Post your own state's college reputations'

openedskittles · February 19, 2010, 3:31pm

My experience going to high school and college in Texas:

UT Austin - This is definitely my first choice for undergraduate education. It’s nearly impossible for any Texas resident who wants to study business, engineering, architecture, computer science, communications and a number of other majors to justify going to a private or out-of-state school if they can get into the program here because there are only a handful of institutions that are slightly better for those and all of them cost multiples of what you’d pay here.

Texas A&M - At my high school, this was considered on-par with UT Austin, and most of the national merit scholars I knew went here. It might not be public ivy, but it’s definitely a great public school. It’s hard to touch UT’s programs in the top 5 or 10, but A&M does have some in the top 15 or 20 that are definitely good options. I would go here over Rice because it’s much cheaper and the engineering program is actually tied with Rice currently.

Rice - This university is proof that the flagship publics are underrated. In Houston, it was known for pre-med and engineering. However, it’s engineering program is currently tied with A&M while UT is hanging out in the top 10. Despite going to high school in Houston, I know nobody who even applied to Rice. Universities in Texas seem to be really good at technical and vocational majors, but I guess if you wanted to do philosophy or something Rice would be the most respectable in academia.

SMU - This is technically the second-highest rated private U in Texas. My impression is that it attracts a lot of children of alum, out-of-state students and rich kids. I don’t actually know anyone who applied here.

Baylor - The only two people I know who went there were both extremely smart. I have a feeling the average student isn’t so impressive, but I guess those two are proof that Baylor actually steals competitive applicants from Rice and UT.

TCU - I don’t even have an impression to comment on about TCU. The only person I know who goes here is not smart at all, but I know that’s not a fair way to judge a university. Otherwise, Baylor would be an Ivy.

UT Dallas - I know this school doesn’t have much of a reputation outside of Dallas, but it’s probably the second best UT campus and it’s definitely not a bad university. There are some extremely large and competitive high schools in Dallas and due to rank/money issues, a lot of really smart students will have to go to UT Dallas every year.

Texas Tech - I know several pretty smart people who went to Tech. This is one of the more appealing Texas publics if you aren’t interested or can’t get into UT or A&M, because it still has a legitimate football team and isn’t too close to home.

There are, of course, dozens of others that are above average and attract some smart students away from much higher ranked universities for whatever reason.

Soccer102592 · February 19, 2010, 4:12pm

New York

Overall - SUCK, should be set up like California. How they have they UC’s and CSU’s.

Binghamton - Best SUNY, for the price its worth it.
Stony Brook - If you want go into medical its great but not anything else.
Geneseo - Small school with a lot of artsy kid, not great.
Buffalo - Its in Buffalo so it sucks.
Oswego - The best school that is not highly recognized, great for good but not great students.

The problem is that there is not one University that stands out Nation wide.
It would great if it was like:
University of New York at Binghamton
University of New York at Stony Brook
University of New York at Buffalo
University of New York at Albany

New York State University at Geneseo
New York State University at Oswego
There is more small schools but it would be great if it was set up like that.

DunninLA · February 19, 2010, 5:53pm

openedskittles… not sure what you mean about Rice… you know it is private, right? did you mean to say that such a prestigious private university being no better than UT or TAMU is proof that UT and TAMU are underrated?

Beyond that, you know that Rice is strong in the sciences, right? Your comments confuse me.

dezzosaurus · February 26, 2010, 1:44am

I know this topic is old and a couple of people mentioned a few Arkansas universities, but I thought I’d throw in what I know. These are in the order of what I know about them, since I don’t want to go in state and don’t spend a lot of time looking at Arkansas colleges, lol.

