Possibly Attending UNL Fall 2010

[Manhattan]

Hey folks,

 

I'm from New York, currently living in the West Village out of a friend's apartment. I graduated high school last year and enlisted in the Marine Corps, but I got medically discharged from boot camp after two months, so now I've been back in the civilian world working at a market research agency, which is a pretty good gig. I figured I needed to go to school next fall, and so I applied to a variety of schools in the Midwest and Great Plains area. I meet a lot of people in NYC who aren't from here - a lot of college students at NYU - and a lot of them say that they loved their home state of [insert non-Northeastern state], but always wanted to spend some time in New York City to see what it was like and then go back home; which is college for them. I decided that I would like to do the same thing in reverse. I'm very much a city person, but I would really like to spend time out in the Heartland of this country.

 

A long story slightly less long, I got accepted into Nebraska and Missouri and I'm waiting to hear from Iowa. At the moment I am leaning towards Nebraska. Thinking of majoring in Meteorology at Nebraska because it is something I am interested in and it is very marketable to the Navy if I chose to return to the military. Actually, I'll put this in list form so it is slightly less painful to read through:

 

REASONS WHY I WOULD LIKE TO GO TO NEBRASKA

1) Solid academic reputation, good facilities, renowned research

2) Has the major I want (meteorology) in a very interesting part of the country for this area of study. Storm chase team much?

3) Football. I am a very big football fan, and I watched the Big 12 Championship and thought that Nebraska put up one tough fight. Also Nebraska allegedly has great fans with a reputation for being very friendly and passionate about the sport. We'll, see, won't we?

 

REASONS THAT MAKE ME THINK TWICE

1) I hear the school's administration is very strict compared to other state schools and the students are treated like children (common theme on review sites).

2) Extremely homogeneous population... Will I fit in? I think I'm an outgoing, interesting, and personable person. I founded my high school Rugby Team. But will the New Yorker be too different from Nebraskans? I'm Jewish, are most students hyper-religious (Christian) zealots or is this East Coast propaganda? I'm not terribly religious, by the way.

3) Lincoln, NE does not strike me a good college town as compared to Columbia, MO or Iowa City, IA.

 

 

I would just like to hear some of your opinions on my opinions and whether they are completely unfounded or if some points have merit to them. This seems like a great forum you folks have here (I smiled when I saw there is a whole separate forum for meals & recipes!) and I look forward to chatting about football and other things.

 

Respect,

Manhattan

[carlfense]

Here's my thoughts Manhattan . . .

(I did 5 years of undergrad at UNL and now am in grad school . . . still at UNL)

 

Regarding your concerns, you definitely won't feel out of place. Nebraska as a whole is very homogeneous both in race and religion but UNL is like an island of diversity. I think there are students from every state in most UNL classes. For the most part, it's a tolerant and middle of the road institution when compared to other liberal arts schools.

 

I'd say that Lincoln compares very favorably with Iowa City and Columbia. It's certainly not in the class of Madison, WI or Austin, TX but it definitely has it's bright spots. I don't know if you are going to be interested in the bar scene, but O Street is one of the best college hot spots I've seen based primarily on the numbers of venues and the prices of drinks. Lincoln also has a significant local music scene and some eclectic coffee shops and restaurants.

 

The downsides of UNL are that the bureaucracy of the administration and the parking situations could certainly be improved. I don't know about the being treated like a child thing . . . are they just referring to the dry campus, or what? I might be able to help if I knew what they were talking about.

 

Anyways, if you have any questions, shoot me PM. I'd be happy to try to help out.

[RockyMountainOySker]

I like your idea - college in the midwest, then back to the city. I'm originally from the midwest (Omaha) and chose to stick around for college (University of Kansas) but ran to Chicago after school. I highly doubt I would have a better experience anywhere else other than KU.

 

Lincoln is a great college town and I spent many nights there during my college years. I am personally not a big fan of Columbia, MO for a college town. Looking at the city alone, I would rate your examples in this order:

 

1. Iowa City

2. Lincoln

3. Columbia

 

I would expect you to fit in fine in each of these cities though. Iowa City is awesome. Every thing revolves around the college, great bar scene called the Ped Mall, lots of transplant kids - - tons of kids come from Chicagoland, Kansas City, and upper midwest (Minnesota) - - the people are great in general. Lincoln is similar in that everything revolves around the college, I'd say the bar scene is just OK (tends to be a bigger emphasis on house parties - which is perfectly fine), and there is a decent amount of transplant kids. You also get Nebraska football and there is nothing like it on this planet. The games and the passion are amazing. Best football environment on Earth. The people in Lincoln are great and would welcome a New Yorker with open arms.

