Possibly Attending UNL Fall 2010

Manhattan said:
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.
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Great to see some more Meteorology majors. My older brother graduated from UNL in the early mid-'naughties (whatever you want to call 2000-2009) after attending the University of Oklahoma. He majored in meteorology and straight out of graduation he had multiple job opportunities. He's now working for the coal mines in Wyoming, his explanation to me was he tells them when they can blast and what they can use to minimize pollution into cities. He loved the program they have here at UNL and always told me how it surpassed the program at OU. Both my younger brother and I are currently attending UNL as well, though we are majoring in Architecture and Math Education respectively.

As for your reasons to think twice, here's my two cents.

1. I've never had much of a problem with the administration, though they do get all uptight and email you repeatedly when you let your Ncard account go past due. The no alcohol on campus policy is enforced, but honestly it's not a problem. The "Russian Bottoms" are literally an overpass north of the stadium, maybe a 10 minute walk from the farthest dorms, and house parties are held there religiously. When I first started I was surprised at how many classes take attendance. Roughly 75% of all classes I've taken have an attendance policy, and around half of those have a "strict" attendance policy.

2. You will find people of all types at UNL, from the hippy dude that likes to chill in the quad and play his guitar to the sports enthusiasts that are on every intramural sport possible. We have professors that skateboard to class for crying out loud!! As for religion it's pretty chill here as long as you NEVER EVER EVER put your phone number on anything religious at Big Red Welcome (a sidewalk fair held every fall). Besides that everyone is chill.

3. I really don't have much to say about this one since I haven't been to Iowa City or Columbia. But I can tell you it beats the pants off Boulder any day. Downtown is literally 3 blocks from the dorms (5 if you live in Abel/Sandoz). If you fancy a trip to Omaha/Council Bluffs for a concert or some river boat gambling, it's a short 20 minute drive.

And let's not forget the real reason...gameday. You will literally see campus explode in red. I'm not sure when student tickets go on sale but have your money ready, $150 for football, not sure on volleyball, $37 for basketball. You won't get into east stadium since seniors/juniors/frats have a monopoly on them so just be content with South corner. Lines start ridiculously early, we send our camper at around 5am-6am for most games to sleep in our lane. By the time 4 ours to game starts the student mosh will have south stadium packed just waiting for them to scan our tickets. Fastest goes first, gates open and it's a dead sprint up the ramps and jumping down the benches to get front row.

Some negatives about the university that I have noticed while here. Parking is horrendous and expensive!!! But they have been building a new parking garage on Vine and it should be done by next semester. Still doesn't change that we pay nearly $350 a year for parking passes. Another problem is lack of housing, which is hopefully being fixed by the 2 new dorms that are getting built on 17th and R.

I have Calc in the morning so I'm going to quit typing now. If you have any questions for my brother I can ask him.

 
Manhattan said:
Another question,

UNL's smoking policy says that you can't smoke indoors on campus or near entrances to buildings or ventilation systems (understandable), but are there designated places that are located indoors where you can smoke? At Missouri, apparently there are designated locations where you can smoke (not entirely certain if this means these designated areas are indoors, but I think they are, since all outdoor locations are free to smoke in...). The reason I ask is because I really enjoy smoking hookah, and while it may be sort-of-feasible if not entirely enjoyable to smoke outside on a nice day, what am I supposed to do in the winter when I am stuck in the dorms? Perhaps people will let me bring it to off-campus parties or something, or if there are smoking lounges off-campus that I can use it. On the bright side, I'll just get an apartment sophomore year.
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Outside most buildings is a "smoking area" where you'll find an ashtray of some sort.

 
After looking at the restaurants/bars of the downtowns of Iowa City, Lincoln, and Columbia, I have to come to the conclusion that they all pretty much offer the same things. I could probably learn a lot more when I actually visit them, but coming from NYC, I don't really see a much of a difference between them.

 
Manhattan said:
What's the dating scene like at UNL? Is it mostly random flings/one-night-hookups or is there a legit dating scene at the university?
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This is any college, USA.

I grew up about 20 minutes from you in North Jersey. Dollar for dollar, if tougher to find a better downtown than Lincoln. Cheap, lots of different bars, don't have to worry about fights and everything is close together. At least I loved it. A dude could go out with $20 and have a damn good time.

The one thing you will sorely miss with any of these midwestern cities is the food. Forget about pizza or sandwiches or hot dogs or bagels. There ain't sh#t here.

I enjoyed my time thoroughly. Oh yeah...I met my wife at UNL, now I live in Omaha.

 
Manhattan said:
After looking at the restaurants/bars of the downtowns of Iowa City, Lincoln, and Columbia, I have to come to the conclusion that they all pretty much offer the same things. I could probably learn a lot more when I actually visit them, but coming from NYC, I don't really see a much of a difference between them.
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You are pretty much correct...there isn't much of a difference.

