<p>I am going to be committing to Mizzou without being able to see the campus. I was accepted to the J-school and Honors Program, and know that I will receive a great education there. Can anybody give me their insight on the school? I have received some opinions (all of which were positive) but it wouldn't hurt to hear some more. Thanks! I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>The campus is absolutely beautiful (well other than the parts under construction). There’s not really a legit student union, and won’t be until what will be your junior year. They closed down Brady Commons already, and the new Union/Bookstore area isn’t really a union. There’s still Memorial Union, but that’s more of a study union (at least during the day and week) than a hang out like Brady was.</p>
<p>The Journalism school is largely an education in common sense and practice. Get ready to not be able to take the courses you wish to be taking because the J-School thinks that it’s mightier than God.</p>
<p>The honors college isn’t challenging at all. The teachers don’t grade very hard, and a lot of times, honors courses are just regular courses with a tedious project attached on. This is not to say that some of the professors aren’t brilliantly intelligent, because a lot are, but their classes are generally very easy, as are most classes at the school. The good thing about the easiness of the courses is that it gives me a real high GPA for when I transfer out of the school.</p>
<p>Mizzou’s campus is incredible. I absolutely love it here. </p>
<p>Vibe: welcoming and easy going. Typical attire is jeans and a Mizzou hoodie or sweats and a T-shirt. You can get more dressed up if you want but it’s not really necessary. The campus itself is beautiful in the spring and fall. Football Saturdays are amazing, and there’s nothing better than tailgating at Reactor then hitting up Faurot to watch the Tigers dominate. The first time you hear M-I-Z…Z-O-U you’ll get chills, I promise. Winters are pretty chilly, but a heavy coat and iPod makes it a lot more bearable.</p>
<p>Downtown’s fun and nearby. Lots of great restaurants (Shakespeare’s for pizza, Big XII on Sundays for $1 burgers, Heidelberg for wraps, ingredient for salads, Sparky’s for ice cream, any of the above for a great bar), wild bars, a few fun dance clubs, a comedy club, a microbrewery, a comedy club, the list goes on. </p>
<p>East Campus is the home of a lot of quirky parties and general debauchery. If you’re looking to party, you really can’t go wrong there. Lots of old houses close to campus and friendly residents make this a great place to hang out on weekends if you know people that live there. </p>
<p>Classrooms are pretty typical. Studying is easy if you know where to go–library, Memorial, Life Science building…those are my favorites. </p>
<p>Party scene usually begins in dorms and continues at fraternities (if you’re a girl) or apartments off campus or bars downtown (if you have a somewhat decent fake). The J School is incredible, as I’m sure you’re aware, and you’ll have plenty of like-minded students around you all the time.</p>
<p>No worries! You’ll love it! </p>
<p>Welcome to the Zou,
Kristin</p>
<p>I just committed to Mizzou as well. Honors Program and J-School too =]</p>
<p>I was lucky enough to visit Columbia before deciding and it played a big part in my decision. The campus is absolutely amazing. I’ve been to a bunch of other campuses and none of them really compare. The town is also incredible and consistently ranks among the top college towns in the country. I was there on a Saturday night and it was hopping.</p>
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<p>First of all, I am so psyched for this! But what is the Reactor?</p>
<p>Reactor field is the field adjacent to the small nuclear reactor plant, which is about 800 meters from the football field. It used to be a large grass field, but was recently turned into a massive parking lot.
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Missouri_Research_Reactor_Center[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Missouri_Research_Reactor_Center</a>
Having lived and grown up in Columbia (17, junior in HS), I can say it’s a great town.</p>
<p>Agree with Eazy. Reactor is a giant expanse of parking lot. It’s down the hill from Faurot. On football Saturdays, that translates to “the best place to tailgate unless someone you know is in the stadium parking lot” because chances are, all your friends, and all their friends, and their families, and their fraternities, and everyone else on God’s green earth is there with grills and massive coolers of cheap booze.</p>
<p>kristin,</p>
<p>I’ve seen you post on this board many times, so i know you have great insight into missouri.</p>
<p>what do you think the deciding factor was that made you choose mizzou over all of the other schools in the country? the one thing that made you confident in your decision. or what do you think would be the main reason why other students choose mizzou over the other univiersities?</p>
<p>collegemarc, if it helps, I’ll be a freshman next year, and while the J-school was what got me to see the campus, the campus itself is what sealed the deal for me. Obviously the J-school lived up to my expectations, but the campus was what made me decide very very early on that I would be going to mizzou.</p>
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<p>Same exact thing for me. The town and the campus sealed it.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I definitely want to visit in the coming summer or fall.</p>
<p>hey marc.</p>
