<p>Living in St. Louis, Mizzou gets a ton of attention around here, the most of any other college. About a tenth of my high school's graduating class going to college goes to Mizzou. I know it has a good vet and journalism school, but since I have parents who went to better schools (than Mizzou) out of state, I don't really know how good Mizzou is because of all of the opinions I have around me that are usually skewed. I'm probably not going to end up at Mizzou anyway because I want a change from what I'm used to, and my dad's work covers for almost $20,000 of tuition at another school (making paying for out of state much easier), but I'm curious about it in case I change my mind. Thanks in advance for an answer.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think if you can go to a better school out of state I would do it. Unless you’re going into Journalism, MU isn’t the best school you could go to.</p>
<p>Speaking from a suburb of KC.</p>
<p>If you are asking about academics, then the answer depends on which programs or fields you might be interested in, and what schools you are comparing Mizzou with. Its undergraduate enrollment of 18K or so makes it mid-size for flagship undergrad. enrollment, but it is one of only 6 universities to have medical school, vet. school and law school on the same campus, so the size of the campus is pretty large, and it is a pretty “busy” place in terms of activities.</p>
<p>I happen to think Columbia is very underrated as a college town. I’ve lived in several, including some of those considered top college towns, but I think Columbia has a lot to offer to most students as long as they don’t mind being 2 hours from a large urban center. The airport situation stinks, but that shouldn’t bother you, as a St. Louis resident. The campus abuts the downtown, which is full of coffee shops, restaurants, music venues, a variety of shops; only one movie theater now, but it is a locally owned one and gets points for bringing in good stuff that the mall theaters overlook. If you like to hike, bike or run on trails, there is access from the campus to a very large network of trails; state parks and conservation areas are very near town.</p>
<p>The student body is all over the place. There are a lot of very smart students, but there are also an unfortunate number of students who shouldn’t be at a flagship university. They tend to disappear after freshman year. Enrollment in the honors college will help you avoid some of them, in some classes. Again, how Mizzou stacks up in this area depends on your prospective major, and the other schools you are considering.</p>
<p>There are active fraternities at Mizzou, but they don’t dominate the campus, in my opinion. The school is big enough to accommodate those who want to be a part of the Greek system, as well as those who want to avoid it.</p>
<p>In case you are wondering, yes, I live in Columbia, and yes I have connections with the university. My son attends school somewhere else; my daughter is strongly considering attending starting next year, in a pre-vet major.</p>
<p>Mizzou has a nice campus and Columbia is a cool little college town, but unless you’re studying journalism, Mizzou isn’t as strong as the schools in the Big Ten when it comes to academics.</p>
<p>This is what I pretty much expected to hear about Mizzou. Thanks anyway, I was just curious about a second opinion from an unbiased standpoint.</p>
<p>Re #4: I don’t dispute that; I like the Big 10 schools for academics. However, I think strong students can find their niche in most of the majors at Mizzou. </p>
<p>Several decades ago, I started college at Mizzou, then transferred to one of the top Big 10 schools. To be honest, I did not find a noticeable difference in the quality of the courses or my fellow students, and that was in a top-ranked major at the Big 10 school.</p>
<p>Much of the difference in reputation of the large flagships is a result of real differences in the graduate programs, not so much the undergraduate programs.</p>
<p>Having said that, the Big 10 schools I am familiar with can be great places to go to college. I wouldn’t try to discourage someone who can afford the out of state tuition.</p>