What is your opinion of these Universities?

Question

I know all of the rankings. That's not what I'm looking for. I want to get an idea for what individuals think about these schools (and if it matters I'd be going for grad school)...

Stanford
Columbia
Michigan State
Ohio State
University of Hawaii
University of Oregon
University of California, Santa Cruz

Answer 1

Great
Great
Very Good
Very Good
Its got a beach
Nope.
Where's Santa Cruz?

Answer 2

Is this grad school for a master's/professional degree or for a PhD?
The relative suitability of these universities depends on which particular program is of interest. In graduate school much more than at undergraduate level, the program matters a ton.

In light of that, I'll attemp to make some comments, but it really depends. Oregon is the least well known and established of this lot, followed by Hawaii. MSU, OSU an UCSC are great in some programs and not wellk known in others. Columbia and Stanford, as you likey know, are the most prestigious in some ways, but in some programs may not be that wonderful. Again, it depends on the program.

Life in NYC (Columbia) can be really tough as a student so that works against it. Then again, life in Palo Alto isn't cheap either.

I'd repost the question with more specifics.

Answer 3

With undergraduate programs, it's often all about the reputation of the overall university. With graduate programs, it's all about the reputation of the specific program. Sometimes, a school that is not Ivy League, or isn't prestigious as an overall institution, has the best program in a certain field. And, depending on what you plan to do with the degree once you graduate, the reputation of your program can matter.

Beyond that, I have been on two of the campuses you mention - Stanford and Columbia. Stanford is a beautiful campus, very northern California, and within driving distance of San Francisco. But it's just far enough south to escape a lot of the fog that SF gets. The students there, as at other unis of that level, are fairly driven. And they have orange trees on campus. It's suburban. It has a very traditional, campusy feel to it, although it doesn't look, architecturally, like a campus on the east coast.

Columbia I've spent a lot of time at. It's right smack in Manhattan, in a very, very urban area. That part of NYC is full of restaurants and apartment buildings. Just north is 125th street, the center of Harlem and all that has to offer. Columbia itself is in Morningside Heights, which has a lot of students in it. It's a very high energy campus and neighborhood. Excellent diners and noodle houses nearby (sorry, it's lunch and I'm thinking food). The school itself looks like a very traditional eastern college campus. Once you cross through the gates, it's like an oasis in the midst of a hyper urban environment. The students there are intense and driven.

Answer 4

Let me first admit that my answer is based solely on name recognition, which is not the best indicator of academic repute. I would put Stanford at the top of the list (nice climate, too), with Columbia in a close second (hell, it's Ivy League). Ohio State is a big school with a lot of good programs, but I wouldn't want to live in Columbus for an extended period. Michigan State, Hawaii, and UCSC all have about the same level of name recognition to me, but the latter two are slightly favored on the basis of location. I know nothing about Oregon.

Answer 5

if your a resident of CA University of California, Santa Cruz would be the biggest bang for your buck. But if money not an issue and your a good student I say Stanford.

Answer 6

Your ACT and GPA are low for UChicago and Vanderbilt. Your extracurriculars are minimum and the volunteer hours could be interior the one hundred to 200 selection. you're an prolonged shot to get in. Tennessee and Memphis are exceedingly undesirable colleges via the criteria of your outstanding ones. I propose you seem for some straight forward floor