<ol>
<li>University of Arkansas, Fayetteville- Recently gaining a lot of recognition as a great school. About half the people at my school are going there. My grandma’s a psych professor, and I know they have a kick-ass honors college. The engineering program is awesome, and apparently the film, psychology, humanities, and communications departments are up-and-coming. Everyone in the state bleeds Razorback red, and the games are always exciting. Woo pig sooie! Diversity is also getting better, and Fayetteville is a cool little town. Lots of partying to be had there. My dad went there and majored in engineering.</li>
<li>Hendrix College, Conway- Conway kind of sucks, but Hendrix is known as an awesome school. It is definitely the odd duck out as an extremely left-wing liberal arts school in a relatively moderate to conservative state, and if I had any interest in staying in-state, I’d go there. It’s very small, very quirky, and very lively–my friend wrote his admissions essay on a day in the life of a pregnant transgender prostitute and got a full scholarship. Those kids are frickin’ smart, and there is a lot of drinking and ganja going down. You either love it or get really sick of it.</li>
<li>University of Central Arkansas, Conway- I know a ton of people who go there, most of which work full time, are in their early twenties, and don’t live on campus. Besides that, UCA has awesome accounting, business, and medical programs, especially if you want to go into physical therapy. It’s mostly a commuter school, but it definitely shouldn’t be knocked.</li>
<li>Arkansas Tech University, Russellville- Both of my cousins go there, and it is a pretty good school. One is a senior majoring in criminal justice, and the other is a freshman majoring in computer sciences. From my understanding, both of these departments, plus engineering, are awesome. While a lot of rednecks from Vilonia and Bald Knob go there (my cousins happen to be rednecks from Vilonia, lol), Tech has attracted a lot of sorority girls from Little Rock, and is stepping up its game in the foreign student department. Apparently there is a large Asian and Middle-Eastern population (which is weird for Arkansas), so if diversity’s your gig, Tech might be the way to go.</li>
<li>Philander Smith College- Located in a really nasty, really ghetto, really rundown part of North Little Rock behind the Union Pacific railroad lines. Enough said, and ditto for Shorter College.</li>
<li>University of Arkansas, Little Rock- It’s mainly a commuter college, but I hear it’s not a bad school. The athletics are pretty decent, and when I did my volleyball internship, I found that they had a lot of eastern-European exchange students playing for them. It does have a nice campus that’s in a convenient part of town, not smack-dab in the middle of things, but pretty close to downtown too.</li>
<li>University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff- Don’t even think about it. There is a horrible acronym for UAPB, and unfortunately, it’s true in the worst possible way. It is pretty well inhabited by all the tobacco-chewing rednecks from Bald Knob or the gang leaders from Jacksonville. I shadowed for kicks once, and being a really pale, red-haired liberal Jew from Little Rock, I was stared at and mocked everywhere I went. Not pleasant. And it definitely isn’t a school I would feel safe in in a million years.</li>
<li>Henderson University, Arkadelphia- I’ve heard this is a waste of money, but I’ve also heard the aviation and art departments are worth looking into.</li>
<li>Harding University- I’ve heard mostly good things about Harding, and I have a friend who got a full scholarship for basketball there and is majoring in business. He loves it. Harding is also very religious.</li>
<li>Lyon College- I’ve always heard nice things about Lyon. It’s extremely religious, and gives great financial aid. A friend of mine is studying history there.</li>
<li>Pulaski Technical College- Basically a community college. 'Nuff said. Score an 18 on your ACT and you’ll probably get a scholarship. I know a girl who studies nursing there and has the IQ and common sense of a middle-schooler. She’s apparently doing well there, and that scares me.</li>
<li>ITT Technical Institute: My friends and I always make jokes about ITT. I don’t think anyone under the age of 40 actually takes classes there.</li>
<li>University of the Ozarks: Tiiiiiiny. And apparently they have some weird work-for-tuition thing going, which is great if cost is your biggest problem. Other than that, I hear it’s a great school, albeit boring. Nothing goes on in Ozark.</li>
</ol>

Schools I don’t know anything about, but hear are okay:
Arkansas State University, ASU Beebe, UA Fort Smith, UA Monticello, Williams Baptist, Ozarka College, Ouchita Baptist, John Brown University, Central Baptist, Arkansas Baptist, and Remington College.

goinganywhere · March 1, 2010, 7:44am

Illinois

top universities (have been ranked in top 500 world at one point or another by Shanghai)
(in order of prestige)

U of C: most prestigious; great in sciences hard and soft. Economics programs is one of the top 3 in the world. Probably due to the lack of strong athletics programs, most younger downstaters don’t seem to be aware of its existance. In good area, but surrounded by bad areas. They is also known for being very boring.

Northwestern: Known for arts and writing. Great business school too. Was something like the Berkely of Illinois back in the day, but the activists are much more sedate nowadays. Sports teams usually not very successful in Big Ten.

UIUC: Where almost all of the downstate valadictorians and salutatorians go, as well as many of the ones from northern Illinois. In fact, if you ask a downstater the best school overall academically in Illinois, U of I is almost always the answer you will get. Famous for engineering, also strong in computer science. Lots of corn and not too much else in Urbana or Champaign, so don’t go here if you bore easily (or have alergies). Alcohol replaces having a city life. Well known for basketball team (football in the past).

Loyola: The last tier 1 in Illinois, a Catholic Jesuit university. Known mainly for business. Great location. Suprisingly to anyone from this generation, the only Illinois team to win the Big Dance. The team broke the color barrier by playing the best players no matter the race, instead of limiting the number of black players on the court, and were rewarded with the 1963 NCAA D1 championship.

UIC: Supposed to be good for premed. Also offers some less common majors. I don’t know much more about it.

SIUC: Where Jim Belushi went, and where his brother sometimes partied. Known mostly for being great in aviation. Not located in the greatest area. Still the people who I knew who went there loved the school itself. Recently was a basketball power in the Missouri Valley.

Other universities

ISU: I screwed up. Basically for people who want to be teachers, accountants or nurses, or didn’t get into U of I. Not a really bad school, just a typical 3rd tier safety school. Despite the town being named after the school, Normal and its twin city Bloomington, while college towns, are much less built around the schools than Urbana-Champaign. This is nice as their are various businesses such as the State Farm Headquaters which keep the unemployment very low and can give good internships or jobs. ISU’s memory of its sports history can be summed up with 2 words: Doug Collins. Note: beware if you have allergies or asthma, as the county is the number one grower of corn per acre in the world, so there is often massive amounts of pollen, which is coupled with very high levels of particulate matter pollution from the fertilizers and agricultural processing plants in the area.

NIU: Quite big. Known for good parties. I don’t really know much about it. It can be tough on downstaters, I knew 2 people (both downstaters) who went there, neither made it through the first year, and one ended up in rehab.

Liberal Arts (alphabetic order)

Knox College: supposedly used to be known as the Harvard of the Midwest , although it doesn’t really have anything in common with Harvard except rigorous admissions standards (in a midwestern Liberal Arts sense). Known for very good academics.

Wheaton College: speaking of Harvard, this one is sometimes called the Harvard of Christian Colleges. What I do know is: evangelical Christians + strong academics= the anti-party school.

