<p>From atomom:
Can anyone report on experiences with Oklahoma State U. (not OU). </p>
<p>We visited there over a year ago. The school is very popular with kids from North Texas. My friend's daughter is currently there finishing up her pre-med program, and she has been very happy and successful. I think part of the reason the school doesn't get more attention from NMF kids is because of the difficulty getting there if you are not driving. It is about 75 miles from either the Tulsa or Oklahoma City airport.</p>
<p>I loved the school, and I felt that they offered some great programs.</p>
<p>Thanks. I hadn’t really thought about that, but airport access can be a big factor in bringing in people from around the country/world.
It is not too long a driving distance for us, so my son should have a look.</p>
<p>My friend got an incredible NMF scholarship from OSU. The school is pretty football oriented, as with all schools in the area, but perhaps less so than OU. The majority of students are in the Greek system, and most of the social scene revolves around it. Also, it is in a smaller college town, so the feel is going to be quite different than OU.</p>
<p>Rachelm, according to the US news, more students are in Greek life at OU than OSU although the small town environment may cause Greek life to feel more dominant at OSU than OU. Either way, the vast majority of students at both schools are unaffiliated. Additionally, virtually all flagships in the states surrounding Texas have a significant portion of students from the state owing to both its size and the 7% rule. However, OU has a greater percent of Texans since it operates more like a “traditional” flagship than Oklahoma State. </p>
<p>One of my apartment mate’s father is a professor at OSU. It is by far more conservative school than OU (not that OU is in danger of becoming Santa Cruz any time soon), likely due to its small town environment and agricultural bent. For the biological sciences, OSU is generally better than OU, since most of OU’s strengths in the area come from its microbiology department. </p>
<p>The apartment mate claims that OU has a better business program (believable given its suburban OKC location), although OSU offers superior engineering in most of the fields where OU and OSU’s offerings overlap. No idea how true that is, especially because OU has a relatively new engineering practice facility, but given OSU’s land grant status he may be correct. </p>
<p>From what I understand, OU places a much greater emphasis on the humanities, social sciences, and fields such as communications. In terms of international focus, OU wins by a landslide, largely thanks to its current president.</p>
<p>Regardless, if any NMF is considering Oklahoma schools, it’s fairly easy to hit up OU, OSU, and TU over the course of two or three days. All three offer excellent packages, and all three have very different environments that certain students may thrive in. </p>
<p>That being said, Boomer Sooner! (Oh how I hate/love the phrase)</p>
<p>Great assessment, whenhen. I agree with everything you said. </p>
<p>I have a kiddo at TU and one going to OU in the fall on NM Scholarship. We looked at all three schools, and he liked OU best. The base scholarship at OSU was much better, though. (He was able to come out ahead with outside scholarships, so it’s all good.)</p>
<p>I think another reason OSU doesn’t get as much attention from NM kids is that they don’t have any special programs for NM Scholars like OU does, and they don’t recruit them at all. Among the three OK schools mentioned here, no one comes close to OU’s National Scholar’s program or their Honors College (which is important to many NM kids). OU puts a great deal of effort (and money) into recruiting and keeping National Merit Scholars and that makes a big difference.</p>