<p>I’m pretty sure I already answered this thread - did you post before? My choice was USC because I think you will get a cross-section of students from all over the US, not just from one region. The other schools on your list draw mostly from their own states. Plus, I think you will get smaller class sizes at USC. You will also get the big football scene.</p>
<p>ricegal: yeah i saw that someone posted something very similar to this post like 2 weeks ago or something. I’ve read that post and did see your post as well, but I still want some specific information (hopefully some advice from people who went there).</p>
<p>Some comments:
-You are more likely to see the Cascade/Olympic Range than the Rocky Mountains if you go to Seattle. IMO, they are much more beautiful than the Rockies. Seattle is quite an interesting city. It’s on Puget Sound and there are a number of islands there. Many people in Seattle commute via ferries. Washington State has a number of beautiful National Parks and forests, including Mount Rainer, Mount St. Helens, Olympic (part of which is a rain forest). It’s a fairly cosmopolitan city with a strong influence from Pacific Rim countries. It’s true what they say about the rain: You don’t tan; you rust. Apart from being on Puget Sound, it’s fairly distant from the actual Pacific coast, which is rocky and beautiful, but the water is cold. It’s not too difficult to travel to the Canadian Northwest where Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia are located. Vancouver is usually ranked as one of the world’s most beautiful and livable cities. Victoria is also beautiful, but more traditional with a heavy British influence. The core of UW’s campus is attractive IMO but it also has a number of less attractive modern buildings in a less consistent style.
-Ann Arbor and Chapel Hill are two of the best college towns in the US. Parts of Michigan’s campus are very nice; UNC’s campus overall is very attractive. Ann Arbor is cold and snowy in the winter. Michigan borders several of the Great Lakes, but Ann Arbor isn’t very close to any of them. North Carolina is a beautiful state with the Blue Ridge Mts in the western part of the state and the Atlantic coast in the east, but Chapel Hill is fairly distant from either. The weather in Chapel Hill is somewhat humid in the summer, but very pleasant in the fall.
-Columbus is not so beautiful or interesting as a city, and OSU does not have a very attractive campus, IMO.
-LA probably has the best weather. LA is a very diverse city, a real melting pot. Good museums. Beaches. Not too far from some mountains.
-Austin is liberal for Texas, but even there, conservative influences are not far away as it’s the state capital of one of our most conservative states. I personally don’t find UT’s campus very attractive; others may differ. Austin has a great music scene ranging from country to folk to rock. The weather can be hot and muggy in Austin. </p>
<p>You have a choice of four very different parts of the country with distinctive regional cultures. You will not get a representative picture of the US from any single location. If you had to eliminate one of these locations, I’d say you could pass on OSU.</p>
<p>I think you’re right about passing on OSU. From what I’ve seen on Google Maps, Ann Arbor’s and UNC’s campuses are pretty nice indeed. Sadly I couldnt get in the USC campus, so I don’t know if it’s any good. I’m kind of leaning towards Seattle but I’m still hesitating because I will be there from Aug-Dec and the weather isn’t really good that time of year.</p>
<p>I’m hoping someone can give me some more info on the campuses and next to that I’m also wondering about class sizes. Does anyone know something about that? I can choose my own classes and I’ll probably choose some business-related or international politics-related classes since that’s what I’m doing here.</p>
<p>For undergraduate business, Michigan, UNC and Texas all would be stronger than UW. </p>
<p>If weather is a concern, Michigan will be getting cold in October. Texas probably has the best weather of the group. It will be hot and muggy in August and into September but October and November are warm and pleasant and December possibly cool (for Texas). You’ll be wearing shorts and t-shirts for most of the semester in Texas.</p>
<p>If you’re in Austin in October, there is a big music festival going on - Austin City Limits. This is a link to this year’s lineup - [ACL</a> 2010](<a href=“http://2010.aclfestival.com/]ACL”>http://2010.aclfestival.com/)</p>
<p>zimops: I grew up in Ohio, and have lived in Texas and North Carolina (amongst other places). I have been to all of the cities, but not necessarily all of the campuses that you have to choose from. And FWIW I have some sense of what your background may be like as I have spent a lot of time in the Netherlands because of family there. I largely agree with zapfino’s post #24, but must confess that I am not much of a fan of LA (I love San Diego and San Francisco, just not LA). I currently live in NC and had both of my kids apply to UNC because it is such a bargain by US standards. Therefore, I know its campus better than the other schools. But like their parents, they both chose to go to schools much further away from home to experience something new (much like you are about to do). I wouldn’t let concerns about summertime heat at UNC or UT concern you too much as most buildings will have air conditioning and by October the weather will be wonderful. Here today the weather is bright sunny skies and a high temperature of about 22-23C. And I got married in Texas (many years ago) during the month of October because the weather was wonderful for all of our guests from around the country and the Netherlands. </p>
<p>You have great options to choose from. You need to ask yourself what your priorities are for your time here. Do you want to maximize your opportunities to be a tourist (and if so, do you have the budget to do so)? If so, then UW or USC might be your best options. Do you want to have an American college town experience (since it is different from that at most European universities)? Then, UNC or UM might be your best options. </p>
<p>American students that study abroad (my son did so) usually do so in their third year. If that is also the case for you, then class sizes should not be a major issue at any of these schools because you will be taking higher level classes that normally have smaller enrollments.</p>
<p>I have been to USC’s campus. It’s very nice. Everything is walkable, the buildings are a mix of old and new. The older buildings are red brick similar to Rice. The library is gorgeous. USC is well-known in CA for its business school, plus it has a decent IR program. I agree with one of the previous posters that LA is not a great city compared to SF and San Diego, but it can still be a fun place for college students. The area around USC is not so nice so a lot of times the students go over to UCLA’s neighborhood to hang-out when they leave campus. I have also been to UNC and UT and I’ve visited Seattle numerous times (although I haven’t actually been to the UW campus). All three areas are very nice. You can get used to the weather in each of them. Can’t speak for Michigan or Ohio other than, in general, U Michigan has a better reputation than Ohio State. It’s unlikely you are going to find someone who can compare the reputations of the business programs at each school because the graduates tend to move on to jobs in the same geographic area as the school and there isn’t much cross-mixing. I do know that in the accounting world, UT has a great reputation. USC is known for its alumni network, which especially helps business majors find jobs in southern CA (and to a lesser degree in northern CA).</p>
<p>I think the OP has had to eliminate USC from consideration (no longer available). It’s not really important to the OP because the OP is only coming for 1 study abroad semester but the business schools at Michigan, UNC and Texas (particulrly Michigan-Ross) place their graduates nationally and internationally.</p>
<p>quakerstake: I think OP’s post about USC was that he couldn’t walk it with Google maps, not that he couldn’t go to school there. He wanted to know what the campus looked like.</p>
<p>You can bring up pictures of USC from Google maps, though, so maybe I am mistaken.</p>
<p>August - December.</p>
<p>This might have me think UM. You will be gone before the worst weather, and it’s close enough that you could visit Chicago (a great city) and Toronto, also a great city, very European, cosmopolitan. No mountains,though, but awesome Great Lakes.</p>