<p>With your stats, you would be a good candidate as an out-of-stater to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. People seem to love the place.</p>
<p>
-ish, indeed.
I did grad school at UW, enjoyed very much combination of superb research U and lots of outdoor recreation. D is at CU Boulder, loves it. Sounds like you know what you want to do, that’s cool. So did this guy:
[News</a> Center | University of Colorado at Boulder](<a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/b5f76b26185ceb6ffd802c0cf465ce34.html]News”>http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/b5f76b26185ceb6ffd802c0cf465ce34.html)</p>
<p>UofOregon was on S’s short list 3 years back. It had everything he wanted except it was on the opposite side of the country from us and logisitically hard to travel to. He targeted similar public U’s with honor colleges and the major he wanted and is really pleased with his experience so far.He has an awesome scholarship package, an assigned faculty mentor,like minded fellow students, small classes and interesting class choices through the Honors College, is at the top of the heap academically, loves the big time sports,etc. Outdoor amenities werent so important to him but cultural access was.
You can be really happy there. S’s friend is there right now doing a genetics lab internship,she goes to Rochester Institute of Technology and says Eugene is like paradise.Personally I see no drawbacks for you!</p>
<p>Wisconsin. The fourth season has its beauty, too.</p>
<p>What about Penn State? University of Colorado- Boulder sounds like a perfect fit for you.</p>
<p>I would disagree with the suggestion for UVA, I don’t think the OP would like the formality of it.</p>
<p>UC San Diego</p>
<p>UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, and Cal Poly SLO</p>
<p>Many of the prestigious schools ARE pretentious- or have the people who make them seem so. Good for OP for not falling into that trap. Notice people that he has a mostly west coast list, probably is from California given the UC Berkeley comment. Nothing wrong with keeping regional, or the east coast posters’ children would all be west of the Appalachians and any former British colonies…</p>
<p>OP- if you want large and liberal, plus leaving your region, do consider U Wisconsin-Madison. It would be interesting to see how you feel about it relative to U of Washington- my Wis nephew chose the western UW (although my UW is considered harder to get into).</p>
<p>There is life outside of the Ivies for most people with the OP’s stats (as most who applied to them find out)…</p>
<p>Try Penn State, and the Schreyer Honors College. Sounds almost perfect for you.</p>
<p>My original post was kind of rushed. I intended to ask for some suggestions for similar schools to apply to. I don’t want to only apply to three schools.</p>
<p>
UC Santa Cruz is really nice, but doesn’t have the athletics that I’m looking for. UC Davis is an awful town. I absolutely loathe the Sacramento area. Cal Poly is a good school, but not right for me.</p>
<p>Not interested in Miami - Florida is one of my least favorite states due to the humidity. I’m looking more for a liberal school that is accepting of the cannabis culture. Miami is more of a rich, fratty school. I’m not looking for Arizona State East.</p>
<p>Penn State is a good school and has a lot of things that I look for in a university, but it’s far too isolated. I also don’t want to go back east for college.</p>
<p>Wisconsin is definitely a school that I’m considering.</p>
<p>So today I visited the University of Washington. The campus is incredible. There were cherry blossoms, lots of trees, and the architecture was amazing. The student union at UW is incredible. They have everything that you could possibly imagine including a bowling alley. I saw Husky Stadium and while the actual stadium wasn’t very impressive, it’s pretty cool how it’s on the water. The U-District has a lot to offer in terms of restaurants, shopping, and nightlife. It’s a common misconception that UW is right in downtown Seattle. It is like it’s in its own little college town within a major city. The library was very nice, though I think I preferred the Knight Library at Oregon.</p>
<p>Now for the negatives. The campus is absolutely massive. It seemed even bigger than UCLA. The campus is very large and takes a long time to get across. The parking is atrocious, even worse than situation at Oregon. I won’t be bringing my car up next year, so at the moment, this isn’t too much of an issue. The dorms were among the worst I’ve seen on a college campus. They seemed very cramped. One of the biggest issues I have is what I heard from a current student. He told me that many people who go to UW are from the Seattle area and tend to go home on the weekends. I didn’t realize that it was a commuter school. This could have an impact on the social scene at UW.</p>
<p>In some ways, the school just seemed a bit overwhelming. The campus was beautiful and some of the views were spectacular. I was very impressed with the school, but I’m not sure if this would be a great place to go as an undergraduate. I’m still going to apply here, but I think I preferred University of Oregon. However, UW would be a great place to go to for grad school.</p>
<p>I totally agree that Davis is an absolute awfulll town. But, I think you’ve made up your mind. UO seems like a perfect fit for you.</p>
<p>'He probably got negative feedback because of his use of “pretentious” rather than a word like “prestigious.”</p>
<p>My thought exactly. </p>
<p>To the OP: there’s no need to antagonize people by throwing around loaded words. I like your opening post & your thoughts, but not the thread title. Perhaps others felt the same way.</p>
<p>I can understand your focus on ‘campus culture,’ and I wish more students would examine that. More of them would be happier both in the application process & after matriculation.</p>
<p>Def. agree w/ above post. I think campus culture is one of the most important factors in the app. process. I personally didn’t know exactly what I wanted as far as campus culture so I applied to schools withs slightly varying campus cultures. It worked out great for me.</p>
<p>MickJag
one aspect that you should consider at any of the bigger public U’s is that a guy with your stats is going to be part of an honors college system (you’ll surely be invited, it’ll be your choice to decline/accept). That status alone will help to “shrink” the campus to a manageable size, and will give you a group that doesn’t leave the campus as much on weekends, as it will be balanced with more out of state students. You should also evaluate dorms based on whether the Honors programs have their own space.Also, campuses that seems huge really arent so much when you are using them on a day to day basis,as you arent trying to cover the width and length of them for your every day needs.