 
Currently, my sentiments are pretty even between Nebraska and Iowa, with Missouri being sort of a third wheel I guess. I really hope I get some insight when I visit the schools.

 
Manhattan said:
Another question,

UNL's smoking policy says that you can't smoke indoors on campus or near entrances to buildings or ventilation systems (understandable), but are there designated places that are located indoors where you can smoke? At Missouri, apparently there are designated locations where you can smoke (not entirely certain if this means these designated areas are indoors, but I think they are, since all outdoor locations are free to smoke in...). The reason I ask is because I really enjoy smoking hookah, and while it may be sort-of-feasible if not entirely enjoyable to smoke outside on a nice day, what am I supposed to do in the winter when I am stuck in the dorms? Perhaps people will let me bring it to off-campus parties or something, or if there are smoking lounges off-campus that I can use it. On the bright side, I'll just get an apartment sophomore year.
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I think wherever you go you should be fine. People pretty much smoke anywhere on campus as long as they are 10 feet or so away from any entrance to a building.

That said, if you don't want 1,000 people walking around as you smoke your hooka, I would try and live in Cather-Pound. There aren't as many people living in those dorms because the rooms are structured in an odd way. Only about 40 people can live on one floor, while if you live in some place like Able or Harper you're looking at anywhere from 100+ people living on one floor. Plus, CPN (Cather-Pound-Neihardt) has a place called the "Breezeway", which is an open area outside that separates Cather and Pound from Neihardt. Not many people walk through that area, and I've seen many a guy smoking hookas together on the park benches outside.

 
Manhattan said:
Another question,

UNL's smoking policy says that you can't smoke indoors on campus or near entrances to buildings or ventilation systems (understandable), but are there designated places that are located indoors where you can smoke? At Missouri, apparently there are designated locations where you can smoke (not entirely certain if this means these designated areas are indoors, but I think they are, since all outdoor locations are free to smoke in...). The reason I ask is because I really enjoy smoking hookah, and while it may be sort-of-feasible if not entirely enjoyable to smoke outside on a nice day, what am I supposed to do in the winter when I am stuck in the dorms? Perhaps people will let me bring it to off-campus parties or something, or if there are smoking lounges off-campus that I can use it. On the bright side, I'll just get an apartment sophomore year.
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i'm not entirely sure because i've never been there, but i was thinking that there is a hookah lounge just a few minutes away from campus. i don't really know why, but for some reason i'm thinking there is one around the intersection of 27th and O - i have no reason to know that but it seems to me i noticed it one day driving by. maybe someone else here knows?

 
bball_backer said:
Manhattan said:
Another question,

UNL's smoking policy says that you can't smoke indoors on campus or near entrances to buildings or ventilation systems (understandable), but are there designated places that are located indoors where you can smoke? At Missouri, apparently there are designated locations where you can smoke (not entirely certain if this means these designated areas are indoors, but I think they are, since all outdoor locations are free to smoke in...). The reason I ask is because I really enjoy smoking hookah, and while it may be sort-of-feasible if not entirely enjoyable to smoke outside on a nice day, what am I supposed to do in the winter when I am stuck in the dorms? Perhaps people will let me bring it to off-campus parties or something, or if there are smoking lounges off-campus that I can use it. On the bright side, I'll just get an apartment sophomore year.
Click to expand...
i'm not entirely sure because i've never been there, but i was thinking that there is a hookah lounge just a few minutes away from campus. i don't really know why, but for some reason i'm thinking there is one around the intersection of 27th and O - i have no reason to know that but it seems to me i noticed it one day driving by. maybe someone else here knows?
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There is for sure one there. Its a couple buildings down the east side of 27th just south of O. I was in there last year for a bit to meet some friends.

 
I don't know much about this but Manhat you're just a kid. Give it up and live a long healthy life. What's in the future for your generation (IMHO) is going to knock your socks off and you will want to be around for as long as you can.

T_O_B

 
T_O_B, I politely disagree.

And I really don't like hookah lounges too much. Sometimes they are good if the owners aren't amateurs with hookah setup and charge extortionate prices for sub-par tobacco - which is usually washed at hookah lounges. Better and cheaper to do it yourself if you have the room. Hookah lounges also tend to attract a lot of the wrong kinds of people. People who think they are suddenly experts on hookah despite not owning any and only going to a hookah lounge like three times in their lives... It gets really annoying. Ask them some simple questions about hookah they will undoubtedly be unable to answer and they shut up or become bitter about it.

 
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So I am visiting Nebraska on Saturday the 13th. Anything I should make sure to see in particular that probably wouldn't be a campus tour?

 
Manhattan said:
So I am visiting Nebraska on Saturday the 13th. Anything I should make sure to see in particular that probably wouldn't be a campus tour?
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If you are over 21 I can give bar recommendations. If not, go to the Mill. Best coffee in town (although some will argue CoHo or Cultiva).

 
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