Hi, I’m an international student and I’m going to start studying neuroscience in OSU this fall. When I applied, I really liked this university and it seemed that it had a strong academic reputation.According to the US News rankings, it is among the top 20 public schools, nationally it is place 54 and globally it is in 34. I’m also aware that they invest a lot in undergraduate and graduate research. Because of this, I do think that I’m going to get excellence education and opportunities in OSU.
But I wasn’t aware that this university is known mainly just for the sports. I haven’t been in campus, so I really don’t know, but I’ve heard that the majority of students there care only about going to games and go there just to have fun. Although I do want to have fun in college, I really don’t care about games and all that stuff. My main priority in college is academics: studying, research, internships and jobs. My main question is, does OSU have a good reputation academically? Do you think that after OSU I can enter to, for example, Johns Hopkins or Duke for graduate school?
Absolutely not. All freshman are REQUIRED to purchase hundreds of dollars worth of OSU sports clothing and attend at least two games per week throughout your academic career. Your grades are determined primarily by your degree of “school spirit” as measured by alcohol consumption and the number of Monday hangover-related absences (bonus points for vandalism related arrests.) Of course, no reputable grad school will admit ANYONE from OSU because of this.
OK, I’m just kidding, and the answer to your question is “of course OSU has a good reputation academically.” I do find it somewhat amusing that you decided to attend without knowing that it is a big sports school.
TL;DR - don’t worry about it, lots of larger American universities have big time sports programs AND fine academics.
Soak in the football at OSU for under, and then go crazy about basketball at Duke for graduate study. You are all set.
On a serious note, academically, I think OSU is just a tad below Berkeley and Michigan among state schools. No need to worry at all.
“On a serious note, academically, I think OSU is just a tad below Berkeley and Michigan among state schools.”
I think you mean a tier below. WIsconsin, UCSD, and a few others are a, “tad” below.
Yes, Ohio State has a good…actually an excellent academic reputation. This is from my own parent and professional perspective and from considerable research into this issue as part of my son’s college search. I wouldn’t allow him to attend OSU from out-of-state if it did not have a great academic reputation, even with the national buckeye and other scholarships offered to attract top students to attend there.
As you know from your own research, Ohio State is a renown academic public research university (for example, it has the 18th largest university research library in North America, with approx. 21 libraries on OSU’s main Columbus campus), and highly ranked in many undergraduate and graduate programs and specialties, as indicated in USN&WR, Bloomberg News and other publications. OSU is also a member of the Association of American Universities, a prestigious association of 62 leading public and private research universities.
The increase in serious academic and capable students is borne out by the Common Data Set for the fall 2014 entering freshman class, which indicates an acceptance rate of 53%, with academic profile as follows: (61% of students in top 10% of high school class and 94% in top 25% of high school class; with mid-range ACT of 27 to 31 and mid-range SAT of 1210 to 1360). Admissions selectivity has been on an upward trend for several years now, as OSU is committed to gathering a strong student body.
Although attendance at sports events (like watching the national champion Buckeyes football team) and having lots of school spirit and fun is part of the Ohio State experience, not all students choose to partake in that. And thats okay. There are over 1000 student and professional organizations and Greek life to keep you busy outside your studies if you wish. Plus excellent recreational facilities (RPAC, for example) and intramural sports to exercise your body as well as your mind.
If you excell at OSU in a rigorous course schedule --check out the Honors Program, that would be a good fit for you, and ace your graduate study admissions test (if any, for neuroscience)–you have an excellent shot at being admitted to the other top graduate programs you mention.
Studying hard is a given for serious students who want to succeed, and research opportunities are available at OSU if you choose. Internships and job opportunities are facilitated by the career planning centers at the various colleges (arts & sciences, business, engineering, etc…) within the University but your success will mostly be dependent on your academic record, including any research, extracurricular activity, experience, and your motivation and proactiveness in securing these opportunities. Best of Luck.
OSU kids (and alumni, and teachers, and parents and…) love the Buckeyes for sure (and hey, they ARE the national champions at the moment) but far from “everyone” goes to games all the time, or ever. The school is HUGE, you’ll meet all kinds of kids there and plenty are very serious students.
It’s become difficult to get into OSU main campus if you aren’t a top student, even in Ohio. My D’s friends who are going are almost all in the very top of the class and her school sends plenty of kids to very prestigious Us and LACs.
OSU has branch campuses that are easier to get into or almost open enrollment. That’s where any middle of the road kids are accepted to start. If they do well there, they can transfer/move on to main campus.
OSU is a fine school, but here’s a funny anecdote anyway.
A friend of mine is a prof there. He recently received THREE papers from students in which the word respect was misspelled. One of the papers actually spelled the word wrong in a sentence that was intended to demonstrate the spelling of the word respect.
The papers were about the song “Respect” by Aretha Franklin.
Coulda happened at any school, though, I’m sure. Just funny.
Please understand that US News is in no way official and that there are not any official rankings. The way US News chooses to weight factors in their own rating system means that public universities will never be able to rate as well. This is because they take students with a wider range of SAT scores, grades and ability to pay. So that counts against then in so-called rankings, their very own mission to educate students of their state actually counts against them. Be aware that the top quarter of students in such a system will be extremely strong and these big state schools have all the resources available if you take advantage so you can succeed. You may just have a little more bureaucracy and a little less hand holding and less intimate professor interactions until you get a bit advanced into your department and research. But there is no reason why you couldn’t gain admission to any grad school from OSU. It doesn’t mean you will, just that you can become qualified. Getting in or not will depend on your accomplishments and not the school name quite so much.
Be aware that college sports are big business in the US and many ordinary college or not-college educated people follow and “know” universities because of the area sports league and it has nothing to do with academic reputation. Most of those sports followers have no idea if a university is good or not they only watch the games. This has nothing to do with employers and grad schools who do know about such things. Following a sports team is just part of ‘school spirit’ if you are a student and there are always students that don’t care about such things at all.
I would say OSU is definitely a good school. Its School of Music is very well-known and its sciences are strong. I’m not informed about neurosciences but I do know that OSU is strong in pharmacy and engineering (a chemE professor said that many of his undergrads go to MIT for grad school). Obviously OSU’s football team and marching band are internationally known.
Also, OSU has the 3rd largest campus in the US and imo is a fantastic school.
(I’d be curious to know whether there are many common incorrect spelling variations of “respect,” or whether there is one in particular that persistently vexes people.)
Regarding OSU, you will find many top students there. The relationship between big-time sports and academics is certainly a debated topic, but even those who regard it as an unhealthy mix will usually not generalize their thoughts negatively over entire student populations.
Good luck with your academic pursuits.
“Hang on Sloopy, Sloopy Hang On,…”
^ There’s something funny about that. I’m just not sure what yet.
Someone from the State of Ohio who has attended OSU Buckeye football or basketball games or Cleveland Indians games would know better than me and can correct me if i am wrong, but from my quick google research “Hang on Sloopy” was a number 1 hit record for The McKoys in 1965. The band was a one-hit wonder. But then the Ohio State Marching band began playing it at football games. Fans love it and chant the letters O! H! I! O! in cadence to the chorus. And everyone does the hand motions too, just like the YMCA for the Village People. All in good cheer and further evidencing the spirit and rah rah fun that students and alums apparently share attending football games and at Ohio State.