<p>Lock up your daughters anywhere near Lincoln.</p>
<p>Tommy has "written" a nice new book, too.
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/074348343X/qid=1097624991/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-6144602-7852055?v=glance&s=books&n=507846%5B/url%5D">http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/074348343X/qid=1097624991/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/002-6144602-7852055?v=glance&s=books&n=507846</a></p>
<p>I wouldn't worry. He's just like any other college kid, except his resume is much much longer.</p>
<p>haha watch the female dropout rates soar due to pregnancies.</p>
<p>i kid.</p>
<p>Wow...old thread.</p>
<p>Tommy came and it was actually pretty mundane (His appearance coincided with my senior year). </p>
<p>If you watched the show, he came, he sucked at classes, he lived in a fake dorm room, he marched in the band, he started a frat (I wouldn't give it the respect of calling it a fraternity), and they faked a lot of scenes. Tommy behaved himself too.</p>
<p>I worked with his "roommate" at a restaurant during my junior and senior year, and Tommy's "hot tutor" has been a friend since we were freshmen. We're currently in the same medical school class. </p>
<p>Overall, the University of Nebraska looked really good in my opinion as an alumnus. They did a really good job of showing the classes being interesting, the people being nice, and Lincoln in general being a great college town. They also caught campus at an absolutely beautiful time of year. While the Office of Admissions won't necessarily admit to the show being the full cause, applications did increase significantly last year and enrollment is up 2 % with freshman population up 8.1%, and out of state students up 6.5%. UNL essentially got millions in free advertising.</p>
<p>I'm a parent and actually watched the show a couple of times (I'm also a Nebr alum).</p>
<p>I confess to enjoying it much more than I expected--I'm not generally a reality show afficionado. It was pretty entertaining. I'm assuming that this "news" isn't about a Sequel?</p>
<p>I also watched the show. My husband graduated from UNL and both he and I graduated from UNL-Law.</p>
<p>It was SO weird to see Harvey Perlman, the Chancelor, interact with Tommy because he was the Dean of the Law school when we attended. He was MUCH more laid back with Tommy than he was with us!</p>
<p>After watching the series, I thought that the school came across well. I also ended up liking Tommy Lee a lot more than I thought I would. It was strange to see so many places on campus that I'd spent a lot of time hanging out at.</p>
<p>OK, this is really weird. Just yesterday my son got a letter from U of Nebraska offering FULL tuition + part of room/board, for being a National Hispanic Scholar.</p>
<p>What an awesome offer!</p>
<p>But, we took one look and said 'Nah....'</p>
<p>Are we wrong in our assessment?</p>
<p>The little bit we know about Nebraska:</p>
<p>Cold. Flat. Ultra-Conservative. Main major is agriculture.</p>
<p>My son is a liberal, peace-activist metalhead computer geek. No offense to U of Nebraska, but I am assuming he would NOT fit in.</p>
<p>If I am wrong, please enlighten me!!! I am open-minded and always welcome info. Like: what is the social scene like? The music scene? Other majors besides agriculture? Political leanings? etc. Thanks</p>
<p>There are better schools for him. ^ 1 word --> B E R K E L E Y</p>
<p>I attended UNL in the early 80s, so I can't give you current information, other than to say that it is cold in the winter and relatively flat. I thought Lincoln was a great college town when I lived there.</p>
<p>I think whether or not UNL is too conservative for your son would depend on what he hopes to gain from his college experience. I don't think any public university in the country could honestly be described as conservative, but there are many that people all over the political spectrum would classify as quite liberal. So, if your son wants to go to a place with people who are mostly like him, he should look for a very liberal school. However, if he wants to be challenged by a range of opinions, a public university in a more conservative state might be a good fit. UNL is like UT-Austin in that the school is significantly more liberal than the prevailing political attitudes of the state. And, as you know, there are plenty of liberals in the reddest of states.</p>
<p>Good point. We very seriously considered Westminster in Salt Lake City for the same reason. (It was actually a serious consideration until they told him he no longer qualifies for the scholarship because he'd be a transfer. Nebraska, on the other hand, is willing to let him apply as a freshman. They both offered full tuition but the application process is the complete opposite.)</p>
<p>He wants to experience a vibrant social atmosphere as well as excellent academics. I think they are equally important.</p>
<p>He doesn't want to be around people just like him. He wants to be around a wide range of diversity. He just doesn't want to be in an environment where most of the people are closed-minded. It's not just politics but life view in general. He wants to broaden his views and be around people who also want to do that, rather than people who already have their minds made up. He welcomes different points of view but wouldn't want to be in a place where he is not welcomed himself because of his own points of view. (For example, the conservative Christian homeschool co-op he used to attend did not accept his taste in music. Which is fine and that's why he left. But those things do need to be taken into consideration.) He has an attitude of tolerance for everything except intolerance.</p>
<p>I know that sometimes schools have a certain reputation which may not always be true. I don't want to assume that Nebraska students are closed-minded. Which is why we're being open-minded about checking them out! :-)</p>
<p>Yes, Nebraskans are conservative, but in my time here, I've come to believe that for the most part they value hard work, truthfulness, and sincerity in their political candidates far more than just political labeling. Yes, it's a red state (and there are certainly some scary right wingers here), and Nebraska Democrats are very middle of the road, but Democrats do get elected from Nebraska far more often than one might expect. Lincoln is certainly more liberal than the rest of the state as a you might expect for a college town (though it's not radical liberalism like it is in Lawrence KS and KU). I'm extremely liberal, and never felt like I was an outcast ever. In my fraternity I quickly figured who were the knee-jerk party hacks (dems and republicans) and just didn't talk to them about politics. In the past couple years there has been some student activism on a pretty large scale including a successful campaign begun by students to impeach a member of the Board of Regents who was found guilty of breaking campaign finance laws. Currently the big issue is a Tax Payer's Bill of Rights type amendment that is on the ballot for Tuesday.</p>
