What US University would suit me the most?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey!</p>

<p>I am a New Zealand undergraduate student majoring in history and planning on going on an exchange to USA next year. My university has partner universities including: </p>

<p>American University (Washington, DC)
Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA)
University of Texas at Austin
Texas A&M (College Station, TX)
University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK)
University of California (Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Berkeley & San Diego) (If I pick University of California I have to pick 3 campuses in order of what one I would like to go to more, so if you think this university is in the top three also suggest top 3 in order of cities mentioned </p>

<p>So basically I have to pick three Universities in order of preference! I'm not too concerned with university rankings etc. What I'm more interested in is out of the universities listed what three, in order, would give me the best college experience (sorta like in the movies/tv shows etc) but also what three would be the best location for weekend road trips and short holidays for spring break etc. Also I would like a place that has nice weather and safe etc. I will be under 21 and although I'm not wanting to drink I would definitely like a place that has good parties/nightlife for people under 21 as the legal age here is 18 and have been used to that kinda thing for a while!</p>

<p>Thanks! </p>

2

<p>I’d go for the UCs, maybe starting with Santa Barbara (great history dept., amazing town/parties/underage festivities, location just can’t be beat). Austin is a great town, too, and you’d love it there. I’d avoid A&M, American, and Oklahoma based on your preferences, and GT isn’t really known for your disciplines.</p>

3

<p>My suggestion is pretty close to marvin100’s. UT-Austin would be good, as would UC Santa Barabara (legendary party school), UC Berkeley and UCLA. After that would be Oklahoma.</p>

<p>Ignore the other schools on the list.</p>

4

<p>There’s something to be said for being in/near DC, especially for a history student. DC has countless museums, many of them free. The east coast (Northeast in particular) is full of historical sites and battlegrounds. With transit like BoltBus and Megabus, you can get to nearby Baltimore and Philadelphia pretty easily almost for free ($1 fares!), and even a trip up to NYC is very doable. Travel within DC itself is relatively painless. The only real downside is that it’s not as much of a “classic American” college experience as, say, UT Austin. </p>

<p>Travel within California can be obnoxious if you’re relying on public transportation – LA in particular – and you won’t be old enough to rent a car. If you’re planning to travel a lot, keep California’s enormous size in mind. (LA county alone is bigger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.) That said, there’s enough to do in San Diego and LA to keep a student occupied for a semester or two, and California has the most natural beauty IMO. </p>

<p>UT Austin is an all around great school, but your options for travel outside Texas would be limited. Weigh that against its great town, social scene, and athletics. </p>

5

<p>If you want to explore the west coast of the US then the UCs are a great choice (in any order), especially if you like warm weather. I also like the idea of living and going to school in a great city like Washington DC at American where you can explore the east coast of the US easily. Heading to UT-Austin will give you a great large school experience in a wonderful fun college town but it will be harder to travel around with that as a home base.</p>

6

<p>Austin is a great college town. If you’re looking for a ‘real college experience,’ it would do a real good job at providing it imo. Austin also has some neat events, like SXSW.</p>

<p>For the UCs, the best one would really depend on what you would want. Both LA and Berkeley are in expensive areas. While both offer plenty to do, you may not have the money to have a great time at either. Not sure what COL is in Santa Barbara</p>

<p>Santa Barbara has a huge partying reputation. In fact, part of the campus is even on the beach. However, I’ve talked to people who’ve gone to Santa Barbara and I get the impression that it can get really boring outside of partying and going to the beach. It won’t have the amenities that places like Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay Area will. Some might may that Santa Barbara is only 90 miles from LA, but it can be difficult to get there without a car. I did see a shuttle near Culver City (it’s very near Los Angeles) that went straight to Santa Barbara, so I assume they also have reverse trips but YMMV.</p>

<p>Los Angeles is a huge city with plenty of offerings. There’s plenty of food here from a variety of cultures with a variety of interests. Unfortunately, both of those have drawn huge amounts of people to the city. So, almost everywhere throughout the city you’ll usually be in some traffic. I agree with Warblersrule that public transportation in LA isn’t as good as it could be, but I don’t think it’s as bad as he makes it out to be either. </p>

<p>According to Metro, this is the full list of the nearly 15,000 bus stops across the city: </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.metro.net/interactives/gmaps/bus_routes/bus_stops/”>http://www.metro.net/interactives/gmaps/bus_routes/bus_stops/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Realize though that some of these buses run infrequently. So you might have to wait an hour or more if you miss a connecting bus.</p>

<p>As far as UCLA is concerned, there are tons of clubs for students to socialize with each other and, like these other universities, academic offerings are excellent. Near campus are world-renown museums like The Getty, among others.</p>

<p>The San Francisco Bay Area has great public transportation. The bart will get you anywhere you need to go. Like I said earlier, though, San Francisco is in a very expensive area. Food and living expenses might both be very expensive. Berkeley’s academics will be top notch, and are arguably the best of the three.</p>

<p>So really, it all depends on what you really want. I didn’t say anything to negative about Austin, but that’s just because I happen to know so little about the university.</p>

7

<p>American U would be a great choice for history, not only because of their departmental offerings but also due to locations; DC is in itself full of places for you to experience for both academics and fun, but you also have easy access to most cities along the Eastern Seaboard (something that can’t be taken for granted).
However, if by “college experience” you mean huge parties, tailgating, and big football, then American wouldn’t be the best choice.
UT Austin would combine the protypical “college experience” with a college town, a big campus with everything you see in movies, and a big football following. In addition, academics are excellent. You’d need a friend with a car for any weekend roadtrip and you’d need to drive far to get places.
Next I would place the UCs, and I’d go with a contrary ranking; typically, the UC’s are competitive, with most students placing Berkeley or UCLA first, the spot going to the highest ranked applicant. Be strategic; place UCSD first. it’s excellent, the city is one of the most fun in the US with tons of entertainment and perfect weather year-round, it’s not too far from LA (although you’d need a friend with a car - if you can get yourself to LA, beside all the things you can do there, you can hop on a Megabus and go to Las Vegas, San Francisco, or Sacramento and hte wine country for $1) and there’s a tram line that goes to Mexico. Next choose any two among your other UC options, they’re good too, arguably better - just know that you need to be ranked first/second in your year to have a shot at either UCLA or UCB. If that’s you, then you should rank UCB, UCLA, and UCSD in whichever order you like best.</p>