Community Colleges

Heartland CC: feeder for ISU. Though the academics are fine for a CC, it is kind of like your fifth and sixth years of high school.

Parkland College: feeder for UIUC. Feels much more like a college than HCC. Not in the nicest neighborhood though; it is the only little city community college I know of where the security are packing heat.

smd640 · March 28, 2010, 4:10pm

Northwestern does not have an undergrad business major though their MBA program is very good.

Multitasker · March 29, 2010, 1:27pm

NC schools, agree with skateboarder, but disagree with Wake Forest, great school, very selective, awsome combination of education and sports, for a smaller school.
ECU, party school, rural, good graduate programs
UNCG: growing by the hour, getting better and better, it is the #2 UNC watch out!
UNC Pembroke: oh well…
Guilford College: artsy, god school but the crowds are the nose ring, flip flop dude type.

nervoussenior10 · March 29, 2010, 11:25pm

Ooh! I’ll play. New York from the POV of a Long Islander, just because we think we’re separate from the rest of the state.

First, we have the SUNYs

Binghamton: Best of the SUNYs, or so they say. They pride themselves on being called a “public ivy” and one of the better public schools in the Northeast. For smarter students who either couldn’t get into/couldn’t afford top 20 or ivies. Icky campus and surrounding area, but well worth it for the low in-state tuition. I’m probably a bit biased, because this may be where I end up.
Geneseo: Extremely underrated. My classmates call it the farm school because apparently it’s extremely rural and in the middle of nowhere. No one I know really wants to go here, but it’s wonderful academically. The LAC honors college of the SUNYs.
New Paltz: Becoming more and more selective by the year, especially with the current economic situation. For very artsy students and more… academic partiers. Lots of hippies, tie-dye, and… reportedly, weed. Oh, and cute coffee shops!
Stony Brook: Good for science and basically nothing else. Commuter school on Western Long Island. Big State U. feel. No one I know who goes there is really crazy about it.
Albany: Parrrrrrrtaaaaaaaaaaaay! All of the non-recruited athletes from my school go to Albany.
U. Buffalo: Slightly less party, slightly more snow. Pretty eh. Good for science research, I’ve heard. Oh, and don’t get it confused with Buff State which is… no.
Oneonta: They call it Stoneonta. 'Nuff said.
Purchase: Good for performing arts. Not sure what else.
Delhi: All I’ve heard about it is that it has a good culinary program… which is funny because Delhi sounds like Deli.
Plattsburgh: Funny name. Really far north. Depressing.
Fredonia: Music? Yay.
Cortland: Most of the preppy people from my school without very good grades go to Cortland.
Maritime: Hehehe. Fish.
Old Westbury and Farmingdale: HAH. Don’t waste your time. Just go to Nassau.
Brockport, Pottsdam, and Oswego: Don’t know much about any.
Nassau Community: Half of my class is set to go there. Basically for the slackers/stoners, and the rare person who doesn’t know what they want to do and wants to get two years out of the way at a CC while they figure it out. Apparently the best CC in the country, which we’re proud of. Suffolk isn’t as good, but I hear they have dorms, which is cool.

CUNYs in general (Hunter, Queens, Baruch, Staten Island, Brooklyn, CCNY, John Jay, etc…) are fine. Not absolutely horrible, but certainly not great. Macaulay Honors @ CUNY though is a wonderful (free) program.

And a little on the Private Schools…

Columbia: Well, it’s Columbia. The rep for grad school is better around here, but that may be because the admissions office HATES the local schools and no one gets in for undergrad.
Cornell: Still an ivy. It’s still cool if you’re going. Do you want to be a vet? No? Okay, cool anyway. A lot of people throw themselves off of bridges up there… Ithaca’s cold. Speaking of which…
Ithaca: Ithaca’s cold…
NYU: Overrated, IMHO. Big, no school cohesiveness, no school spirit (their mascot is the violets… I mean, c’mon!). Tisch is nice. So is Stern. Lots of hipsters and drug addicts. Most NYU students think they’re cooler than they are because all of a sudden they live in the city and the baristas at Starbucks know their names and stuff.
Fordham: FCLC is whatever, and no one really knows about it. FCRH is generally regarded as a school for stuck up, Catholic, prep school kids. Great school, gorgeous campus, great education regardless. But a bit expensive.
Vassar: Underrated LAC. Beautiful campus, facilities are a bit old, but charming. Very liberal. Very elite.
Marist: Slightly less liberal. Slightly less elite. But still in Poughkeepsie.
Syracuse: Newhouse is great. So are the athletics. Pretty campus. Cold. Preppy. Some people regard it really well. Others turn up their noses at you when you speak of Syracuse.
U. Rochester: Great school. Highly selective and for very intelligent students. Underrated.
Colgate: We’ve taken to calling that the “Brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack” school. Toothpaste + unrelenting partying = reputations. It’s also in the middle of nowhere. I don’t know a single person who applied this year.
Hamilton: Good, selective LAC. Not many people around here know about it.
RPI: Very good techhie school. For the MIT rejects. Surrounding area is apparently not-so-nice though.
FIT and Parsons: Fashion forward, either wants to be a designer or a merchandiser, or… something else having to do with design/artsy stuff.
Lab Institute of Merchandising: For the people that couldn’t get into FIT or Parsons.
Pratt: REALLY artsy. But in a cafe` and poetry slam way. Hey, it’s in hipster Brooklyn.
School of Visual Arts: REALLY, REALLY artsy. But in an anime way. My best friend is attending SVA next year and she’s really excited about it.

