Pros and Cons Of Ohio University?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>@lewmin. My grades and ACT score isn’t really great. That’s the reason why I haven’t posted them. Although, I am currently trying to get my ACT up. But, I heard the same thing about OU trying to recruit diverse prospective freshman. I think my ethnicity is helpful during the admissions process at OU and Miami. Thanks for your input. I will definitely look it up.</p>

<p>@SportsMama- Yes. I have visited both. I loved both campuses. I feel like OU is a little more accepting of other races though. But, I also don’t know if the have a strong Biology program/academics in general. Miami has wonderful qualities. I’m just afraid I won’t fit in very well with the “J.Crew U” stereotype. I also heard a lot of kids are stuck up/spoiled at Miami. They said that about 20% of MU girls have some type of eating disorder too. That’s the only thing I dislike about MU. Miami is a very pretty campus with excellent teachers/academics. A lot of kids get into Medical school after graduating Miami, which is what I love to hear. I’ll just keep researching both and figure out which of the two is the best option for me. Thanks for informing me.</p>

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<p>Fortunately, you don’t have to be friends with everyone on your campus. I loved most things about Miami, and I’m not white, rich, or stuck up. :slight_smile: My group of friends was also fairly diverse, certainly nothing like the J. Crew U stereotype.</p>

<p>By the way, Ohio and Miami have fairly similar student bodies with respect to ethnic diversity. Miami’s incoming class is 12.8% ALANA (domestic); Ohio’s listed percentage on their website is 8%. I can’t find exact numbers for Miami’s percentage of international students, but Ohio’s is 6%. So, really, Miami might actually be the ‘more diverse’ campus.</p>

<p>Have you done an overnight at either campus?</p>

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<p>@aussiek517. That sure changed my image a little more about Miami. I think I like Miami overall a little more than OU. I haven’t been to an overnight to neither Miami or OU. I think I want to though to get a better feel of the two campuses.</p>

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<p>Scholar93</p>

<p>Ohio Public Universities rated

  1. OSU (selective enrollment, research, graduate programs etc)
    go to OSU if you are going on to grad school</p>

<p>2) Miami (best undergraduate education)
go to Miami if you want a job offer before you graduate</p>

<p>3) OU (biggest parties, most arrests, most graffiti)
go to have fun, OU is not very diverse, and it’s in Appalachia, </p>

<p>OU is a Massive Party School, party weekends kegs are out by 10 AM
(my son thought he wanted to go to a party school until he saw OU)</p>

<p>OU always in top 10 party school lists
Employers do know this</p>

<p>Miami is a much more respected University than Ohio University
(exception OU’s Journalism program)</p>

<p>Ohio State University is equal to or better than Miami in most programs,
And has much better national name recognition.</p>

<p>If it is significant to you Miami offers a scholarship called the Miami Access Initiative
If your family makes less than $35,000 annually, you get tuition and fees paid…
still responsible for room and board.
[Miami</a> University: Office of Student Financial Assistance: Miami Access Initiative](<a href=“http://www.units.muohio.edu/sfa/mai.htm]Miami”>http://www.units.muohio.edu/sfa/mai.htm)</p>

<p>Miami has a major diversity effort underway, that will boost your chances a lot.
Miami is known for getting graduates good jobs, heavily recruited by P&G, Merck etc.,</p>

<p>good luck</p>

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<p>@gojack- Thanks so much for informing me. I was looking at OSU at once. I heard OSU is hard and they try to weed you out though. OSU is also so darn big too… OU sounds fun but it’s not well known academically except for journalism which I’m not going into (biology). They are also really hard partiers. I also want to go to medical school and I think OSU and OU would make it extremely hard to. After serious research and asking questions, I think Miami would be the best decision for me. The only problem I have with Miami is the snobby, stuck-up, and rich stereotype. I also heard Miami students aren’t friendly and it’s hard to make friends.</p>

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<p>Scholar93,</p>

<p>An Ohio State student is going to get into the same med schools–if not better ones–as a Miami student with similar credentials. I’m not sure about medical degrees, but Ohio State undergraduates are MORE likely on a percentage basis to go on to earn a Ph.D than Miami students. No other Ohio public, by the way, is close to OSU or Miami in this regard.</p>

<p>Also, whatever Miami’s focus on undergraduate education might be, if you feel like you don’t fit in and are miserable socially, that will take a much harder toll on your grades than OSU’s size. If you feel like you have the grades/test scores to get into OSU, you should at least give it a closer look.</p>

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<p>OP - see if you can do a 2+2 with a community college; no need to do extra work for the same grade.</p>