<p>here’s the kicker: i didn’t pick it! i’m from st louis, and quite a few people from st louis go to mizzou. it’s pretty much the standard safety school if you’re from a big city in missouri like mine. i went to an academically rigorous high school, and at the time thought mizzou wasn’t good enough for me because i knew that since i worked my butt off in high school then i deserved to go somewhere a little more prestigious. </p>
<p>i applied out to 5 schools, mizzou included, and went 5/5 on acceptances. i was torn between university of michigan and university of virginia, with mizzou coming in dead last. i ended up liking uva more, and had a fantastic opportunity to get a full ride there. well, as luck would have it, i ended up on the waiting list for my full ride and didn’t have the luxury of waiting around to find out (i couldn’t make uva work without the scholarship). i decided to go up to mizzou on easter weekend of my senior year. i was DEVASTATED on the ride up.</p>
<p>but then i got here. i didn’t have an official tour (i’ve actually never been on one, haha) but my best friend’s big sister showed me around. i absolutely fell in love with the place. it fit me well, and i was pretty quickly satisfied that i wouldn’t actually be wasting away my life by spending my undergrad years in como (that’s columbia mo for the “locals”). she showed me around campus, answered my questions, and pointed me in the direction of the honors college and the biology department so i could talk with some of their advisors. my mom (who went here also) showed me around greek town and we grabbed dinner downtown. by the time i was headed back to st louis, i had a huge grin on my face and was definitely warming up to the idea of going to mizzou.</p>
<p>i wore my mizzou tshirt to school proudly the next day and was actually pretty excited to tell my friends i had finally decided. that’s when i overheard my absolute favorite high school teacher, a moderator for my favorite extracurricular, and a huge professional role model of mine completely bash mizzou to a few other students. she said something about how it’s a disgrace for people who have had my high school education to end up at a state school like mizzou. coming from her, i was flabbergasted. i burst into tears and my fragile confidence was completely destroyed. it took awhile to build back up.</p>
<p>the next time i was here was for summer welcome in june. i had a tour of the place, talked with people that were going to be in my class, set up my schedule, got my ID, went shopping in the bookstore, and saw what my dorm would be like. by then, i was hooked. summer welcome itself is pretty boring, but i finally felt like this was MY school rather than my future school, if that makes sense.</p>
<p>i moved down to mizzou the sunday before school started because i did sorority recruitment. rush was hard but a lot of fun too (in some sick twisted sweaty way) and i was excited to join my house. they made me feel welcome and i got along with the girls there well.</p>
<p>then the first day of classes rolled around. by then i had settled into my dorm, figured out basically how to navigate campus, and knew a few good places to hang out or grab a bite to eat. fall welcome was a lot of fun because it got a ton of frosh out of their dorms and all over various places on campus and downtown. i started feeling more at home.</p>
<p>even through all that saga, i can still pinpoint the exact moment i felt downright excited to be a tiger. i was at the first home football game with my best friend (who also goes here, i’ve known her for years) and my new roommate, and we had no idea what to expect. the tigers scored on the opening drive and this huge drum rolls out onto the track. this guy beats his drum three times and the student side of the stadium positively erupted into “M-I-Z!!!” and immediately following the alumni side responded with an equally deafening “Z-O-U!!!” </p>
<p>i had chills. i still get chills every time i hear it. to have the support of such a huge alumni base meant a ton to me, and i instantly felt connected to the campus and the rest of the student body. any time i find out that someone went to mizzou, the first thing i say is “MIZ!” to which the reply “ZOU!” and typically give me a high five. it’s ridiculous. it’s what really sealed the deal for me.</p>
<p>so after i finally warmed up to mizzou, i started to really thrive here. i’m not trying to be ridiculously braggy here, but just for kicks, here’s a partial list of the things i’ve done in about two school years: joined a sorority, taken a prestigious leadership class, taken the hardest courseload i possibly can and maintained a 3.85, gotten a job tutoring athletes, found two physicians to shadow, started doing my own cancer research with a large research center, raised over $8,000 planning fundraisers for the local women’s shelter, served on the exec board of alternative spring break, traveled to costa rica with a medical mission trip, gone to michigan with a bunch of professors for a leadership conference, facilitated an orientation program for new greek students, been inducted into a leadership society for mizzou women, chaired countless committees, made innumerable friends, gotten to know my professors quite well, won 5 scholarships (i basically don’t pay for school)…and absolutely positively enjoyed every single minute of it.</p>
<p>don’t let anyone tell you that going to a non-ranked school means your college experience will be worthless. it’s what you make of it. if you want to make mizzou challenging and rewarding, go for it! use the insane amount of resources here to craft an experience that you’re proud of. you can do it–i’m glad that i’ve begun.</p>
<p>i can’t imagine myself anywhere else. enjoy your time here!</p>
<p>MIZ,</p>
<p>Kristin</p>
<p>PS: yes, i realize this is a long one…but you asked! :)</p>
<p>Haha, it was perfect. Thanks for all of your help!</p>
<p>Hey Kristin, thanks!</p>
<p>That really helped… even three years later :)</p>