And finally, my favorites to talk about… The Locals:
Hofstra, Adelphi, CW Post, Molloy, St. John’s U. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t waste your money on these schools. If you’re looking at this level, please target one of the lower SUNYs instead. SO not worth 50k. Most students are either Long Islanders with spotty grades and Daddy’s credit card who think they’re cool for going to a private school, or OOSers who think they’re going to school in Manhattan but have no idea what they’re getting into. Although, I can’t understand why anyone from out-of-state would want to go to one of these schools.

libeach · March 30, 2010, 12:27am

Know anything about Hofstra?

nervoussenior10 · March 30, 2010, 12:48am

^ Not a great local rep, as I’ve stated above. Personally, I have no real opinion. I have a few friends attenidng next year, but they’re going only because they want to commute/got into honors/didn’t get into any reach schools. The academics are mediocre. It’s used as 13th grade for many, many Long Island residents… meaning high schools from LI are feeders to Hofstra. It’s a commuter school. Not a lot of school spirit. They just completely cut their football team because of low funds, and rumor has it that many other things are going downhill as well. Pretty campus, but the surrounding area is terrible. They held a presidential debate (once), and this is trivial and totally unimportant, but they have some really cute guys. But yeah, that’s all Hofstra has going for them.

uncw5020 · April 23, 2010, 12:07am

I go to UNCW and not liking it so much. I don’t really dig the night life so much as alotta people go downtown or beach bars. Anyone else at UNCW feel this way? I need some better insight or I might transfer. Also, I haven’t made very many friends here either, and don’t know why.

crucial_bbq · April 24, 2010, 2:31pm

UMaine Orono. The flagship state. This is the school for residents who do not want to go to USM and can’t afford to go to school out-of-state. Pretty much a good school if you like ultimate frisbee, pot, playing beer-pong and think that Dave Mathews is the best band on the planet. To contrast, there are a good amount of rednecks there, too. School spirit generally revolves around the football and hockey teams. Good school if you are interested in Marine Bio, Oceanography, or Engineering.

UMaine Farmington. Out in the sticks on the western side of the state. Small population of students, and this school is known as having the only Creative Writing undergrad program in the state. Extremely easy school to get into, but you need to have a seriously stellar portfolio if you want to get into the CW program.

UMaine Fort Kent. Up in the northern most tip of the state lies this school. Really small (1,000 students?), EXTREMELY remote, and I think that it is only known for natural sciences and wilderness conservation. A good school if you like to rough it, really enjoy the outdoors, like winter sports (and you better like cold and snow, too!), ice fishing, etc. You could walk into Canada, it is so close.

UMaine Presque Isle. Up there with Fort Kent, also right on the border (with Canada) and to my knowledge not known for anything. I don’t even know why this school exists. Student population, under 1,000.

UMaine Machias. Like the above three, and like most of Maine, this school is in the sticks, although it is in very close proximity to some really beautiful coastline. Student population is around 1,000. The premier major is Marine Biology, and it is one of the better programs for this subject on the East Coast. Don’t be fooled by the remote location or small student body, this program is rigorous and not for dummies or slackers. The town of Machias has a population of around 4,000, and there is not much to do except enjoy nature.

The above four schools are really cheap if you are a Maine resident. Under four-grand a year, I believe.

USM (University of Southern Maine). This school is having major problems financially. Even before the economy went sour, they managed to somehow ‘throwaway’ tens of millions of dollars and with the current loss of funding from the state, they are in a serious hole. Too bad since this school could very well be the best public in the state and one of the best in New England if they could get themselves out of the red.

Most of the locals go to this school without giving it much thought or applying elsewhere. There is a greek system and dorms, but the vast majority of students are commuter; in part because the dorms are twelve miles from Portland at the main campus in Gorhom, and in part because it is cheaper to live off campus, and also in part because the dorms have not been updated since the 60s and for the most part, suck.

Sports are a low priority, and the most popular majors seem to be those in the humanities and nursing. It seems that a good amount of students ultimately have goals of teaching, working in the public sector (Sociology) or working as nurses. The school built some really nice state-of-the-art classrooms and labs, but because of the financial troubles, they do not have the faculty to staff them and are not being used.

USM has the only Law School in the state of Maine and the Muskie School of Public Relations is highly regarded in the region.

For private schools:

Bates. School for rich kids who attended boarding schools throughout New England. Even if you meet or exceed their admissions criteria, you will be denied if you ‘require too much financial aid’. The school is located in a lame town that is occupied by white trash crackheads.

Bowdoin. Great school in a beautiful location. Pretty much the quintessential New England private college. Considered ‘the other Ivy’. Extremely well regarded school.

Colby. Another rich-kid private college, but one that carries almost no name recognition.

UNE (University of New England). The school has two campuses, one in Portland and one in Biddeford. The Biddeford location is the main campus, houses the science programs and is where the dorms are located. The biggest programs are Marine Bio (with an emphasis on marine mammal rehabilitation) and nursing. If I remember correctly, they will give any (all?) freshmen a bicycle if they do not bring an automobile to campus as a means to reduce traffic.

UNE is a school that everybody has heard of (well, around here), but not many seem to go.

