Ohio University

Date: May 25 2007
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
Ohio University is a great school, but that statement usually applies for Ohio residents. I personally am an out of stater and it was somewhat difficult to adapt to the slowed down lifestyle of Athens, OH. Virtually all of my out of state friends found a similar problem and about 80% of them, including myself, are transferring. If you come from a city atmosphere I would not recommend this school. It's just too hard of an adjustment.

Academically the school is great. I had some excellent professors and terrific classes. I've learned a tremendous amount in my time here and feel satisfied with the educational aspects of this University.

The social life at OU is definitely a mixed bag. The party life is great but the University struggles to steer kids away from constant intoxication. The reason this proves so difficult is that Athens cannot provide other opportunities in such a rural area. There are very few other activites on students minds come thursday, friday, and saturday night. Therefore it becomes a task for those who do choose to persue other things besides drinking (admittedly, I was not one of these kids, though in urban environments I am because of the access to other activities), as they have to seek out others with similar nightly goals.

I will also state that the student body, on the whole, is not very unique or diverse. I personally would not mind if I never met a blonde haired, blue eyed girl for the rest of my life, as they are all over this campus. It becomes too easy to stereotype the student body into certain categories and although there were many interesting people I met I often found myself listening to someone and wondering to myself how they passed high school, let alone got accepted into a quality University. Again, these are problems that you do not run into in city atmospheres very often, if at all.

The administration at the school has been under constant pressure from the University and President McDavis has been the ire of faculty and students alike. Overall the average student isn't very affected by these decisions but the cutting of 3 sports programs (including Men's track, a team Pres. McDavis was on in the 1970's) is irresponsible and a slap in the face to the athletes involved.

The campus here is absolutely georgeous. I have yet to step on a campus I found more visually appealing than OU. It's beautiful and the rolling hills in the background of Athens provide excellent adventure walking for boring days if you're up to it.

I enjoyed my time at OU in the 1 year I attended but can say without remorse that I am very happy to be leaving and heading back to more comfortable surroundings. OU is definitely a place I found to be geared towards Ohio residents and I would not hesitate to recommend it to someone from here.