<p>Thank you so much! This thread has been very helpful.</p>
<p>I've narrowed it down to Oregon, Iowa, and Michigan State.</p>
<p>I like Oregon, but I feel it is too "hippie"...I mean I'm fine with being around liberal people, but hippies just **** me off. </p>
<p>Michigan State seems like a nice school, but to me it seems like the Big 10 Reject School. I know this is probably completely wrong, and I'm trying to like MSU bc it's a great fit for me, but for some reason I just don't like it.</p>
<p>And University of Iowa is my favorite right now. But I've read it is very liberal. Is this like "hippie" liberal or just politically liberal? That is pretty much my only worry, bc I know the city is supposed to be great.</p>
<p>Not exactly sure how you define "hippy," but the students at Iowa appear to be your average, middle-of-the-road Midwestern bunch -- not many body piercings, blue hair, etc. Politically liberal for sure, though often the student body tends to be more conservative than the town, teachers, and administration -- don't know for sure if this is the case at Iowa, but it often is at many schools.</p>
<p>Sorry -- is the singular "hippie?" I wrote "hippy," and that sounds like a bunch of us middle-aged women discussing our diets and body types -- LOL.</p>
<p>Michigan State "The Big Ten reject school"??? Never heard of such a thing. According to my old roommate whose son applied (and is going to MSU in Sep), those students that had below a 3.6 or so were notified to send in senior grades before they would be considered. He had a 3.5 average and was asked for grades, my son (4.0) was admitted sooner and not asked for grades. It is not a slacker/reject school. Maybe it got that reputation (from who I do not know) because University of Michigan (also Big Ten) is also a state school, so the TOP, TOP students from Michigan paying instate tuition will likely choose that over MSU if admitted. (Students that do not have the highest of test scores and phenomenal GPA's will likely not get into UM but may be accepted at MSU. Those not accepted at MSU (and like everywhere else, it has gotten much more competitive to get in) will then go to the smaller and lesser known and less competitive state schools in Michigan like Central, Eastern, Western.....</p>
<p>On Penn State- I don't know much but everyone we know there are very happy. BUT.... I do hear that Freshmen applying to the College Park Campus MAY end up accepted but placed at another smaller campus to start. Later they are moved to the College Park Campus. Guess they ran out of room for everyone. I don't know if this is good or bad. (My sons friend was accepted but decided to attend another school when she was placed elsewhere. In actuality, freshmen may like the smaller campus to start at and meet one another.) Ask these questions on the Penn State thread if it is still a consideration as you should know this information before you apply.)</p>
<p>I think the current schools on your list are all pretty equivalent. You can go on each college website to look up statistics of accepted students to compare each. See if you can find 2007 stats (class of 2011) as I expect they will be different from 2006. (Remember, some of the scores are biased as they may accept lower GPA's/test scores from athletes than everyone else.)</p>
<p>There are 3 good schools on your list. My suggestion is to apply to all. Go see them when you get your acceptance letter. (Go in the Fall or Spring as those are the nicer times of year to walk around, see more students, etc...) Besides the great sports and school spirit at each, these large schools have an incredible amount of majors available, many you might never had hear of. If you decide to change major you won't have to leave your present school.</p>
<p>I don't really want to apply to all three of them because I already plan on applying to UMiami, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, Univ. of Arizona, and Florida State. So along with Penn State, I want to add either Iowa or Oregon, because these schools have more OOS students and I'm 100% guaranteed admission, unlike at MSU.</p>
<p>Thanks...So now what about Iowa vs. Oregon?</p>
<p>MSU isn't the "Big Ten Reject School". It's the UMich reject school, but that's about it (and even UM rejects aren't stupid people). Practically all the Big Ten schools have similar admission standards. Indiana, Purdue, MSU, Minnesota, Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State all those schools if you get into one you will likely get into the other.</p>
<p>Probably any Big10 school would meet your requirements. If you aren't too stuck on snow, UNC-Chapel Hill might be an option. I think their academics are similar to PSU's... </p>
<p>Notre Dame? Certainly, Football is King there - and they have Touchdown Jesus to boot. Might be a reach academically though. </p>
<p>There's a tiny school near Pittsburgh, Geneva College, which really is into its football team. Dinky town but decent education.</p>
<p>We have experience with both Iowa and Oregon and like them both very much. I would tend to take either over some of the other schools on your list. Do you have the opportunity to visit some of these schools?</p>
<p>Wow, you have a really diverse list from all over the country. What are you looking for in a school? Warm or cold weather? State or private? Large, small or medium sized? What majors?</p>
<p>My prospective major is business/communications and I plan to work for a company in the entertainment or sports industry, such as, MTV, E! FOX Network, ESPN, NFL Network, or Nike.</p>
<p>And size isn't an issue at all. I felt comfortable at a school like Pepperdine, USC, and UCSB...so whether I'm surrounded by 3000 or 20000 people I really won't care. And small classes aren't really a big deal to me either.</p>
<p>I understand that some of my schools are different from each other, but they all offer something I want. Some may have the perfect location (LMU and SDSU), and some may have amazing athletics (Penn State and Iowa). For me, there is only one available option that offers both (UMiami), so I have to apply to schools that offer a mixture of things, and I can decide which is more important at a later time.</p>