Burrrns · May 11, 2010, 10:29pm

Well, New York has been beaten to death, but I want to play :B I’m from NYC.

Binghamton: One of the most sought after/well known SUNYs. It has a good rep, partly due to the word-of-mouth reviews that “everyone loves it there”, but mostly because of its strong academics. Kids at top schools use Bing as a safety, though Binghamton sometimes rejects and waitlists in-state students with 94 averages and 2000 SATs. Some top students opt for Bing. Somewhat cold. We send a lot of kids there. Huge school.
Geneseo: The hardest SUNY to get into, it’s the lesser known gem of the SUNY system, the “Honors College”. It’s an excellent, somewhat small LAC in upstate, rural, middle-of-nowhere NY. Underrated. Cold.
Stony Brook: Default school. Located in LI, not too far for NYC kids, super-cheap option for LI kids who can commute. Good academics, excellent for the sciences. Little “prestige”, due to less competitive admissions. Overcrowding, large classes, and “bad social life”. We send a lot of kids there. IMHO, underrated, as it sends plenty to top grad and med schools. Has top med school. Also: Asians! Party… but not as cold.
** Cornell’s Agri-Life, ILR, and HE **… JK!! Some of Cornell’s schools are state subsidized, technically part of the SUNY system.
The rest of SUNYs: weird names. Oswego? Cortland? Fredonia? Common SUNY theme : Bad location.

CUNYS
** Hunter **: Many consider it to be the best of the CUNYs. Good for the health professions, which is probably why it’s one of the most popular choices. Default safety school. Default school for many students because of the location (middle of manhattan), price, and value. No campus, unless you think 3 buildings is a campus. Familiar.
** City **: Former flagship of the CUNYs, way back when NYU was for CUNY rejects. Best for the hard sciences and science research. I think it’s the only CUNY with an engineering school. Cute campus. In the hood.
** Brooklyn **: Somewhat secluded. Pretty campus. Liberal arts.
** Queens **: Also somewhat secluded. Decent overall.
** Baruch **: Business school. Campus and location similar to Hunter.
** Macaulay Honors College **: Getting more and more competitive by the year. Sometimes chosen over top 25 schools. Nice perks: free tuition, stipend, internship connections, free study abroad, laptop. Up and coming. Almost everyone in my class applied.
** Sophie Davis **: Competitive admissions, ivy-level selectivity. Hardcore! Future Doctors! Which might be why it’s so hard to get into… they want to make sure applicants really have a calling for medicine, and the ability to handle intense coursework, as students sometimes drop out.
** Brooklyn Biomed **: Lesser known than SD, but as difficult, or even more difficult, to get into. More flexible: you can major in anything, humanities majors encouraged.
CUNYs in general have a reputation for red tape and disorganized administration that doesn’t give a crap about students.

** Columbia **: Arguably the “best” school in New York. You already know. Along with Cooper Union, it’s the toughest school to get into in NY.
** Cornell : Just as amazing as Columbia. Beautiful campus in a secluded rural location. LARGE! Nice variety of undergrad programs to choose from… They accept more students from than Columbia. Untrue rep for suicidal students. And… Cold.
** Cooper Union: Gold standard school for Art, Engineering, and Architecture. Extremely selective and extremely difficult. Not a traditional college campus. FREEEEEEE! Hardcore!
** NYU **: Most sought after behind Columbia and Cornell. Overrated? Probably, excluding Tisch and Stern. Stingy with financial aid. No campus, cool location. “Bohemian” students. We send a lot of kids here and it’s relatively easy to get into CAS (compared with other “top” NY private schools and considering NYU’s name recognition).

NYU-poly: Not as hard to get into as NYU CAS, Tisch, et. al, but good for engineering, hard sciences and math (well, duh).
** Barnard**: A small, selective college strong in both liberal arts and sciences that would have a much better reputation if it weren’t overshadowed. Liberal women’s college. Great academics.
** Vassar**: LIBERAL! Also selective, underrated. Great academics.
** Colgate : Selective school upstate. Less liberal than Vassar. Excellent academics. Like Barnard, it’s an LAC strong in the sciences.
** New School: Hippies! More liberal. Not selective.
** Pratt**: Art school that attracts pierced, tattooed students. JK.
** SVA : Art school that attracts lots of kids who draw manga.
** Fordham: Overshadowed by NYU and Columbia. Easy to get into. Generous with merit aid. Great academics. Underrated. Jesuit. Pricey. Not liberal. Great Law school. Not common knowledge, but has quite a few fullbright scholars every year. Intense honors program.
-Rose Hill: Traditional college campus with grassy quads and gothic buildings. In the hood. Lots of white, preppy folks.
-Lincoln Center: In the middle of the city. Slightly more diverse. Artsier.
** Hofstra, Adelphi, LIU : Easy to get into. Long Island.
** St. John’s University (non Pharm): Overpriced safety school, high school-y academics. They have a decent law school. Actually Catholic-y. It was once a good school, but you’re better off with SUNY.
Pharm.D program: Excellent, well known, good students.

**NB: LI schools like to advertise to OOS students that they’re close to Manhattan. LIES! LIES! LIES! -sees red- Don’t let them fool you and do your research.

This is also a mix of reputations and stereotypes. Maybe typos. Wrote this fast. **

BrekfastChampion · June 25, 2010, 12:59am

MINNESOTA.

I’m bored so I’ll do as many as I can think of.

