the way. The event that a previous poster was referring to was the old Spring Weekend (which is gone) and problems were concentrated off campus with non-UCONN students. My on campus students never had any problems.</p>
<p>While it is not in a college town , the first phase of Storrs Center will open this fall. ([Storrs</a> Center - Mansfield, CT Main Street Neighborhood](<a href=“http://www.storrscenter.com/#explore]Storrs”>http://www.storrscenter.com/#explore)) The campus has had major renovations over the past 10 years and is currently expanding faculty. As was previously noted, there are many on campus clubs/activities and lots of Husky spirit. </p>
<p>I dont know if youve looked into the New England Regional Student program, where reduced tuition is offered to New England students if their home state does not offer certain majors. Here is the UCONN link, ([New</a> England Regional Student Program :: Undergraduate Admissions :: University of Connecticut](<a href=“http://admissions.uconn.edu/tuition/regional.php]New”>http://admissions.uconn.edu/tuition/regional.php)) but you might want to investigate similar lists for the other schools that you are considering. Its a limited list, but worth looking into. Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>UConn has a slightly stronger student body, based on comparing stats (75th percentile SAT is 1310 at UConn, 1280 at UVT, 1260 at UMass-Amherst, 1220 at UNH). For faculty strength, I’d rate UConn and UMass-Amherst slightly higher than the others. Best college town is pretty subjective, but I’d probably go with UVT, then UMass-Amherst.</p>
<p>Here’s a stunning comparison: 75th percentile SAT scores at UMass Amherst (1260) and UNH (1220) are at approximately the same level as 25th percentile SAT scores at UC Berkeley (1230). Which raises the chicken-and-egg question: do top students in the Northeast avoid their public flagships because the schools are weak? Or are the schools weak because top students avoid them? Seems to me it’s got to be some of each, in a self-reinforcing cycle. CCers from the Northeast would do well to keep that comparison in mind before disparaging public universities in general. Many are much stronger than yours.</p>
<p>Thank you for the information regarding UCONN. We do know about the New England Regional Student Program and would love to take advantage of this, if possible.</p>
<p>Does anybody have any feedback on UMAINE ORONO? I have friends and family that went there and graduated in the late 70’s and early 80’s. All of them have positive things to say about the school but I don’t have any feedback from recent graduates.</p>
<p>While there does seem to be a disdain of state schools in New England, NY, and NJ (compared to CA), please note that California is a large population state which has 33 four year state schools. Eliminating the specialty schools (UCSF (graduate/professional level in health professions only) and California Maritime Academy) leave 31 “general” four year state schools. This tends to result in greater “sorting” of students by high school record and test scores (or community college record for junior transfers) than would be possible in a smaller population state with fewer state schools. So it is not a big surprise that the six or seven most selective state schools in California would all be considered “flagship level” in many smaller population states, or that Berkeley’s numbers are very high compared to state schools in other states.</p>
<p>Too facile an explanation, UCB. True, CA is a big state, but Michigan and Virginia are only moderately big states. Yet 25th percentile SAT scores are 1230 at Michigan (same as Berkeley) and 1220 at UVA–roughly the same as 75th percentile at UMass. The difference is top students in the Northeast disdain their public flagships. Elsewhere, public flagships are embraced.</p>
<p>The other issue regarding the flagship universities in the Northeast is that even for in-state tuitions, the cost is very high. If you apply to your in-state school and get no scholarship and to a private and get substantial aid, it can almost be cheaper going to a private school with a smaller teacher to student ratio than attending a large state university. Also, in at least Massachusetts State Universities, there are additional fees which added to the in-state tuition makes the total cost of an in-state tuition not as affordable as first believed. My son did not like UMASS because he did not like the lay out of the school and the buildings appeared to be not well maintained.</p>
<p>I was going to post what MACLASSOF2013 said. With so many excellent private colleges and universities in New England, it can end up costing less for a student to attend a private rather than the State schools. Mass has very low tuition, but ridiculous fees that make attending even in-state very expensive. (It all has to do with having to give tuition money back to the General Fund if courses are taught by tenured faculty. To avoid giving back lots of money, tuition is low, but the fees kill.) While the state schools may not have much money to give out, the private schools around here are generally well-endowed and have much to offer top students, so, that is where the students choose to attend!</p>
<p>The other issue regarding the flagship universities in the Northeast is that even for in-state tuitions, the cost is very high. If you apply to your in-state school and get no scholarship and to a private and get substantial aid, it can almost be cheaper going to a private school with a smaller teacher to student ratio than attending a large state university. Also, in at least Massachusetts State Universities, there are additional fees which added to the in-state tuition makes the total cost of an in-state tuition not as affordable as first believed. My son did not like UMASS because he did not like the lay out of the school and the buildings appeared to be not well maintained.</p>
<p>So, what is your situation? </p>
<p>Instate rates are high in the Northeast…so OOS rates are even HIGHER.</p>
<p>How much are you willing to pay each year? $40k per year? more? less?</p>
<p>I’m afraid that list is a bit too comprehensive for the New England state flagships. None of the schools has everything on the list. UVM comes close as it has Burlington, access to great skiing and the great-outdoors. I’m not really sure about its Poly Sci dept. and the campus facilities are not the most beautiful.</p>
<p>UMaine Orono has everyrthing UVM has except Orono is no Burlington.</p>
<p>The rest of the schools have even less on the list . . . as for the school pride/spirit thing, I think you’ll find that most state flagships have an over-abundance of both.</p>
<p>MACLASSOF2013, you may want to look into some private schools as well. Franklin Pierce U in NH has some of what you are looking for, and my D has been surprised by just how happy she is there (it was not her first choice, but offered the best FA). You might just want to throw it in the mix.</p>