<p>Nobody said “real” American experience. We said “classic” American experience…football, dorms, frisbee on the lawn, parties, tailgating, kegs. I’ve attended universities in the US, Canada, and Scotland, and one major difference is the way sports can unify a campus in the US, whereas sports are almost invisible on most foreign campuses. There is little feeling of “us” at the foreign schools…no “Hey, we’re all Buckeyes and we’re going to kick the crap out of Penn State this weekend!!” It’s not the sports per se that are important, it’s the social events and bonding that surround them that make a difference. It’s certainly not for everybody, but let’s not pretend that the classic American college Saturday is a Greenwich Village poetry reading followed by a Hieronymus Bosch exhibit.</p>
<p>ok, and just wondering, then what is the UIUC experience like?</p>
<p>my apologies for the mistake also</p>
<p>UIUC would be a classic American college experience…and they are great in engineering. I think people are a little hesitant to endorse it here because it’s pretty easy to imagine you walking across the UIUC campus in January saying to yourself “It’s freezing, there’s nothing for an hour except corn fields, and I hate the food here. Why didn’t I go to UCLA or USC?”</p>
<p>UIUC engineering is excellent. Lots of alumni in the Bay Area. It’s easier to find job in high tech.</p>
<p>“…but let’s not pretend that the classic American college Saturday is a Greenwich Village poetry reading followed by a Hieronymus Bosch exhibit.”</p>
<p>Thanks for the laugh of the day Schmaltz. I had to look up what the, “Hieronymus Bosch exhibit” is by the way. ;-)</p>
<p><a href=“1”>quote</a> I think there is a collegeconfidential rule that you can only use the word “Asian” a maximum 3 times in a sentence without a semi-colon.
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<p>Don’t forget the upturned mouth … ;)</p>
<p>The thing that makes higher education in this country so great is there are numerous Classic American Experiences (capped, since you brought it up so much in your posts). Many internationals and oos students want California to experience the westcoast version of this. The CA version is no less American than the midwest, northeast, etc.</p>
<p>… but that appears to be a jab at NYU. 1 sounds like it generally, 2, a little to esoteric a ref…</p>
<p>So, are you Cornell or not? I would have thought Cornell’s main rival would be Columbia.</p>
<p>Not at Cornell. Not a jab at any school. NYU might provide the ultimate American URBAN college experience, but let’s face it, film crews don’t ask to borrow the NYU “campus” when they want to film a generic “college” movie (eg, “Back to School”). </p>
<p>I don’t know why it’s so hard for people to admit there is a classic American college experience. The classic English university experience (the one that usually appears in movies, and which comes to mind when you say “England” and “university” in the same sentence) would be Cambridge or Oxford. That’s not to say they are the BEST, but when you hear “British university,” you don’t think of some new glass-and-steel building in York.</p>
<p>Maybe bad example… but England is a whole lot more homogeneous than the States. Add that States have entirely different lifestyles encompassing eastcoast to west a lot of it because of weather. The weather in UK is likewise pretty much the same or at least moreso.</p>
<p>I liked your seeming double entendre though:</p>
<p>when you hear “British [American] university,” you don’t think of some new glass-and-steel building in [New] York.</p>
<p>… is somewhat bothersome. I do it myself, however. ;)</p>
<p>I’m just glad you didn’t have your gloves on when referencing NYU and brought out the acerbic stereotypes of teh school because NYU is one of my favorites, conventional college experience or not. Just the fact that it is so different is what makes attending school there so desirable. NYC, campus blends in with upperwestside, lower?, of Manhattan, culture at every corner, etc…</p>
<p>Well, it is a simple fact that Cambridge and Oxford are the best 
There is no other UK university in the World top 10. Anyway, despite that’s true that when mentioning the British college experience everyone would think about Oxbridge, but the striking fact is that the Oxbridge experience and teaching is so unique (with all the colleges), that you cannot find the same anywhere else in the UK. Or in elsewhere in the world, although some elite LC-s in the US trying to copy the tutorial system. </p>
<p>NYU is may good for graduate studies, but for undergrads, especially for someone awaiting a “classic” college experience…there’s no such thing existing at NYU. This, of course, do not affect the quality of education in any ways, as NYU is definitely a good school.</p>
<p>Here’s what I was talking about: [University</a> of York libraries - Library, The University of York](<a href=“Visit and study - Library, University of York”>Visit and study - Library, University of York)</p>
<p>Really makes you want to wander into a pub and have a couple pints while arguing about Heraclitus, doesn’t it?? It doesn’t?</p>
<p>I had a friend who had similar options and ended up choosing UCLA over UIUC. It really depends what you are looking for - UIUC will be as one poster wrote “the classic american college experience” - fraternity/sorority parties, football/basketball games, complete university town in the middle of a large rural area. You could get by without a car - minus an occasional weekend Chicago rental.</p>
<p>UCLA is a 50/50 dorm/commuter campus. It has access to all parts of LA but public transportation is not great in LA outside of the downtown area - so you would need a car to really appreciate all the city has to offer outside of West LA. L.A. is also much more international and diverse, BUT there is a large number of international students at UIUC and they have a pretty good support network.</p>
<p>My friend opted for UCLA because he was bringing his wife and LA was more comfortable/less isolated for her. He said if he was single, he might have opted for UIUC because of the reputation, but he was happy at UCLA.</p>
<p>A group of fellow engineers and I just blogged about why we chose to go to USC, and I think it might be helpful to hear some of our reasons for coming here! Mica’s might be particularly interesting since she was also an international student. Check them out here: [Viterbi</a> Voices](<a href=“http://viterbivoices.usc.edu/]Viterbi”>http://viterbivoices.usc.edu/)</p>
<p>Hope this helps!