 

 

If you are still applying, I'll toss in the University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas is an amazing town - similar to Iowa City but much better in my opinion. The entire town revolves around the school in both basketball and football. The campus is beautiful (best I've seen and I've been to a ton of colleges) and the bars are the best around...not to mention the girls - I'd put KU girls up against any college in the country. KU also has a ton of transplant kids....they come from all over - Chicago, New York, California, Dallas...seriously everywhere.

 

You can't go wrong with these schools though and I wish you the best of luck making a decision. I hope I helped!

[Manhattan]

SkerChicago, I actually checked out KU after reading your post and I think I'll apply there. They have a good atmospheric science degree that isn't oddly combined with something else (like Missouri's "soil and atmospheric sciences" degree ) and have a wide array of emphases within that degree, so it looks like they take the program seriously. In terms of applications, they also have a 48-hour approval process when you have all of your materials in, which is pretty cool. At some point I am going to have to take off work and go visit all of these schools.

[fro daddy]

Manhattan,

I think you got confused when reading on MU's stuff. Their School of Natural Resources shows Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences grouped, but they are not together. They offer an emphasis in Atmospheric Sciences.

 

I know a meteorologist who works for a TV station here in Omaha. He is an MU grad. I have spoken to him about his experiance there, but dont recall many of the details (sorry) I do remember that he was really pleased with it.

 

Ultimataly I would visit the schools you are considering. Each has their positives. I would check out the campuses and deptments and go from there.

 

Here is the link to the Atmospheric Sciences page at MU. Also on the page are the requirement for that Major so you know what classes you will be taking if you choose that route.

 

MU-Atmospheric Science Major

[Manhattan]

Manhattan,

I think you got confused when reading on MU's stuff. Their School of Natural Resources shows Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences grouped, but they are not together. They offer an emphasis in Atmospheric Sciences.

 

Correct, but the major is titled:

 

"Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences B.S. Degree with an Emphasis in Atmospheric Sciences" (A mouthful...)

 

Among the courses required by this major are:

 

Soils 2100 - Introduction to Soil Science (3 cr) FW or

Soils 3290 - Soils and the Environment (3 cr) F

 

I'm not saying it is a huge turnoff, but I think it is unusual considering no other school's meteorology/atmospheric sciences program has soil sciences included. It is more appealing to see a school like KU that titles their degree "Atmospheric Sciences" and has areas of emphasis within the degree, instead of having the meteorology degree buried in another degree, like at MU. It gives the impression that the program at KU is better quality in this area. Of course, I could be totally wrong, but do you understand my reasoning?

[fro daddy]

Manhattan,

I think you got confused when reading on MU's stuff. Their School of Natural Resources shows Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences grouped, but they are not together. They offer an emphasis in Atmospheric Sciences.

 

Correct, but the major is titled:

 

"Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences B.S. Degree with an Emphasis in Atmospheric Sciences" (A mouthful...)

 

Among the courses required by this major are:

 

Soils 2100 - Introduction to Soil Science (3 cr) FW or

Soils 3290 - Soils and the Environment (3 cr) F

 

I'm not saying it is a huge turnoff, but I think it is unusual considering no other school's meteorology/atmospheric sciences program has soil sciences included. It is more appealing to see a school like KU that titles their degree "Atmospheric Sciences" and has areas of emphasis within the degree, instead of having the meteorology degree buried in another degree, like at MU. It gives the impression that the program at KU is better quality in this area. Of course, I could be totally wrong, but do you understand my reasoning?

 

I get where your coming from. But I would still check it out if I were you. The name of your degree has little to do with the actual education. And that could very well be a thing within the MU system. I know almost all the major Missouri univeristies cross train. My broadcasting degree had me taking class in marketing, jounalism and reporting. All I wanted to do was radio. I know many others that had the same type of things with their majors. But I will say this, for most of us those classes really came in handy.

 

Also I would bet you will catch that type of class in every program at nearly every school. Everyone has things they like. And more than anyone's opinion or advice is the fact that this is YOUR decision. But in entering my two cents. Check out the schools and programs first hand. Dont make your pick based of a class sheet or degree title.

