U of Akron - my son is interested. Any nifo? (Columbus: skateboarding, transfer)

[sheena12]

Well there you have it. My son is not into Frats, very friendly, a decents student, and likes Rock Music. Would this college be good for him?

Thanks!

[SquareBetterThanAll]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Well there you have it. My son is not into Frats, very friendly, a decents student, and likes Rock Music. Would this college be good for him?

Thanks!

Probably sums up about 1/8 of the male population there. But that's probably most typical state schools. Anything more specific you have questions about?

[sheena12]

Well, he is looking at several Ohio Universities, most of then State schools in the Northeastern part of the State. He is also applying to PA state schools, but the difference in tuition, even for an out of state student, is significant. Also, he is not interested in living on a rural campus, and most of the PA states are plunked right in the middle of no where.

The extra hour or so spent driving is inconsequential to us. Another aspect of most of the PA state colleges, are the huge number of people, particularly males, interested in what I would call "Rural Interests: - hunting and fishing. Not his thing. He enjoys "the great outdoors" - kayaking, mountain biking, hiking etc. but he is less interested in these pursuits than he was several years ago.

Besides Akron, he has applied to Youngstown State, Bowling Green State, and University of OH.
To be more specific, he likes alternative Rock music, indie and Punk, (not so different from us) and is not very interested in Rap music or culture.

He wants to major in dimensional art, and minor in education. He is interested in glass work, which is big at two of those colleges.

He's down to earth, friendly and genuinely interested in other people. One this that would NOT interest him, would be fraternities, and the other football. At many state schools, Greek Life and sports rule. Economically, at this point we are "State School People" Not only would he be overloaded with debt if he attended an expensive, private college, but he would be out of his element economically.

Things he would like to do in college are Radio Station (DJ and engineering), writing, and photography
Any advice that you have, or any information would be most helpful.

[Traveler87]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Well, he is looking at several Ohio Universities, most of then State schools in the Northeastern part of the State. He is also applying to PA state schools, but the difference in tuition, even for an out of state student, is significant. Also, he is not interested in living on a rural campus, and most of the PA states are plunked right in the middle of no where.

The extra hour or so spent driving is inconsequential to us. Another aspect of most of the PA state colleges, are the huge number of people, particularly males, interested in what I would call "Rural Interests: - hunting and fishing. Not his thing. He enjoys "the great outdoors" - kayaking, mountain biking, hiking etc. but he is less interested in these pursuits than he was several years ago.

Besides Akron, he has applied to Youngstown State, Bowling Green State, and University of OH.
To be more specific, he likes alternative Rock music, indie and Punk, (not so different from us) and is not very interested in Rap music or culture.

He wants to major in dimensional art, and minor in education. He is interested in glass work, which is big at two of those colleges.

He's down to earth, friendly and genuinely interested in other people. One this that would NOT interest him, would be fraternities, and the other football. At many state schools, Greek Life and sports rule. Economically, at this point we are "State School People" Not only would he be overloaded with debt if he attended an expensive, private college, but he would be out of his element economically.

Things he would like to do in college are Radio Station (DJ and engineering), writing, and photography
Any advice that you have, or any information would be most helpful.

All this is good to know.

I will tell you right now, Ohio U is a big school, but Athens is a town of about 25,000 and is surrounded by much of what you find up in Wilkes Barre... hills and trees. But it's not far from Columbus, and Columbus is a fun, young city. Plus, the largest university in North America is in Columbus, so its a very college oriented city, a lot like Athens is on a much smaller scale.

Akron is a city of about 200,000, he will find what he needs in the city, but he also is a short drive to Cleveland which is significantly bigger.

I am from Indiana and went to school there, and also did school in Pittsburgh. I wish I could tell you more on the schools themselves, but if you need to know more about the cities and surrounding areas, I can help as much as you need with that.

Seriously, if you have more questions, feel free to ask.

[sheena12]

This is very helpful! I really appreciate you insight. Ohio U has to be his first choice. When I say a city, I mean one the size of Wilkes-Barre, pr around that size. Athens, would be fine, and he does not mind getting out to the country side every now and then. He enjoys the hills and trees, but I actually agree, with him there are some really isolated colleges out there. The proximity of Columbus and Cleavland, in the case of Akron sound good.

Know anything about Youngstown?

[CortlandGirl79]

What do you want to know about Youngstown?

[homiej]

In all honesty, Athens offers better amenities, walkability, and urbanism than my city of Lexington, population 295,000.

I almost transferred there. It's one of the more beautiful natural and urban settings I've seen in the state of Ohio.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

What do you want to know about Youngstown?

Really anything about the University or the city. He was already accepted.

Art Major, loves Urban Archaeology, walkable places. Into music - likes going to shows, live music - alternative, punk, indie etc.

Love our rust belt city of Wilkes-Barre. Interested in History. Politically Left of Center.

Does not want to join a Frat, not into sports, with the exception of skateboarding, snowboarding, hiking and other activities.

I have heard that pretty much every type of student goes to Youngstown, and if that's true, that's good.

SO ANYTHING YOU CAN SHARE WOULD BE GREAT!

[CortlandGirl79]

Yes, every type of person goes to YSU. If he's into art I believe YSU has a good program, they have their own art museum on campus The McDonough Museum of Art and the first museum featuring exclusively American Art (it's free) Youngstown OH | The Butler Institute of American Art.

Youngstown is very Urban, very rustbeltish (is that a word?), and very walkable around campus. Youngstown does have a reputation for being a dangerous place (and in many neighborhoods that is true), but downtown and campus are very safe. The city has been going through quite a transformation over the past 10 years or so, lots of young people are moving back and working at the Youngstown Business Incubator

Youngstown also has a rich history and there is a pretty active historical society and steel museum in town. Here is an interesting website i like to look into occasionally Welcome To All Things Youngstown

[JR_C]

Originally Posted by sheena12

Really anything about the University or the city. He was already accepted.

Art Major, loves Urban Archaeology, walkable places. Into music - likes going to shows, live music - alternative, punk, indie etc.

Love our rust belt city of Wilkes-Barre. Interested in History. Politically Left of Center.

Does not want to join a Frat, not into sports, with the exception of skateboarding, snowboarding, hiking and other activities.

I have heard that pretty much every type of student goes to Youngstown, and if that's true, that's good.

SO ANYTHING YOU CAN SHARE WOULD BE GREAT!

It sounds like he could be just as happy in Youngstown as any of the other schools mentioned. We're definitely on the rustier side of the rust belt. We have live music, an arts community, (a couple of my favorite local artists: Armeni Sculpture, Jason Van Hoose - All Original Paintings) and for hiking: Home | Mill Creek MetroParks. But I couldn't say if these things are any better than what he would find at the other schools you mentioned.