Lisa V.</p>
<p>Smaltz:</p>
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<p>It’s not so bad…it’s utilitarian, but that’s the trend, certainly in the States. </p>
<p>Sistokid:</p>
<p>I don’t know if that’s right 50/50 dorm-residents/commuters. There are definitely a decent amount of commuters because they’re poor and need to commute, but most of the frosh are housed in dorms. They can also move out to apts which surround the campus, mainly on the west side because the east is mainly upscale houses. In other words it’s not one or the other dorms/commuters. Yeah, I agree, a car is highly useful in LA. Most dormers don’t have them frosh year. Many seek independence and move into apts and bring cars after frosh year.</p>
<p>ViterbiStudent:</p>
<p>Where are the Asian students? This is relevant to the OP. It looks like a bunch of white kids got together to do public relations for the University.</p>
<p>Are you going to tell me this is the racial mix of the engineering school? USC has > 10,000 foreign students and the vast majority of them come from Asian countries.</p>
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<p>British ales… great. :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>I knew a couple philosphy majors, whom/who’d I’m sure be glad to engage in polemics with you. But they went to law school and had no intention of furthering their studies in it.</p>
<p>Yeah, two of my closest friends from grad school went into law, the others got PhDs in philosophy and are professors now. The lawyers are making tons of money (in D.C. and Toronto), but I’m guessing I’m happier than all of them.</p>
<p>This thread has stumbled upon a topic I’ve been thinking about for decades…stereotypes, archtypes, typical situations, classic cases, ultimate experiences, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve been an auto worker in Detroit, an undergrad in Boston, a naval officer in San Diego, and a grad student in philosophy at the U of St Andrews (founded in the 14oos). So I know a thing or two about things that are very typical. I’ve also worked for Kinko’s, which was a company that was focused on things (computers, digital printing, etc) that didn’t even exist when I was growing up. The difference is that when you do the typical/sterotypical/classic/etc. thing, the thing that’s been on your mind since you were a little kid, you are experiencing more than what you yourself are experiencing. You are part of a tradition far beyond yourself…maybe even part of history.</p>
<p>When I went to visit my brother in Los Angeles, he didn’t put me up at any number of swanky local places…he put me up at the Roosevelt Hotel…a historic and classic Hollywood hangout where everybody who was anybody cheated on their movie star spouse in the golden era of Hollywood. When I ordered a drink at the bar, I could almost hear Errol Flynn talking some starlet out of her dress.</p>
<p>Get my point? There is something to be said for playing basketball at Kentucky and playing football at Oklahoma…these are classic situations, where you sweat not just your own sweat, but the sweat of countless historic firgures before you.</p>
<p>Ok, regarding this city vs rural area thing, I have this to say. I lived in a city practically all my life (in Taiwan, I lived in Taipei and Singapore is practically a city-country). Still, I think I can do fine without the things in a city, be it the malls and supermarkets, or the movies and other entertainment resources. In fact, I may like an area that is quieter and ideal for studying. I know that’ll make UIUC more applicable to me, but the prestige attached to UCLA (almost no one has an idea of what UIUC is in Taiwan) is quite attractive.</p>