Advice on a good exchange school in the States? (degree, reputations, elementary school)

[enjay12]

Hi all,

I'm an Australian student looking to come over to the States for an exchange program for a semester or two. Briefly about me: 24, male, studying primary school teaching (elementary school).

So I come to you asking, of the below list, which colleges would you recommend?

Bellarmine University
California State University at Sacramento
Illinois State University
Northern Kentucky University
Old Dominion University
Purchase College – State University of New York
Oswego - State University of New York
The University of Maine
The University of North Carolina Greensboro
University of Houston – Conrad N. Hilton College
University of Miami
University of Missouri (Mizzou)
University Of Northern Colorado
University of South Florida
Western Washington University

I'm looking for a college with all the extra-curricular bells and whistles. A good atmosphere for sports (doesn't necessarily have to be an elite team, just a good school spirit), good party life, etc. etc. Somewhere with good sports facilities would be great, somewhere I can hit the gym, and also shoot around a basketball. You know, the kind of college experience you see in the movies. We get NOTHING like that here in Australia. Somewhere allowing me to go on weekend trips to different cities would be a huge bonus.

I've been leaning towards Mizzou or Umaine. I've spent a couple weeks at Mizzou with a friend and it was such a good experience, the rec complex was amazing, the whole college town vibe was so cool, and naturally the football was incredible. Having said that, I would like a new experience. Any suggestions? If not...back to Mizzou for me haha.

Thanks in advance!

[toobusytoday]

Mizzou has what you are looking for except for the ability to get to other places for weekend trips. I have a friend whose son just graduated from there and he loved the academics and the school spirit. Maybe you could do some east or west coast traveling before the semester started? University of South Florida would also fit the bill and you would be easy to hop on a plane or travel by train to just about anywhere. The other advantage to USF is that you would have year round outdoor activities. When you pick a college like U of Maine, Oswego, Illinois State or Northern Colorado you will have snow and limited outdoor activity.

[minibrings]

Originally Posted by enjay12

Hi all,

I'm an Australian student looking to come over to the States for an exchange program for a semester or two. Briefly about me: 24, male, studying primary school teaching (elementary school).

So I come to you asking, of the below list, which colleges would you recommend?

Bellarmine University
California State University at Sacramento
Illinois State University
Northern Kentucky University
Old Dominion University
Purchase College – State University of New York
Oswego - State University of New York
The University of Maine
The University of North Carolina Greensboro
University of Houston – Conrad N. Hilton College
University of Miami
University of Missouri (Mizzou)
University Of Northern Colorado
University of South Florida
Western Washington University

I'm looking for a college with all the extra-curricular bells and whistles. A good atmosphere for sports (doesn't necessarily have to be an elite team, just a good school spirit), good party life, etc. etc. Somewhere with good sports facilities would be great, somewhere I can hit the gym, and also shoot around a basketball. You know, the kind of college experience you see in the movies. We get NOTHING like that here in Australia. Somewhere allowing me to go on weekend trips to different cities would be a huge bonus.

I've been leaning towards Mizzou or Umaine. I've spent a couple weeks at Mizzou with a friend and it was such a good experience, the rec complex was amazing, the whole college town vibe was so cool, and naturally the football was incredible. Having said that, I would like a new experience. Any suggestions? If not...back to Mizzou for me haha.

Thanks in advance!

If having the ability to travel to different cities is key, i would put Purchase high on the list. Its in the northern suburbs of NYC. If you look at a map of the Northeast.. you can get to Boston in 4 hours, Montreal in 5-6, Washington DC in 5 hours.. plus easy access to Manhattan. also, from NYC you have several airports to chose (JFK, EWR, LGA, even White Plains airport) from for flights to other places (e.g., Puerto Rico for a long weekend?) and since there is more airline competition, you can benefit from better pricing.

BTW I went to Uni Adelaide so I know all about the lack of school sports/spirits down under.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by enjay12

Hi all,

I'm an Australian student looking to come over to the States for an exchange program for a semester or two. Briefly about me: 24, male, studying primary school teaching (elementary school).