University of Minnesota-Twin Cities: You think everyone wants to go here but in reality no one really does. It’s massive and really good for business and engineering. It doesn’t seem like much of a party school. In my opinion, the campus is really boring (excluding Northrop Mall). I went to a huge public high school in the Twin Cities Metro and I think only 8-10 kids went here.

St. Thomas: I’m not sure what’s up with this place. It was all the rage junior year; everyone was like “mannn I wanna go to St. Thomas sooo bad” but come senior year basically no one applied. It’s in a really quiet and green part of St. Paul and the campus looks ivy-ish. It’s catholic too, I think, but not heavy on it. Bad sports and bad dorms. I think it’s the biggest private school in Minnesota.

CSB/SJU: Two seperate schools in one: CSB is for girls and SJU is for guys. They’re located about 10 miles apart, near Saint Cloud. I think SJU has classes for both genders but all the girls live at CSB. (College of Saint Benedicts and Saint John’s Univ) I’ve never been to CSB but I’ve tad track meets at SJU and let me tell you their athletic and hockey facilities are EXCEPTIONAL. Generally the jock-type guys go to SJU and the goody-good girls go to CSB. Big party school.

Winona State: Honestly, a kick-ass school in my opinion. It has a prestigous nursing program and therefore a LOT of girls, most of which aren’t bad looking. Winona is a sweet town in the hills alongside the Mississippi. The campus looks iffy in the pictures but when you’re really there it feels like what a college is supposed to feel like. The food is really good and the dorms aren’t bad either. It’s a “laptop school” so they hook you up with a fully equipped laptop upon enrollment at a really good price. It’s the hardest public school in MN to get into besides the U of M. (still really easy to get into though) The only issue is that the campus is shared with a Boarding High School so there are a lot of HS kids around.

Saint Cloud State: (aka “cloud”) I’ve never in my 18 years of life heard one good comment about this school. The campus is filthy and ugly, it’s a HUGE drinking school (note I said “drinking,” not “party”) and filled with hicks and townies from small towns throughout the state as well as kids from the Metro who think it’s the best place ever. You need like an 18 on your ACT to get accepted and even if that’s not you they’ll probably take you if you got your address right on the application. Their D1 hockey team is the ONLY thing this school has going for it.

Mankato State: (aka “kato”) I almost went here. Not by choice. In a town about 2 hours south of Minneapolis. The city of Mankato is sooo boring. The campus is next to a strip mall that has about 2 restaurants, and the rest of it is surrounded by a run down neighborhood and a trailer park. It’s the teachers school in Minnesota but even some aspiring teachers go out of state to avoid it. It’s known for frat parties and toga parties 7 nights a week. My brother just finished his sophomore year here and will be getting OUT as soon as possible.

Macalester: It’s in Saint Paul, and I’ve driven through it a couple of times when I was younger. I know it has a good reputation but I don’t know what for, considering no one ever talks about it OR goes there.

Bethel: Probably the most hardcore school in Minnesota and almost no one knows about it. It’s located in a city called Arden Hills hidden way back off the freeway, and just to get onto the campus you have to drive up the driveway, through the gates and get past the guards. When you enroll, you sign a waiver stating that you will not drink alcohol or engage in any illegal activities at any time on the campus during your 4 years. Doing so will result in automatic expulsion or something like that. The campus also has a curfew and students can’t leave campus during school hours. It’s a religious school but there’s no required mass. The work is supposedly really cut throat, which is odd considering basically anyone can get into the school. My best friend is going here this Fall along with about 15 other kids from my class.

Carleton: You already know

St. Olaf: It took me like 30 seconds to remember what this school was called. It’s in the same town as Carleton and up on a big hill as you drive into town. It has a good music school and it affiliated with the Catholic Church. The campus looks like it came from a Story book. It’s really hard to get into and as far as I know, no one from my graduating class went there.

University of Minnesota-Duluth: This is THE place to go. Probably 70 kids from my graduating class went there. I’ve never been there before, but Duluth is a sweet town and I can safely assuem the school is reasonably nice. I was personally rejected from this school even though I far exceeded the benchmark requirements, and I have no idea why. It’s a HUGE party school. They have a good alternative engineering program for kids who didn’t get into the I.T. at the U of M.

Bemidji State: I personally think the location makes or breaks this school. The academics aren’t that good, infact I don’t think it’s even known for anything. It’s wayyyyyy up in the boonies of Northern Minnesota in the “city” of Bemidji (pop 15k or so) and caters to those who fish/hunt/ski/wakeboard/hike/etc. It’s located on a big lake. I’ve never been there personally but it looks nice in the pictures.

UM-Morris: No one talks about it. I don’t even know where Morris is.

UM-Crookston: I think one girl went there this year; I don’t know where crookston is and I don’t know anything about the school.

Southwest State: Didn’t know it existed until I got accepted without even applying. Evidentally very unpopular.

MN State-Moorhead: I also got accepted here without applying. It’s in a big college town and I don’t think the academics are anything to brag about. The campus is pretty.

North Central University: Small private school in Minneapolis, in a really weird location. I believe it’s affiliated with religion of some sort.

Crown College: I don’t even know where it’s located. However 4-5 kids from my graduating class went there.

