<p>Hey there I'm searching for a school and considering UMN too, can anyone tell me more about it?</p>
<p>I'd like to know more about things like:
1. Classes. Is it easy to register for classes or they just get filled up too early? How are the profs, good teachers, available for students or not? Do we get insane workloads (homeworks), I prefer classes that challenge in quality, not quantity. Are the admins helpful or just available when we write the check?
2. Are the dorms any good on your campus or they simply suck? If apartment is a better choice is it easy to find a decent one? Also please suggest a dorm if you can. Any dorm that isnt run-down, or way too quiet.
3. What about the surrounding town. are the residents friendly? Or whether its safe or not over there. One more thing, any decent access to supermarkets, diners, movies, etc?
4. Its campus life. Are the students friendly towards foreigners and one another? Is it easy to make friends? What about social scenes, do they party all the time or never party at all? Not a party animal, but prefer places with social life.
5. Anything more, unsual, or any concerns I should know about?</p>
<p>Also, can anyone tell me if the school of architecture or engineering there is tough to get into or not</p>
<p>If you're willing to tell me more, feel free to respond. Any infos appreciated.</p>
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What about the surrounding town. are the residents friendly? Or whether its safe or not over there. One more thing, any decent access to supermarkets, diners, movies, etc?
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<p>I'll start with this one. I hope other participants will join in in answering your interesting questions. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus is right in the middle of a big, diverse urban area, so local residents are used to seeing people from all over the world. The neighborhood next to the West Bank campus (the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood) has many people of many different ethnic groups, particularly a lot of people from the horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia). Generally most people in most midwestern cities, including Minneapolis and St. Paul, are friendly to strangers. </p>
<p>There is a fair amount of crime in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood near the East Bank campus and the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood near the West Bank campus. Be cautious when going out with an iPod on, for instance, as sometimes those are snatched by sneak thieves. The libraries include signs warning you to watch your belongings, because all the campus buildings are open to the public. But I felt safe when I attend the U, and I only had a winter coat that I forgot in a classroom on a warm day stolen from me in eight years attending for my two degrees. The U has its own police force, and the Minneapolis (or St. Paul) police work closely with that police force to patrol surrounding neighborhoods. </p>
<p>There is very good dining in the Dinkytown neighborhood near the East Bank, with a lot of night life, and grocery shopping within walking distance near all the parts of the University campus. There are also movie theaters in most of the campus neighborhoods, and movies on campus in the student unions. I saw a lot more movies when I was a student the second time than I have seen since. </p>
<p>I hope this helps. Please ask follow-up questions as needed.</p>
<p>Thanks token,
Btw is it true that:
1. Crime rate has been increasing rapidly in Minneapolis?
2. It gets really really cooolllddd there?</p>
<p>It's not my impression that crime has been rising rapidly. It depends on which year you compare this year to. The U of MN is, as are many other state universities, in an urban area with street crime. But the crime is generally avoidable. </p>
<p>Most winters in Minnesota </p>
<p><a href="http://climate.umn.edu/doc/historical/mspnorms.htm%5B/url%5D">http://climate.umn.edu/doc/historical/mspnorms.htm</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/climate.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/climate.php</a> </p>
<p>temperatures can be as low as -20 F (-29 C) and daily high temperatures will be below the freezing temperature of water (0 C) for at least part of December, January, and February, with frost possible overnight in any month but June, July, and August. To a lot of people from a lot of parts of the world, that seems very cold. </p>
<p>But my wife is from Taiwan, and never saw snow before the age of twenty-one, and she likes Minnesota just fine. People here adapt to the weather and wonder why other people live in places with oppressively hot, humid summers.</p>
<p>lol I live in a place with hot, humid days all year long all my life, at least till I came to Pullman, WA. It gets cold there. a lot colder than I expected, but since you said it gets as low as -20 there I imagine it cant be that bad then...</p>