I was going to suggest the Honors College at Arizona State to you, older D went there from NY and had a great experience, but from a prior comment maybe its not for you. It does have a stand alone Honors College,great merit $$ opportunities, big time sports, an interesting local college town atmosphere adjacent to a big city and lots of outdoor recreation.The “frat” atmosphere is contained off campus and the “rich kid dumping ground” atmosphere is also really a minor myth.Honors College kids come from all over the US, and its really more cosmopolitan than you would iitially think.</p>
<p>millions of hs seniors would be thrilled attending UO, UW or UT and consider them very “elite” choices if not necessarily pretentious.</p>
<p>My D was top of her class with GPA=4.0 uw from small prinvate school with big reputation. She did not care about going to Ivy or out-of-state. She is very happy at Miami University (Oxford, OH), where she is in Honors and in very selective program that accepts only 10 Freshmen. We are happy becuase her scholarship package is awesome and keep getting better. We are paying only portion of R&B as a total cost which represents about half of her private HS tuition where she was also on Academic Scholarship. Athletics are great. It depends what sport you are looking for. Miami is famous for Hockey - they have been #1 in a country (I am not sure about current status). Also known for good club sports that are cheap.</p>
<p>I agree that the OP probably meant prestigious. That being said, there is an advantage that a neighboring state U made to me when I made a NM visit. They made the point that while the honors program would be challenging to me, it would not be completely impossible like some of the other schools I was looking at and I would therefore have free time to jump right into research work my first semester there. Having a lot of research under my belt and hopefully being published before I graduate would hold a lot of weight with grad schools. Although I didn’t take their offer, I thought it was a very interesting spin on their offer and it made me stop and think! Good luck!</p>
<p>
Miami Ohio is a good school. One of my friends goes there and he loves it. It’s funny because every time he tells someone he goes there, they think of the Miami in Florida. Miami Ohio is quite a bit better academically than University of Miami. I’m not going to apply to Miami Ohio because it’s a bit too isolated for me (like Penn State).</p>
<p>University of Colorado sounds really good. It actually sounds like Oregon, but it’s even closer to the mountains. What would be the advantage of going to Colorado over Oregon?</p>
<p>I’ve been to Arizona State. They have some good individual programs, but for the most part, the school has a pretty negative reputation in California.</p>
<p>And yes I realize that I’ll probably be in the honors program wherever I go.</p>
<p>So here are the places that I know I’m applying to
University of Oregon
University of Washington
University of Texas
University of Wisconsin</p>
<p>Given the GPA and SAT scores, plus additional information provided in the other post, the OP would be a competitive candidate at the more prestigious/pretentious schools. He/she was criticized for “wasting” their talents by leaning towards the University of Oregon, as if anybody, with those stats, would even <em>consider</em> such a school. The four schools listed are all quality universities. Texas is the largest, with almost 50,000 students. With Texas’ 10% law, it will be filled with kids from that state. However, because Texas itself is such a diverse state, I would imagine the university would be equally diverse. Plus, Austin is one of the great college towns in the country. Wisconsin may (others might disagree) be the slightly better academically of the four ( or at least have that reputation), but if so, only by a very small margin. Weather possibly is a consideration; it does get cold and snowy. Madison is also a great college town. Also, I would argue that going to college in a different region is in itself an education. You will at least have lived in the Midwest for a few years, so when you talk about the region and the people who live there, it will come from first-hand experience, and not just misinformation and stereotypes. From a purely academic standpoint, unless there is a particular program that you’re interested in, I don’t think Colorado would offer any advantage over Oregon. Having said all this, I can’t see any reason <em>not</em> to go to Oregon - and in your heart it seems to be your first choice. Maybe not one of the top-ranked schools, but a very good one that will give you a quality education, and a solid foundation for whatever direction your life takes. It’s the smallest of the four schools, large enough to have a great diversity of academic programs, students, and social opportunities, but not be overwhelming. Apply, go, and don’t look back.</p>
<p>The schools you list, and Boulder as well, are very similar in that they are large state flagship institutions in which the student body will be, by and large, academically competent but not gifted nor driven. The highly motivated student should be able to find a stimulating, productive niche, and, if actively sought, supportive mentors. The unmotivated student can bong their way thru school. To choose among them, you should research the specific departments that you are interested in, as their national reputation may vary widely despite being at the same school (which is why the national rankings of these places may be suspect). For example, CU Boulder, where my D is majoring in physics, is better known for the 10,000 people that turned out for 4/20 than the its 3 Physics Nobel-winners (and one in Chemistry as well). You should also visit, and see if you can see yourself as a student there. Also, you should give some thought to where you might want to live long term, as these schools are often much more appreciated locally.</p>