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<p>My son visited OU this summer with a separate Biology Dept visit. We hadn’t realized Biology is the largest department at OU! (This was per the prof that we met with one on one). They’ve also just gotten a boost because of a large endowment to the nursing college, so there’s a new Life Sciences building (recently opened and it’s beautiful) and lots of $ for new equipment and faculty.<br>
Hope the info helps.</p>

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<p>Not true about the TA thing. Sure, there will be classes that are taught by TA’s, but only 7% of the first year classes have more than 100 students, while I think 80% have fewer than 40 students.</p>

<p>By the way, about teacher:student ratios:</p>

<p>Ohio State - 12:1
Michigan - 15:1
Michigan State - 17:1
Penn State - 17:1</p>

<p>If you add in TAs, Ohio State becomes 9:1. It has one of the lowest ratios in the nation among flagship public schools.</p>

<p>Also, for what it’s worth, Ohio State is ranked #2 in the nation for business degrees. The biology and medical programs are also very renowned here.</p>

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<p>I am a recent graduate of Ohio University. I Just want to offer some advice that may help you out. I want to expound on the reason why OU is ranked among one of the biggest party schools in the nation. The Princeton Review does not go around interviewing students, and then decides which schools party the most. They find out how much beer/liquor per capita there is in that area. OU, as you probably know, is located in Athens, Ohio. What you might not know is that the county of Athens is one of the poorest in the nations. Also, the city of Athens is very small. The town is essentially run by the University. During the summer, and during winter break, the town basically goes from a population of 40,000, to 20,000. So, in saying this, with there being many bars in Athens, around 20, there is going to be more beer per capita than a college that exists in a larger city (for example, Ohio State). I had many friends at OU that did not participate in the drinking scene, and still enjoyed their time there. While it may be easy to find a good bar or good party to go to, I promise you that you will be able to find a club/organization that will fit your interests. </p>

<p>In terms of its academic reputation, I get annoyed when people label it as a bad academic school because of its party school reputation. Everyone knows about the Journalism program, but there are other good programs that exist. The Russ College of Engineering is a great program. I have several friends who were engineers, and they would spend countless hours in the lab. Our College of Business (CoB) is a good program. You said you were going to go into Biology. I have a friend who just graduated with a degree in biology. She got a job right out of school in some lab in Athens. OU does not screw around with their sciences, because they are essentially training their students to go to Med School. This is most likely the same with any big school. </p>

<p>In a psychology class that I took, our Professor told us that if you graduate in the top 10% of your undergraduate class, it does not matter which school you went to, when comparing the amount of money you will make. That means students from Ohio University that graduate in the top 10% in their class will go on to make the same amount of money and be as successful as students that graduate from Yale. The lesson behind this is that if you work hard, you will be successful, no matter what school you attend. </p>

<p>One more thing. Whether you go to OU, Yale, or just a community college, employers are still looking for experience on top the degree. So, going to any school puts you ahead of the game, because it allows you to network. If you simply have a degree, it will be tough for you to get a job right off the bat because employers typically do not want to hire someone who does not have any experience in that field besides the classes he/she took. </p>

<p>That is all. I wish you the best of luck when choosing your school. Sorry this is a bit long, but I wanted to put to rest the stereotypes that hover over Ohio University.</p>

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<p>Going to OU was the best decision I made. The school is good. It is very accepting. Greek is not very popular but there still are enough greek options. It’s big enough that you can find a group of friends that you really get along with but it is still small enough that you run into people you know a lot and soon it feels smaller because everyone you met seems to have mutual friends with you. It’s a big party school but very laid back and there are a lot of people who don’t party so either way you can find something to do. The town is beautiful and has a strong community. There are a lot of old hippies around. There isn’t a lot as far as shopping and stuff but I think it is a plus because I have never met anyone who goes home more than 2 times a quarter and most people don’t go home at all on weekends so the weekends are a ton of fun. It is just a really fun school with a lot of nice people.</p>

<p>As far as academics go, most students care about their classes. We have a lot of strong points such as journalism and video production. But even if your major is not one of those(I am an education major) I find it still challenging a good for preparing you for the real world. My professors all really care about what they teach and have a lot of experience. All around I think it is a good school.</p>

<p>I have visiting Miami and have friends who go there. My friend said it is not very diverse at all. It is incredibly preppy. They are both party schools but miami has a better academic reputation. not that ou has a bad one just that miami has a better one.</p>

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<p>@jkrisak - I concur. As a Class of '87 graduate of OU I have nothing to say but great things concerning this school. I was given attention and support every day that I was there. I am happy to say that my own daughter is now considering a full scholarship at this great institution and interviewing for a spot on in the HTC program. Go Bobcats! ( P.S. She has never considered MU - too close to home…)</p>

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<p>Curious to know what decision was made and how it worked out… Ill keep my opinion about OU to myself at this point! Hope the best.</p>