Ohio University

Date: Apr 28 2006
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
OU is an odd place. The students are generally friendly, but also closed minded and self-absorbed. Faculty tends to be approachable and good at teaching. Many are leaders in their fields and would be on-par with Ivy League institutions. The actual campus is very beautiful and well maintained. It looks just like what you want a university to look like-a lot of brick and stately facades. But most of the off campus student neighborhoods are in poor shape.

Athens is not the place for everyone. Aside from the overblown "Uptown" coffeeshops and bars, there is not much to do here other than go to Wal-Mart or drink. No one goes to the outdated student center, although a huge new student center is in the process of being built, which should improve things. We are kind of isolated here-about 2 hours from the nearest major city, Columbus.

The university isn't too large or very small. It's a nice size and you'll see people you know all the time. But I find that many students don't seem very career oriented and are unfocused in class (maybe it's like this everywhere?). Unfortunately, a lot of students seem to treat this place as if it were another extension of high school.

Overall, I think OU stands on par with Ohio State and some of the better public institutions in America. But some scholastic improvement could put OU up with Case or Miami very easily. The current president seems very focused on making OU a Public Ivy, which would truly benefit the students.