So I come to you asking, of the below list, which colleges would you recommend?

Bellarmine University
California State University at Sacramento
Illinois State University
Northern Kentucky University
Old Dominion University
Purchase College – State University of New York
Oswego - State University of New York
The University of Maine
The University of North Carolina Greensboro
University of Houston – Conrad N. Hilton College
University of Miami
University of Missouri (Mizzou)
University Of Northern Colorado
University of South Florida
Western Washington University

I'm looking for a college with all the extra-curricular bells and whistles. A good atmosphere for sports (doesn't necessarily have to be an elite team, just a good school spirit), good party life, etc. etc. Somewhere with good sports facilities would be great, somewhere I can hit the gym, and also shoot around a basketball. You know, the kind of college experience you see in the movies. We get NOTHING like that here in Australia. Somewhere allowing me to go on weekend trips to different cities would be a huge bonus.

I've been leaning towards Mizzou or Umaine. I've spent a couple weeks at Mizzou with a friend and it was such a good experience, the rec complex was amazing, the whole college town vibe was so cool, and naturally the football was incredible. Having said that, I would like a new experience. Any suggestions? If not...back to Mizzou for me haha.

Thanks in advance!

I'm reading the priorities in this order #1 Typical US college experience #2 School Spirit #3 travel to other city's #4 Nice town. OP, is that about right?

[kyle19125]

Besides Mizzou the only other school on your list with the criteria you mention in my opinion would be Illinois State, and like Mizzou ranked among the best college towns in the US. It's a major state university in a nice college town and ISU is one of the top 10 largest College of Education in the US. It's more of a basketball school than a football school, but has considerable school spirit and involvement in attending athletic programs.

Illinois State Athletics
Illinois State Athletics
The 50 Best College Towns In America - Best College Reviews

[enjay12]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

I'm reading the priorities in this order #1 Typical US college experience #2 School Spirit #3 travel to other city's #4 Nice town. OP, is that about right?

Pretty much bang on the money there, no. 3 and 4 are pretty interchangeable but yeah the first two are pretty important!

Appreciate all the posts, I hadn't really looked into ISU or Purchase but I'll definitely add them to my shortlist. I'm so scared I'll end up somewhere I don't like, really freaking out about this decision!

[slim04]

Honestly, I'd only really consider U. of Missouri or U. of Miami from your list. Both are big schools with strong national and global reputations, while the rest are mostly regional or local schools that comprise mostly of local students that will graduate and mostly work in the region where they are located.

I think they have the "school spirit" you are talking about and active campus life that extends beyond graduation with strong alumni communities. With the exception of U. of Maine, most of the schools on your list are either commuter schools or second tier public universities. Those are the kind of schools where people go to get their degree and get out and campus life or activities and school spirit isn't as vibrant. While places like Mizzou and Miami are like a dream school for a lot of kids, so they are more engaged.

Though I agree with a prior poster that Purchase is the only school on your list where you can visit a lot of cool cities relatively easily through car, rail or bus (i.e. Boston, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, NYC, etc.). Just NYC alone has a million distractions and it is very close by. Though, I suspect campus life isn't going to be as fun though. Too bad colleges like U. of Maryland or U. of Connecticut aren't on your list.

[enjay12]

Originally Posted by slim04

Honestly, I'd only really consider U. of Missouri or U. of Miami from your list.... Too bad colleges like U. of Maryland or U. of Connecticut aren't on your list.

Those are the exact two schools I've narrowed it down to, and it's currently about a 60/40 split with Florida as the favourite. To be honest I hadn't even considered it before this forum so honestly, thanks everyone for your input! Must admit I didn't expect to find much help on the topic but you guys came through big time haha.

And yeah, Uconn would be a no-questions choice!

[Katarina Witt]

U of Northern Colorado has some highly rated education programs. It's fairly close to Denver. (Close enough to drive if you have access to a car.) They have Division 1 sports.