<p>Hi, Im an athlete and the above schools Ive been recruited by and been offered 90% to full rides for all of them. I have three weeks to commit to one before I start losing money, given the nature of my sport(Track and Field) scholarship money goes by very quick, so the sooner you commit the better. Ive taken official visits to all of these schools and theyre all on a somewhat even plane for me as far as interest goes. </p>
<p>Im asking everyone to help me with this decision by placing pros and cons of each university, comparing them if youre familiar with more than one, or commenting which one is overall a better university for the very rare athlete who actually seeks an education. Also if you are or were a student athlete familiar with these universities could you give as much insight as possible on the academic support, and other experiences. By the way my major is in the range of History, Intnl Relations, Sociology, and Political Science, so if you know about the strength of these majors in these Universities that would help. </p>
<p>I did take visits to these schools, but basically the school only tells you whats great about their university never whats not great, so Im asking for your insight because this decision will effectively determine the next 4-5 years of my life directly and the rest of my life indirectly.</p>
<p>Penn:
(Pros)
+ I Loved the Strength of The Degree
(Cons)
- Seemed Boring based on my official visit
- Track Team is not super competitive. </p>
<p>UVA:
(Pros)
+ Beautiful Campus and Great Atmosphere
(Cons)
- Seems like its in the middle of nowhere</p>
<p>Well all four universities are great for your intended studies. Penn is the most elite school of them all which comes with many advantages. The other three are great publics heavily sought out mainly by those within the state ( like me who applied to University of Michigan). It really depends all on what your looking for. What are you looking for other than the schools being well rounded for your studies? Almost sounds like you like UCLA a lot, the degree is par with the other two publics.</p>
<p>It seems that you prefer the campus atmospheres at UVA, Michigan, and UCLA. Penn is a great university, but if you felt a cold/negative vibe about the place, it’s probably not where you want to go. I would look at the three public universities and weigh which place attracted you the most.</p>
<p>For what you want to major in, I would say Michigan. It ranked netween #1 and #4 in Political Science and Sociology and between #4 and #8 in History. </p>
<p>In terms of overall academics, all four universities are among the top 20 in the nation, so you cannot go wrong.</p>
<p>In terms of campus environment, they are all great, although they have significantly different personalities. For example"</p>
<ul>
<li>Michigan, Penn and UCLA are more liberal than UVa.</li>
<li>Michigan and UVa are in college towns whereas Penn and UCLA are in big cities</li>
<li>Penn is more pre-professional than Michigan, UCLA and UVa</li>
</ul>
<p>Well in response to Coolbrezze, I’m looking for a school where I can be around likeable fun and intelligible people who know how to have a good time, but do not overemphasize the lax life and know when to buckle down. I don’t want to be at a school where the only i look forward to is the crazy parties at the end of the week. Don’t get me wrong I will and o enjoy partying but not too much of it.</p>
<p>as to your original post, the strength of a degree at UCLA is not at all weak, UCLA is a top 20 school by the US News ranking, Michigan was about 24 (right below USC)…all four schools are great though</p>
<p>UCLA was not ranked in the top twenty by USNWR and Michigan wasn’t ranked 24th. Please get your facts straight. I do agree that UCLA is an excellent school.</p>
<p>Rankings are not exact. There is no difference between the top 25 or so universities, except for the top 5 universities, which are admitedly in a league of their own. But the difference between #10 and #25 is insignificant. At any rate, that’s for overall rankings. For the OP’s specific majors, Michigan is strongest, closely followed by UCLA and Penn. But at the undergraduate level, with the exception of maybe Business and Engineering, department rankings do not matter as much as overall school quality.</p>
<p>I am not directly familiar with the “feel” of your other schools, but from your OWN comments, I would be inclined to lean toward U of Mich for the supportive athletic environment, unparalleled school spirit, and down-to-earth party scene (always available but not ubiquitous either; myriad of EC activities) or UCLA for the weather/student environment/vibe you noted, now that you know it’s not academically inferior.</p>
<p>As an athlete, I don’t know what kind of training environment you’re accustomed to but the Michigan weather might be a challenge for you to adjust to in terms of casual daily outdoor running, etc., or trudging through the snow to go train. Not insurmountable, but your concerns are valid here. An associate of mine trains elite athletes across the country and I will ask her if she has any input.</p>
<p>Nothing against UVA, but if it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere to you, you may wish to note those kind of first impressions are rarely reversed. It also has a very small out of state population.</p>
<p>Best wishes in your decision and congratulations on your achievement. I will PM you if my associate has any particular insight to share.</p>
<p>Well thanks alot. I’m from california but I live in the midwest now, and I know about the terribly cold winters. The cold is rough but indoor track kinda avoids most of it. Here’s a random question how are the dorms? I stayed in west quad at michigan i think thats what it was called, and the freshmen dorms there were really small, which quad/building has the spaciest rooms.</p>
<p>My s. lives in lloyd hall on the hill. He loves it but I find the rooms, at 14x19 for a double, much smaller than where I went to school. However, I’ve seen dorms during our college tours that were worse, so clearly I was spoiled in my spacious digs.
Then again, some schools we visited, especially those “in the middle of nowhere” with a lot of new buildings had nicer dorms but not the vibrancy of AA. He lofted in order to fit all his musical gear, etc. It actually turned out quite nice, but you have to think a little Japanese architecture in your approach (multiuse surfaces, furniture…)</p>
<p>You know, another thing occurred to me that my friend (who is out of town) <em>would</em> probably ask you is: have you met all four coaches from the schools and if you have, which fits your approach/style/beliefs the best? And has your own trainer/coach given you any input re: the culture of the different departments? I think that might be the most significant factor since educationally your options are all highly respectable. Just a thought. Eg. have you been able to talk to any of the athletes in the other programs?</p>