I probably forgot some.

evanjl3 · June 27, 2010, 4:03am

ILLINOIS
ranked best to worst

U of Chicago Best school in illinois crazy academics
Northwestern- The school for perfect children who work hard
UIUC- Highly respected big school Big 10 party school
DePaul- Awesome school,awesome academics, great location has the teachers from NU and U of C (Chicago’s Version of NYU) Fiske guide to colleges
Loyola Chicago- Great medical program
Illinois Institute of Technology- Very impressive, solid academics, secret of Chicago
NIU/UIC/ISU- Meh schools, NIU good in business and chemistry, UIC good in engineering and medical, ISU good in teaching
Bradley- Really nice school, ok everything else good teaching
SIU- dumb kids/party school
EIU- Bad School
WIU- really good for construction management and that’s about it, alot of drinking

squashgirl · June 27, 2010, 9:46pm

URI - the school everyone goes to if they don’t feel like paying a lot for college/didn’t get in anywhere else. Pretty preppy, lots of partying, students don’t really care about academics.

Salve Regina - the school for kids whose brothers and sisters got into Ivies, but they spent their time slacking off. Rich, preppy, sailor types. Not considered very good.

CCRI - a complete joke (literally, it is the butt of almost every college joke)

Bryant - the school where you go if you can’t get in anywhere else but you think you can make lots of money by going there because it’s a business school, or if you just want to stay close to home. Thought of as okay.

RISD - very, very artsy and very prestigious. Everyone who thinks they have artistic skill wants to go there. They are very influential on the culture of Providence, you can see them everywhere. Thought of as very good.

PC - huge party school. 'Nuff said.

RIC - don’t really ever hear about it, but I don’t think it’s thought of as very good.

Brown - everybody and their uncle wants to go to Brown. Thought of as a very good school, but since there are so many in-staters who go there, it doesn’t really elicit the “wow” reaction anymore.

Roger Williams - kind of a party school, kind of a slacker school. Gets a shrug, no real reaction. Don’t hear about it much.

CrazyEddy47 · June 27, 2010, 11:52pm

Colorado

CU Boulder - Home of the Trustafarian and Californian surfer “dude”. Good Academics, and the engineering and business schools are highly regarded, especially the Norlin Scholars program. For aerospace and compsci/electrical engineering its your best bet. Hippies. The city of boulder does not like the university because it destroys the boulder bubble.
“Hey X, are you looking at colleges?”
“Nah, I’ll just go to Boulder”

CU Denver - OK school overall, good for premed because of the Anshutz medical campus.

CU Colorado Springs - Good school that no one knows about. Those that do have a good opinion of it, but those that don’t usually are turned off by the “colorado springs” name.

Colorado College - A bastion of liberalism in the middle of the states conservative stronghold. No one in the state really talks about it, or wants to go there. Our Senior val. went there though.

Air Force Academy - The Academy. Well thought of although there is a stereotype about them being neo-conservative evangelical yuppies. Good school though, and I know some fabulous people that went there.

University of Denver - Preppy rich kids who like to ski. Oh, and hockey. Good Business, politics, and foreign studies programs.

Colorado School of Mines - Best engineering school in the Mountain states. Excellent reputation in engineering, science, and business. Almost anyone can get in, takes a special breed of person to get through. Average grade in freshman physics hovers around a D. Nationally renowned Geology, etc. programs. Lots of guys, lots of math, lots of snow. Not a lot of girls or fun. Has a picture of a Jackalope. Crazy brilliant kids.

Regis University - Most expensive diploma mill in the state and the unloved stepchild of the Jesuit education system. For kids that are rich and preppy, but not that bright.

University of Northern Colorado - It’s in Greeley, you don’t want to go to Greeley. Fun Fact, UNC is the alma matter of Sayyid Qutib, the author of the book “The America I have seen” in which he rails against American society based off of what he saw in Greeley. Considered to be an influence on Al Queda. It also smells like cow manure and its most prominent features are the various meat packing plants. You don’t want to go to Greeley.

Naropa University - Hippies, damn dirty hippies. And yoga teachers. And poets, musicians, writers, and more hippies. Eastern themed diploma mill.

Colorado State - Good reputation, and gaining ground although considered below its rival, CU Boulder. Has an unfair reputation as a jock school.

CSU Pueblo - “Taco Tech”. Pronounced Pweigh-low. An academic joke, and you would probably be better off not attending college than going here. Produces Spanish teachers. Attracts the dumbest kids in Colorado.

Western State - “Wasted State” Small Public Liberal Arts college, home of future ski instructors. Located in Gunnison, which because of its unique location, makes the list of the top ten coldest cities in the continental United States. OK reputation, but known for drinking and smoking.

Metro State - Career focused community college, OK reputation.

Mesa State - Native Americans, and lots of them. OK reputation.

Colorado Christian University - “Oh god, we have one of those now?”

crs1909 · June 28, 2010, 3:16am

TEXAS

Rice - The most selective school in the state. A lot of the tippy top students here want to go to Rice. Private school with a nice campus in an urban location, Houston. Residential college system helps students make friends easier. School has a certain alternative and nerd-friendly vibe where I’m from. School is also the most racially diverse of the big three (Rice, UT and A&M). Top school w/ D1 sports. The “Harvard of the South” although I don’t think any Rice students would actually refer to it as such.

UT - By far the most popular college at my school. Pretty much everyone in the Top 10% applies to UT. Huge public school in a liberal college town, Austin. I like the campus, but some people hate on the fact that the campus is so huge and has a shickaton of roads going through it. Quality sports and quality nightlife. School has a certain smart but non-nerdy vibe where I’m from. Quality academics across the board. Probably the most culturally diverse of the big three.

