I’ve been researching UConn lately and it’s one of my top choices now (going into Pharmacy). I looked at Storrs and the population is around 11,000 in 2000 according to Wiki, however, that’s probably not the real population since UConn’s student population is ~30,000…
If I do end up going, how is the student life at UConn? Are there parties, good football games, anything else to do in Storrs?
So… my youngest is a freshman this year and loving it so far. Parties don’t seem to be lacking, but I think football is not as big a deal as basketball is at UConn. As far as the “city” of Storrs, well they are constantly building up the area and creating a really nice college town there. The Storrs Center (shops/restaurants, etc) has doubled since we first looked at the campus and is continuing to expand. It definitely has a different feel than a big city school, but that is not a bad thing - it’s just different. The campus has unrivaled beauty and there absolutely is plenty to do! The options available for clubs and activities are really numerous. They seem to do a really good job of bringing big events to campus.
My son is a junior Engineering student at UCONN.
The thing that bothers me about UCONN (although it doesn’t seem to bother my son) is the lack of sports games on the actual campus. I think UCONN is trying to be CT’s teams not just UCONN’s team. ie. half the basketballs are in Hartford (the other half are on campus), all of the football games are 1/2 hr away at a stadium in E. Hartford and the hockey games are also off campus. Now of course the school does offer bus transportation to the games but still…
Son’t get me wrong, I love UCONN, the campus is beautiful ( I love all the green space!), there are lots of other clubs and activities on campus and Storrs Center has grown over the years my son has been there and is still growing. The campus itself is adding more dorms and buildings which is great. Just this one thing bugs me.
Mansfield’s population doesn’t include people living in UConn dorms. UConn’s isolated from the rest of the town. Storrs Center is nice and you can take the bus to the East Brook Mall. Otherwise getting around the area without a car is tough.
What ConfusedMominMA said about football and basketball is completely true.
There are parties, but it’s not like other similar-sized schools in the Northeast.
I’m a current UConn freshman. As someone else mentioned, Storrs and UConn are kind of two separate entities, despite UConn technically being within Storrs. UConn even has its own zip code! Besides, even though there are around 20,000 undergraduates here, not even nearly that many of us live on campus. (I think this year there’s about 11,000 on campus.)
To answer your other question about entertainment, I would say that UConn’s campus is pretty isolated. There is tons to do on campus, though! I believe there’s somewhere around 600 student organizations and clubs, and beyond that, there’s probably about a dozen events (both big and small) going on on campus every single day, and the Student Union does movies and Late Night (themed activities and free stuff, it’s a fun way to kill an hour) every weekend. The Connecticut Repertory Theater does shows on campus, and students get a massive ticket discount, and there’s concerts, speakers, and comedians relatively frequently. Trust me, you’ll never starve for something to do if you’re really looking.
I can’t really speak to sports or parties though, sorry! There is actually a lot of school spirit here, though, and so I’d say that the games probably reflect that.
Someone else mentioned Storrs Center, and I have to say it’s so super convenient and nice. There’s a few restaurants, a branch of the UConn bookstore (it’s something like a small B&N, not like the main branch which for the most part sells mostly textbooks), convenience stores, Insomnia Cookies (delivers cookies right to your dorm until about 3AM I believe), and miscellaneous shops. There’s also a Hair Cuttery and a Price Chopper if you walk just a little further down, and a little beyond that is the Mansfield Community Center.
If you have any other questions about UConn Storrs, I’ll be happy to try to help answer them. Just PM me! 