[sgrpcpw]

Anyone have any information on ATU and the immediate area? I know I can get lots of info from the web from the schools site but I'm interested in a local perspective in terms of what it is like to go to school in the area.

[undertheironsea]

Have you already enrolled? Because I would recommend you don't even give this area a second look.

Clarksville/Russellville has been a giant pain in the you know where since I've gotten here. I've never seen a collection of more rednecks in my life. Even the kids going to college here are the biggest hicks I've ever seen. If you like that sort of thing, you'll be fine. But if you're like me, this place will get on your last nerve in a short amount of time. My father transferred here with Wal-Mart DC about 2 years ago, and as of right now we're trying desperately to get out. I probably won't be here after another 6 months or so.

If you can, go to the University of Central Arkansas or the University of Arkansas and avoid this area at all costs. If I had known then what I know now about this area, my family and I would've never left Nebraska.

Do it at your own risk.

[dixieheart]

Originally Posted by undertheironsea

Have you already enrolled? Because I would recommend you don't even give this area a second look.

Clarksville/Russellville has been a giant pain in the you know where since I've gotten here. I've never seen a collection of more rednecks in my life. Even the kids going to college here are the biggest hicks I've ever seen. If you like that sort of thing, you'll be fine. But if you're like me, this place will get on your last nerve in a short amount of time. My father transferred here with Wal-Mart DC about 2 years ago, and as of right now we're trying desperately to get out. I probably won't be here after another 6 months or so.

If you can, go to the University of Central Arkansas or the University of Arkansas and avoid this area at all costs. If I had known then what I know now about this area, my family and I would've never left Nebraska.

Do it at your own risk.

Don't waste any more time;get out now. Painting everyone in AR as a "hick" is certainly a bigoted statement. I've been to Russelville, Dardanelle, Clarksville and a lot of other smaller towns and have yet to meet anyone unfriendly. Most are just ordinary folks, without a holier than thou attitude and if some are a little rough around the edges, so what; bet there's some in Nebraska too. I wish you a very speedy retreat.

[mcmike]

Have you considered UA Fort Smith? You will get top professors from all over the country who are focused on teaching students. It is truly a unique university.

[sgrpcpw]

We'll check out UA Fort Smith - thanks for the lead We've been in contact with ATU because they contacted my daughter about going to school there as a student-athlete so we wanted to get some inside info before planning to visit the campus.

[terrabeth]

We're moving to Russellville and I'm transferring in as a nontraditional student to Tech. The ATU campus is very clean and neat, with a large new student center (which has a three screen movie theater) and library with up to date tech. I'm not very impressed with the look of the town; it's kind of run down and I hear they're dealing with factories vacating out of country, so I'm sure that impacts the city. I was really disappointed in the city parks and playground equipment. Though that may not be an issue for a younger college student, it does indicate to me some lack in the standard of living and community progress of a place. For traditional college students, however, sometimes a slower pace of living and less local "stuff to do" can be a good thing for staying out of trouble and on task! Also, Russellville is just an hour from Little Rock, so I'm sure the Tech students can take regular "feild trips" to the city for fun, without it all being close enough at hand that it's a distraction.

One of the major drawbacks for us in deciding to move to Russellville has been the aging nuclear energy plant located there. Because it's there, we don't feel comfortable settling there permanently.

However, it's a very affordable place to live and I've gotten some good reviews about Tech from mature, academic friends. Though the town's not as attractive as the town I'm moving from, we drove all around scoping out neighborhoods, staying with friends and observing people on the sidewalks and my feeling is that it's a fairly safe, homey place to live. The outlying area is lovely, Ouachita and Ozark Mountains on either side of the river valley, lots of great state parks and national forest areas to hike around in.

As for other mentioned school opportunities in the state, I had to choose between transferring to UALR or ATU and after seeing the mess of a ghetto-encroached campus at UALR, where I would NOT feel safe walking or biking to classes and wouldn't set foot after dark, we chose the ATU opportunity. I've heard terrible things about UA at Fort Smith, that the area is a crack-meth central. I've attended ASU and UCA and would recommend either as pretty good public schools for Arkansas, with strong preference for UCA. Hendrix, also in Conway, or Lyon's College in Batesville would be much better choices for quality education and good reputation, but they're more expensive, competitive, private schools. UA at Fayetteville has a great reputation for the state and the Northwest AR area is fairly progressive about city-community design (like bike trails, cultural events, active summer farmer's market in their square with live music and crafts, etc).

Depending on where you're from, the "redneck" issue may be more or less of a problem. If you're used to midsouth or Arkansas small towns, then I doubt it will be very unfamiliar, at least, even if not entirely desireable. If you're not from the state, I recommend visiting the school and town, going to restaurants, shopping places like Wal-mart, Tech's student center, etc to get a feel for the local culture and decide for yourselves if it suits you. It can be quite a culture shock for some newcomers.

Best of luck choosing your school!

[sgrpcpw]

I appreciate the info on ATU, I also saw the nuke plant and had a big hmmmmmm in my mind, but going to school and living in a place for a long time are two diff things. Sounds like the town is losing momentum, not gaining it based on your observations - which for a college town, or at least a small town near a college is a surprise, usually I would think a town with a university would bring in a lot of student interest business, young families, growth etc but that does not seem to be the case. I'll do some more homework and we'll go from there

[undertheironsea]

Originally Posted by dixieheart

Don't waste any more time;get out now. Painting everyone in AR as a "hick" is certainly a bigoted statement. I've been to Russelville, Dardanelle, Clarksville and a lot of other smaller towns and have yet to meet anyone unfriendly. Most are just ordinary folks, without a holier than thou attitude and if some are a little rough around the edges, so what; bet there's some in Nebraska too. I wish you a very speedy retreat.

First of all, I didn't paint everyone in Arkansas as a hick. If I did, I wouldn't have recommended U of A or UCA. I'm from Mississippi for crap's sake, it's not like I'm not stuck with any of those stereotypes just for being alive.

But I won't argue with you. Of course there were some in Nebraska. As have there been everywhere I've lived (6 out of 7 states have been Southern). I measure "hick" by being cut-off from society and lazy with no expectations. Not all of people from this area are like that, but if you doubt that a number of them are, you're out of your mind.

I'm done now.