<p>One thing that nearly everyone says when they come to Nebraska from the coasts is how nice the people are. I hear that all the time. People in my medical school class came from many different locations, but they all say the same thing. </p>
<p>Academically, main major is NOT agriculturally related. While certainly as a land-grant institution there are agricultural programs, it's pretty easy to sequester yourself away from that sort of thing. All the agricultural type majors are on East Campus, and pretty much everything else is on City Campus (A&S, Business, Education, Engineering, Fine and Performing Arts). City and East Campus are about 3 miles apart, and most people never end up taking a single class on East Campus. Like most universities the most popular major is Psych. the business programs are strong (Warren Buffett is a UNL Alum). And there is a lot of good science research going on as well, particularly physics, chemistry and biochemistry.</p>
<p>As for computer science/engineering - your son sounds like a candidate for the JD Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management (<a href="http://jdedwards.unl.edu/program/selection.asp)%5B/url%5D">http://jdedwards.unl.edu/program/selection.asp)</a>. The Deadline is November 20th, so he'd have to look into it, and hurry his application in. This program b/c of it's ties to business is becoming very widely recognized nationwide, and many of my friends who have actually graduated from the program have gone on to some very impressive jobs. </p>
<p>As for racial/ethnic diversity, Nebraska as a state isn't a particularly diverse state, so the University isn't as diverse as schools in other states with larger minority populations. But according to the Admissions website (admissions.unl.edu) 28% of the student body is from out of state, and 11% are underrepresented students. (Undergrad population is ~17k). And certainly the school is trying to increase its diversity (hence why your son received the scholarship offer he did).</p>
<p>"Thriving social scene"...I'm not sure how to define that. Lincoln is a great college town in my opinion, and I wouldn't trade my 4 years there for anything. Lincoln also has the advantage of being large for a college town - ~238,000 people, but it doesn't necessarily feel super big. I'm used to college towns where my friends went to school at KU and K-state, and there is definitely a difference between Lawrence at 80000, or Manhattan KS at 50,000.</p>
<p>I really wouldn't worry about the music being an issue. Most college students in general are eclectic in their tastes.</p>
<p>City campus is literally in downtown Lincoln ("O" street is the main drag and the campus begins on "R" street), so there are a ton of bars, restaurants, a large movie theater (14 screens) and shops within a very short walking distance. There are also a number of places that host live music on a regular basis and national acts do stop frequently in Lincoln (and Omaha is only 45 minutes away and Kansas City 2.5 hours for acts that may not make it exactly to Lincoln). </p>
<p>I was in a fraternity (which I recommend, but won't get into here) and so I never had a problem finding a party to go or people who hang out with, but I'm not sure what dorm life is like. Without knowing your or your son's opinions on Greek Life, I'll just say that the chapters are successful, do well academically (above all campus GPA averages significantly), do a lot in the community, are extremely involved on campus, and have some fun too. there are two Latino interest Fraternities on campus, but all the chapters are basically looking for good guys who are enjoyable to be around. Again though, I'm fully aware that not everyone is so high about the prospects of greek life and it certainly is not for everyone. Please ask if you have any questions - I was very involved in the recruitment of HS Seniors to at least look into the Greek system.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any more questions. I was a student ambassador for the College of Arts & Sciences and I probably know where to direct any questions I can't answer.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! Very helpful!</p>
<p>He's definitely not interested in frats, and probably is more interested in 'radical' stuff (straightedge vegetarian liberal co) so I don't think this is going to be in his top few choices, but he may go ahead and apply anyway. Maybe then he can look at it more closely, maybe even visit. From what you've told me it seems pretty middle-of-the-road, but the city is large enough that there should be subcultures. Our own city is known as rather conservative, yet there are pockets of others. The scholarship offer is just so good that it would be foolish to write it off too quickly.</p>
<p>Now, for that important question: Just how cold does it get? Are you snowbound most of the winter? We're from Texas and never see any snow, so that might be quite a shock!</p>
<p>It does get cold, it does snow, but usually it'll snow then all melt off before it snows again if it does. Last winter it only snowed twice, only a couple of inches, and there was only one week where it was particularly bitter cold. The winter of my junior year however, it snowed >8 inches each monday for three consecutive weeks. It only snowed on monday, but it was a lot of snow. We did get a snow day one of those weeks, and from my experience that's way more exciting if you've never had one before (the girl I dated later that semester was from florida and had transferred at semester from South Carolina (she was a swimmer and on scholarship), so I heard it first hand from her about what it was like coming from a warm climate and seeing snow for the first time). </p>
<p>I'll agree that for the money it's certainly worth a look, you never know what can happen. Sometimes finding where you belong is serendipitous...anyways I wish you and your son best of luck in his college search. If I can help with anything about UNL, please don't hesitate to ask.</p>
<p>Well that's not nearly as much snow as I was expecting! I thought it snowed pretty much all the time. Shows how much I know about snow! (It's snowed here in TX only a couple of times in my lifetime.)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>