@Schadret - School reputations and student body can change…but it takes a lot of time. Rowan is a good example. The moment Rowan gave Glassboro the money, the engineering department had a bit more swagger. Over time, as more and more kids picked Rowan over some local options in NJ and PA for engineering, others started to follow for non-STEM majors. It’s still toughest in STEM, but the reputation of the school has REALLY changed over the past 30 years.
Maybe Kean gets there in a decade or two…especially if the economy turns and price becomes more and more of a deciding factor for families.
The folks I know from Glassboro will admit they went there for the parties. Now they are “backing in” to an academic pedigree that they have nothing to do with (not that it matters…).
I definitely didn’t go to Glassboro for the parties, I went for the the affordable and very good education program. Granted this was the late 80’s so a little past the party prime. Also definitely not recognizable as the school S17 knows asRowan!
But I don’t think Rowan is really a “hidden” gem and the thread has gotten a bit derailed.
@sahmkc Sorry for that, I totally understand now! Whoops
It’s kind of interesting how some schools are well-regarded regionally and unknown nationally, while others are nationally well-known and seen as just ok schools locally! Public opinion works in mysterious ways…
Side note: I didn’t realize Missouri was an underrepresented state. Then again, you’re right, it depends on the school (and besides, why should Wyoming and North Dakota get all the credit?)
@SuperSenior19 I’m so glad because I attended a regional Uni and I would not want to give the impression that you needed to attend a college with a National reputation to get a good education or be successful. I agree totally that the state you are from can be underrepresented depending on the college you are applying to - Schools in Iowa, Arkansas and Kansas are not really in need of Missouri students but I bet they would love more west or east coast students. My alma mater was Northwest Missouri State and it was jokingly referred to as Southwest Iowa as we had so many students from Iowa.Some students/parents have really been able to take advantage of the underrepresented state by looking outside of their local areas to find these hidden gems that will give them a great education for a great price.
I completely agree, @sahmkc. My parents both went to regional universities, and while they’re not for everybody, they’re great for commuter students, merit-hunters, or people looking for a second chance academically. Not every school can have a global student body, but that’s fine for a lot of people.
At college fairs, I always loved/pitied the reps for the University of Wyoming and the University of North Dakota – their schools have 95+% acceptance rates because no one applies, and no one ever stopped at their booths…but really, they’re just the Mizzou or SUNY or Iowa U of their respective states, so why not? It depends on the student, obviously, but I actually know a girl going to SD for college, and for her, it makes sense.
Interestingly, I think there’s a joke about Duke being the University of New Jersey, Southern Campus because of all the Northern students that go there
I feel bad for University of Wyoming and University of North Dakota too, it’s too bad more students don’t apply and attend. I’m sure they have wonderful programs and offer a great college experience!
University of Wyoming would be a great school for kids who love the outdoors! Plus, it’s part of WUE which would make it more affordable for OOS who live out West!
You do not need to be a college grad to become an air traffic controller, but you can go to U of North Dakota
and get fast tracked into this high paying government job. It requires nerves of steel as you will be guiding commercial airlines into major airports via computer technology. The FAA Centers are not as close to airports
as you might think. So, for instance, the FAA control towers for Denver International are 38 miles north in Longmont Colorado. Jobs pay on the GS government pay scales.
With that I do not believe that U of North Dakota offers a “great college experience”. Its freezing cold wilderness up there, but for someone who wants to join the FAA, its an excellent program that will fast track into a very high paying career with the FAA.
U of Wyoming is at 7000 feet above sea level and the road to get there shuts down about 10 to 40 days a year.
Its highway 287 out of Fort Collins, Colorado. Laramie is OK. Most Colorado kids go up there because they cannot afford more expensive public schools in the state of Colorado. U of Wyoming is subsidized by oil and gas money
and every student gets a great deal to go there. The jobs are all in Colorado, though, there are virtually no jobs at
all in Wyoming, except the ski industry, oil and gas, or a few jobs in Cheyenne WY, which is closer to Fort Collins, CO
and lower down.
Laramie WY, is very very windy, cold, and isolated. I 80 through that region of Wyoming,
is so windy that cars routinely blow
off the highway. Its not for most kids, but Colorado kids can usually tolerate Laramie for 4 years.