 

With that said, I think you will enjoy any of the 4 schools you pick. I think most who are in college now or have been to college would agree that it is what you make of it. I had a blast and I went to a directional school in a small town. I had fun there and I would have had fun at MU or others. (except I would have a heck of alot more student loan debt than I do already. )

[huKSer]

 

I would expect you to fit in fine in each of these cities though. Iowa City is awesome. Every thing revolves around the college, great bar scene called the Ped Mall, lots of transplant kids - - tons of kids come from Chicagoland, Kansas City, and upper midwest (Minnesota) - - the people are great in general. Lincoln is similar in that everything revolves around the college, I'd say the bar scene is just OK (tends to be a bigger emphasis on house parties - which is perfectly fine), and there is a decent amount of transplant kids. You also get Nebraska football and there is nothing like it on this planet. The games and the passion are amazing. Best football environment on Earth. The people in Lincoln are great and would welcome a New Yorker with open arms.

 

Columbia is a bigger city and less of a college town - just my opinion.

 

Population of Columbia - 85,000

Population of Lincoln - 225,000

Population of Iowa City - 67,000

Population of Lawrence - 90,000

[RockyMountainOySker]

 

I would expect you to fit in fine in each of these cities though. Iowa City is awesome. Every thing revolves around the college, great bar scene called the Ped Mall, lots of transplant kids - - tons of kids come from Chicagoland, Kansas City, and upper midwest (Minnesota) - - the people are great in general. Lincoln is similar in that everything revolves around the college, I'd say the bar scene is just OK (tends to be a bigger emphasis on house parties - which is perfectly fine), and there is a decent amount of transplant kids. You also get Nebraska football and there is nothing like it on this planet. The games and the passion are amazing. Best football environment on Earth. The people in Lincoln are great and would welcome a New Yorker with open arms.

 

Columbia is a bigger city and less of a college town - just my opinion.

 

Population of Columbia - 85,000

Population of Lincoln - 225,000

Population of Iowa City - 67,000

 

 

Haha! Wow, shows you how much I paid attention all the times I've been to Columbia. I should have just said....I don't like Columbia.

 

I can't believe Lincoln is that big.....wow. Just looked at the 2008 census and it puts the estimate at 251,624.

 

Columbia is listed at 164,283 (metro area).

Lawrence, KS is listed at 90,520.

You are spot on with Iowa City.

[Manhattan]

Very well. Did you go to MU or UNL undergrad?

[huKSer]

Manhattan:

 

I just had a conversation w/ one of my students at parent teacher conferences. She wants to go into meteorology, too. She stated that she didn't really like any programs around here (in Kansas). Of the top of my head I suggested Penn State (national rep) or UNO, (I meant Creighton) for local. Maybe she didn't look up "atmospheric sciences", only "meteorology"

 

Thoughts on Penn State?

[fro daddy]

Manhattan,

 

I forgot to wish you luck man. Picking schools can be some stressful stuff. I am sure you will have a blast no matter where you pick.

 

Best of luck

[killer cacti]

Go to Clemson...small, college town with beautiful southern women.

[huKSer]

Manhattan,

 

I forgot to wish you luck man. Picking schools can be some stressful stuff. I am sure you will have a blast no matter where you pick.

 

Best of luck

Yes, best of luck

 

I know its rough with all the recruiting material you get, the professors calling you up at all hours of the day making promises that only they can get you straight to NOAA. The campus visits with the women and parties, playing Sirius as you walk into the Arts and Sciences Bldg through a wall of fog. The pressure from the alumni, the online recruiting services, which conditioning program that will best help you with your clicking finger injury.

 

It is such a hassle.

[Manhattan]

Manhattan:

 

I just had a conversation w/ one of my students at parent teacher conferences. She wants to go into meteorology, too. She stated that she didn't really like any programs around here (in Kansas). Of the top of my head I suggested Penn State (national rep) or UNO, (I meant Creighton) for local. Maybe she didn't look up "atmospheric sciences", only "meteorology"

 

Thoughts on Penn State?

 

I actually applied to Penn State and Ohio State, but I really want to go out further west. Not entirely sure if I could get into them either. Penn State is also in the middle of nowhere and frankly too close to NY geographically. They do have one of the best meteorology programs (along with Oklahoma), but I don't think a slightly better program is enough of a compelling interest on its own for me to chose Penn State over another school. My grandfather also went to Ohio State and they have good football and Columbus is a really cool town, but I'm not certain I could get into Ohio State either. Still waiting to hear from these two schools (should be any day now).