Hello internet people! I am deciding between OU and Baylor right now. In order to help me decide, I’d like to know what your personal experience with OU was/is like. What is life like in Norman? Is there a lot to do? Would you go back again if you had the chance? Are the people nice? What did you love most about OU and what did you least like about it? Are academics strong (I want to major in public relations)? Are the professors good? Is Greek Life exciting? Tell me anything and everything you want, both good and bad. Thanks!
@Staceface13
My D will be attending OU next Fall so I can’t speak from experience as a current or past student but I can share some of the factors that influenced D’s choice to attend OU, in no particular order:
Distance: we are in central TX and she wanted to ‘go away’ to school but wanted to be within a days drive from home
Major: she wants to major in meteorology, especially severe weather, OU is home to the National Weather Center so you can’t beat that!
Campus feel: all the students and staff were VERY friendly and the students seemed to genuinely want to help each other rather than compete against each other, tons of clubs and organizations, Loved the architecture and that it’s a very walkable and bike friendly campus, it felt very safe
Food: the food is the best I have ever had at ANY school, so much variety and fresh! She also liked that there were food options spaced out around campus and some 24 hour options.
Academics: The honors program seems very good. OU is very generous with AP credits. There seems to be ample opportunity to participate in research as an undergrad.
Music: D wants to continue with her instrument through college and she really hit it off with the music teacher for her instrument
Semester Abroad: They really encourage students to do a semester abroad and already have a program that is just perfect for D!
Cost: D is NMSF, likely finalist and they are very generous with their scholarships.
Dorms: I like the fact that freshman are required to live on campus and that OU is a dry campus (from what I’ve heard there are parties just off campus but no wild drinking in the dorms), I’m also excited about the new upperclassman dorms that will be opening 2017 (just in time for the college class of 2020!)
http://www.ou.edu/web/news_events/articles/news_2014/newresidentialhousing.html
This is my second year at OU but third year in college.
Norman is a relatively quiet college town. There are some interesting activities on the weekend such as the Norman Art Council’s [2nd Friday Art Walk](http://www.2ndfridaynorman.com/), but in general most activities happen on campus. Most residential OU students stay within a 3 mile radius of the school.
OU and Norman are certainly not about to be mistaken for New York City, but they do have plenty to offer students. I regularly go out to eat with friends, watch plays, hang out, and participate in a multitude of extracurricular. In my opinion students who get bored at the school ought to join more organizations of interest. Next weekend I’ll be attending the Pancake and Booze Art Show in Oklahoma City and the next day volunteering with the Cleveland County (county containing Norman, OK) chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Couple that with school and work, and I live a fairly busy life.
I’m an extremely outdoorsy person (I took time off from school to live and work in Yellowstone National Park) so I probably would not. Were I to do it all over again, I would likely attend a school like the University of Oregon or the University of Vermont. That being said, I do love OU, I’m just not a fan of its Plains region location.
Yes unless it’s dead week or finals. If it is then everyone on campus collectively turns into the word for a female dog.
The opportunities that are presented to motivated students. OU is the most important school in the state and as such a variety of sectors work with OU students and faculty. Thanks to OU, I’ve interned in an entirely different state, meet with some of the head planners in metro areas containing millions of people, attended out of state conferences at no cost to me, and learned about a variety of fields I had never heard about in high school.
I dislike how spread out many of the upperclassmen are. Though it is a pipe dream, I wish Norman had designated some zones around the school as higher density to accommodate multifamily housing.
In some fields yes, in others not so much. I’m not sure about the public relations program at OU as the only person I knew majoring in it transferred to another school, per her parent’s request.
For the most part, yes. Be sure to go to class and attend office hours. If it’s a smaller class (eg not a huge freshman intro class), raise your hand if you have questions. That can go a long way in establishing relations which can later manifest themselves via academic and/or professional opportunities.
If that’s your thing, sure. I’m only in an academic sorority so I can’t really comment on what “real” sororities do. Keep in mind that OU is a dry campus so many of the stereotypical alcohol fueled frat parties happen at private duplexes.
Thank you so much for your response! I appreciate it! And I agree, the campus and architecture are beautiful! Good luck to your daughter! 
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to all of my questions! Your insight is very helpful and I’ll definitely keep everything you mentioned in mind. Good luck!
What is life like in Norman? Norman is a pretty safe college town. It can be dead when there aren’t any college students around, but it is cheap and full of quirky hangouts.
Is there a lot to do? Honestly, it is what you make it. You can find things to do through OU and Norman, but it’s not like NYC or even Dallas. Oklahoma City is getting better and has some cool places to check out. I love the Paseo and want to go to the Bonedust Cowgirl so bad! (It’s an awesome vintage store)
Would you go back again if you had the chance? Looking back on it, probably not because I would have gone to school in an area that I would want to live aka Colorado so I would have gone to CU Boulder, but at the time OU was perfect for me.
Are the people nice? Yes the people are nice, but you will get annoying people everywhere.
What did you love most about OU and what did you least like about it? I love the sense of community at OU. The campus is beautiful and there are a lot of opportunities in Norman and Oklahoma City.
Are academics strong (I want to major in public relations)? The academics are what you make them. You can find the easy classes or pick more difficult professors. I’ve heard PR is really good at Gaylord. One of my good friends majored in PR and she loved it.
Are the professors good? I’ve had amazing professors and I’ve had terrible professors. I even had a professor who was good in one class and awful in another class. Just need to read reviews!
Is Greek Life exciting? I was not in Greek Life, but the people who were in it looked like they had a good time, I guess.
OU>Baylor!!! I love my Sooners and they are scattered all of the country with lots of alumni clubs everywhere. If you have any other questions just let me know