For most students who are not from the Rocky Mountain West, Montana State will be much better than U of North Dakota or U of Wyoming. Its got more of a college experience, in Bozeman Montana. North Dakota is very very isolating and desolate. Wyoming has more pronghorns than people, there are only 500,000 people in Wyoming but there are a million pronghorns.
I’m sure the University of Wyoming isn’t the best school on Earth – I know next to nothing about it, and I wasn’t trying to imply that it’s a hidden gem per se, just using it as an example (so feel free to replace it with Montana State if you want!). But still, there’s 10K students who chose the school and 30K people who live in Laramie; even if it’s not my taste, some people prefer living in the West, or might like it if they went.
Actually, if there’s anything I’ve learned from the whole college search process, it’s that people really will go to any college out there, for better or worse…there’s schools that I absolutely hate that other people love and vice versa, places with sketchy academics that people go into debt for, etc. Eventually, every college will find someone to go there (unless they close, I guess).
University of Wyoming has a great, well-funded study abroad program. We know a couple of students there, including one who is has studied abroad in at least two countries, done some cool internships, and is graduating a year early. This student also spent a semester off campus on an internship and taking classes online. It’s very affordable and a great school for the right student.
My daughter was offered a lot of money in scholarships, over and above WUE. We visited, but she chose a different school. It’s a very pretty campus though. Great dining hall.
[quote]
U of Wyoming is at 7000 feet above sea level and the road to get there shuts down about 10 to 40 days a year.
Its highway 287 out of Fort Collins, Colorado.[/quote[
You can get to Laramie on I-80 too. My daughter went there for 4.5 years and was never prevented from getting to or leaving campus because a road was closed, and certainly not for 40 days a year. I don’t remember school being cancelled even once while U of Colorado was closed often, even cancelling finals once, during this time. If you are in Laramie, you go to class. If you are out of town when the road closes, you come back as soon as you can. It is not a commuter school and most students don’t leave for the weekend either as they homes (ranches) can be 8 hours away. Students do go to Cheyenne and Denver all the time for concerts, sports, the airport, etc.
Wyoming is great. Yes, it’s windy and cold but they don’t have school in January because that’s the worst. It’s very inexpensive; my daughter paid less to go there OOS than my nephew did to go to CU instate. She never had a problem being shut out of a class, knew all her professors, usually had about 25 students per class, went on study abroad heavily subsidized (thank you Dick Cheney), could find jobs on campus.
I do think it’s a hidden gem but don’t care if anyone else finds it. Right now she’s living and working in Cheyenne so some grads do end up staying.
My husband and I both gradated from Murray State University (Murray, KY), and we have a child who attended its summer honors academy (Commonwealth Honors Academy). All of us had wonderful experiences. I don’t see it much on the boards, so I wanted to give it a shout-out here.
Although my major was journalism, I went on to be very well prepared to move from journalism into a career in educational technology, and I’m currently at an administrative/supervisory level. My husband’s business degree prepared him for a successful career with a major investments company.
Consistently highly ranked regional university in the South by US News (KY actually has several outstanding regionals), on several lists for “best bang for the buck,” several consecutive years cited a Top 20 public for masters degrees (US News). There’s more, but that’s for starters. I hear consistently about excellence in its Education and Business programs, and I can speak for it having a great Journalism program.
If your student loves basketball, look up Ja Morant if you haven’t heard the name. Murray is basketball crazy, and it’s a great mid-major with one of this year’s top 5 NBA Draft picks. Murray always has a fun team to watch.
It is somewhat isolated (half an hour from Paducah; about 90 minutes from Nashville), but it is very close to Kentucky Lake and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, so much outdoors opportunities for those who love to fish, camp, hike, swim, or just be outside. The town is super friendly, and it loves its university.
In North Carolina, both Appalachian State and Western Carolina have gorgeous settings in the mountains, great programs, and are relatively hidden gems outside the state
A very overlooked hidden gem, especially for students majoring in engineering, CS & nursing is Tennessee Tech. About 10k students, Division 1 sports, lovely campus in the middle of state (about 70 miles from Nashville), nice college town, and amazingly affordable, even for out of state students. TTU has great placement for engineers and CS grads, and produced a NASA astronaut and a former CEO of Boeing.
