Is the University of Dayton a good school? (Columbus, Cleveland: schools, dangerous)

[Srszee]

UD is a very good school. It's a good engineering school and law. A friend of mine's daughter went there for engineering and she played violin for the school orchestra and loved it. Don't know how it is for majoring in music, though. It is a private school, so fairly expensive. Wright State Univ is more reasonable, also has a good music dept and now has the Tom Hanks Film School.

[wrightflyer]

I would focus on a second BA or even graduate studies at Wright State University if music is your focus. Outside of University of Cincinnati and maybe Bowling Green State University or Ohio University in Athens, it has one of the better music departments in the state.

Not sure what your first BA/BS was in, and not sure why the pivot to music (education, performance, etc?), but I think you would get more out of University of Cincinnati's program as an overall arts department. But if family is closer to Dayton, OH, in general, and you can have a base camp to search for long term housing if going to Wright State, then I would not hesitate. As a note, Wright State is a little over an hour from University of Cincinnati, if you need a frame of reference.

Where in Ohio specifically is your family? Ohio, while nowhere near the size of CA, can be a 3-5 hour drive across the state depending which direction you go. So if family is in Cleveland, and you want to be close to them, Cincinnati and Dayton may not be the best choice.

Now, having said all of that, University of Dayton is an amazing school (proud alum and child of a UD employee), but its primary focuses are in engineering, business and law. But for what you are looking for, specifically in music, there may be other choices to consider. Even with out-of-state tuition costs at the public schools mentioned (all the ones I mentioned in this post are in state except University of Dayton), it very well may be cheaper attending those than attending UD, less you score some major financial aid and scholarships.

[sidneyinmyeyes34]

Wright State? I'll check out... Thanks for the info..

[joe from dayton]

UD has a pretty decent Music program. I would stack it up against WSU. That said, unless you get scholarships and financial aid, I wouldn't pay UD tuition. UD is known for engineering, business, and education. The school of law has a local reputation because it is, well, local. In the scheme of things it is a small and poorly ranked school.

[sidneyinmyeyes34]

I would probably go for scholarship for sure because University of Dayton is really expensive otherwise I probably wouldn't attend... I have family in Ohio so I could probably visit in the near future... I'll try to possibly check out schools around Cincinnati as well. This is a dumb question but are Dayton people usually fans of Cincinnati sports teams?

[woxyroxme]

Originally Posted by sidneyinmyeyes34

This is a dumb question but are Dayton people usually fans of Cincinnati sports teams?

Maybe the Reds but most Dayton people are Browns fans, my in-laws, former co-workers, etc. There are 3 Cleveland Browns bars in Dayton and games are broadcast on WHIO radio.

[skeddy]

Originally Posted by caco54

Skeddy, you are of my vintage. It was the best of times, it was the best of times. Go flyers.

Lowe's Street graduate .....a quart of Stroh's every weekday afternoon after class -- 55 cents...

[sidneyinmyeyes34]

I was checking out schools all over the place but I kind of decided that Michigan was too snowy... And Illinois (Chicago) is interesting.. And most of relatives live the Chicago suburbs of Aurora IL .A few relatives in Columbus Ohio. I have been to Chicago a bunch of times and it has a colder climate not to mention I think it has more crime overall than South Western Ohio (Dayton)...

[wrightflyer]

The climate aspect would be correct. Chicago winters can be brutal, even compared to Dayton and SW Ohio, which can get lake effect snow, sometimes frequently depending on the winter weather patterns. Summers, especially outside the immediate lakefront, can be pretty sweltering as well. You will find it MUCH more humid (in either place) than Southern California. But inland Chicago suburbs and the city itself can become hot and muggy.

As for crime in the city of Chicago, especially vast areas of its south and west side, it is much more frequent than Dayton. While that doesn't discount Dayton's crime issues in certain northern and western neighborhoods, the issues in Chicago tend to garner more light because much is gang related. Some areas of south side Chicago can be OK, mostly around U of Chicago and its Hyde Park neighborhood. But outside of that immediate surrounding, co-workers of mine in Chicagoland have said it is actually getting worse. And even then, with northern sections of the city itself you need to be aware of which neighborhood you will live in. Not all of them are the best for a single student. I would stick to areas around whatever campus you choose. Or if you don't want that atmosphere, find an apartment in a close-in suburb like Lincolnwood or Evanston, which is home to Northwestern University's main campus.

Aurora is pretty far outside the Chicago area itself, so if the school is out that way, you would be in better shape safety and cost of living wise. Keep in mind that traffic in Chicago is on par with LA, especially if trying to get anywhere close to The Loop (aka downtown Chicago).

While University of Dayton is in the city itself, its campus environment would be a complete opposite to a DePaul or Loyola campus experience. Both of those are in Chicago's northern urban neighborhoods with little actual campus space and green areas due to the nature of the environment. With University of Dayton, there is much more noticeable delineation between the campus itself and its surrounding neighborhoods.

[ohio_peasant]

As an alumnus of the U of Michigan, I've not found Ann Arbor's climate (that is, the weather - not the culture!) to be much different from those of Dayton... or Chicago. Yes, it's colder further north... but not by much. In southern Michigan it's just sufficiently cold, that there's continuous snow ground-cover for a couple of months in the winter, whereas in Dayton, the snow generally melts after a 1-2 week stretch. But by my reckoning, the problem is neither snow nor gloomy weather nor long stretches of below-freezing temperature... it's the truly brutal bursts of cold, at 0 F or colder, which in recent years have increasingly been more frequent throughout the Midwest... "Polar Vortex". I would rather have three solid months of temperature in the 20s, than 4-5 months of oscillations between 0 F and 50F, all of them humid and windy.

Off of the top of my head, perhaps the best choice for the OP would be the U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign... typical college town, not far from Chicago, with a good music school.