A&M - Second most popular college at my school. Huge public school in a conservative and rural area, College Station. A lot of kids that apply here have some sort of family connection to the school and/or they dislike the liberalness of UT and Austin. School has a certain indescribable cult-like atmosphere. Seems to have the most cohesive student body of the big three. The least popular of the big three and the school that evokes the most judgement by others. ‘You go to A&M…eww.’ D1 sports and a huge rivalry w/ UT.

SMU - Wealthy private school in a very wealthy part of Dallas. Has a kind of rich, snobby reputation at my school. It seems like only the wealthiest kids at my school apply there. Business program is very good and the most notable program there. Unofficially known as the school where kids that couldn’t into Vandy settle on. Greek life has a huge presence there and the school is very image conscientious. Preferred over TCU for the students at my school in D/FW.

Baylor - Private school in a very boring part of Texas, Waco. A place that attracts nice, Christian kids. Girls seem to be the most enthusiastic to go here. Good merit packages. Students have to take a religious class to graduate. NOT affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. Most popular school for the FCA students.

TCU - Private school in an urban environment, Ft. Worth. Often gets compared to SMU. Has kinda an SMU-lite feel at my school. Not as prestigious, wealthy or snobby as SMU. A little better merit aid. A little more diversity. Not as much of a presence as SMU at my school. Notice the constant comparisons to SMU…it’s because TCU will always live in SMU’s shadow.

Trinity - Private school in an urban environment, San Antonio. Very low-key and underrated at my school. Kind of seen as the less selective alternative to Rice. No real overall vibe at my school regarding Trinity. A lot of smart, normal and well-liked kids end up here.

UT Dallas - Public school with a kinda depressing campus in Richardson. Kinda a nerdy, techy vibe at my school. It seems like a lot of the weird, socially reclusive kids end up here. SAT scores of the students are comparable to that of UT. A lot of science students want to go here. Cheap option for the kids at my school that want to stay close to home.

Texas Tech - Public school in an especially boring part of West Texas, Lubbock. Rural, nothing to do here but drink and make babies. Huge party school vibe at my school. The school that the UT and A&M rejects go to. A lot of the less academically inclined students go here.

UT Arlington and UT San Antonio - ‘I didn’t get into UT, so I gonna CAP it and transfer to UT’ kids. Almost everyone from my school the ends up here intends on transferring to UT, but maybe a 1/3 actually end up transferring. Some don’t have the grades, meanwhile others end up liking the schools they’re at and no longer desire to transfer.

Southwestern U, Austin College and Hendrix College (Arkansas) - Very under the radar colleges at my school. Attract the more academically inclined students. Not as much of a nerdy vibe as Rice and UT Dallas. When I think of these schools, I think of nice, female, english majors. Seem to attract a special subgroup of students at my school.

Arkansas, OSU and OU - I want to leave Texas. Scratch that. I must leave Texas. It seems like the school attract two types of kids: UT rejects who don’t like A&M and Tech and kids who, for some reason, want to go out-of-state. A lot of kids from my school get some form of reduced tuition.

zatoony · July 7, 2010, 1:25am

VIRGINIA

UVA-For the rich and preppy who have a good GPA
Va. Tech- Where the farmers sent their kids until Michael Vick showed up. Now its rednecks AND football fans. Good school.
Richmond - Smaller UVA, with a bigger price tag. Real good school.
W&M - Snobs, Politicians and history geeks. Ugly girls. Real good school.
JMU- Lots of ladies in the middle of nowhere. Good school.
VCU - gangs, guns and art/medicine graduates. Good school.
ODU - urban beach bums and science geeks. Good school on the rise
GMU- For people who dont want to leave NoVa or like DC. Good school on the rise
Radford - pass the bong and tell me how to get a VT football ticket.
CNU- In another 50 years we can be like Radford.

qazwsx1 · July 7, 2010, 2:39am

I’ll do Mass, since it hasn’t been done in over a year (I Think). I’m not even going to talk about Harvard and MIT. It’s pointless. If you want to know their reps, go to all the posts about them.

Boston College - A very desired school in the new england area. It is the best sports school in this area. A lot of kids I know wanted to go to BC. It’s tough to get in though. It is a great school, but very religious. I know a lot of conservatives there, (and yeah, this school is in Massachusetts)

Boston University - In my opinion, it is very overrated. No one in the states cares about the fact that it is considered one of the best schools in the world. We live in America; the only rank we really care about is the USN rank. It is in the heart of Boston, with no campus. It is a similar school to NYU in that it is more of the posh, sophisticated students. The school is good, but not “great”.

Brandeis - It is the school no one really cares about. It is 10 miles outside of the city, and though it is considered to be a good school, no one seems to want to go there.

UMASS - Everyone at UMass brags about it’s business school (which, in my opinion, isn’t all that great). There is a lot of school pride. These kids, for the most part, are the students that could not afford the astronomically high prices in Boston, or just weren’t smart enough to get in to better schools. Some people say that they went to UMass because of the campus, but trust me, the campus is nasty.

other state schools - no one really talks about them.

Tufts - Amazing. The diamond in the rough.

Williams and Amherst - both schools have amazing campuses and academics. People who are admitted into these schools are students who most likely got into Harvard and MIT and turned them down.

Babson and Bentley - Business schools. They are legit.

Olin - very good engineering school.

Tired of writing more.

Will do CT later.

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