Information about Kirksville and Truman State University (Ozark: housing, rental)

[ETII]

Hope you've made your choice by now. But just in case you haven't...

I will just say that we are looking to move to Missouri ourselves and one of the cities we are considering is Kirksville---because of the small college atmosphere and the city itself! We hear very positive reviews of Kirksville. About the only negative we hear is re how small and remote the town is from larger cities.

Some folks complain of the cold---but the folks who come from our colder states say those who complain about the cold have never really lived in the cold (Minn, MT, ID, ND, etc.).

On another note... We currently live in Orange County CA. Our daughter attends Loyola (LMU). I can say that even though it is costing me over $40,000 per year to send her to LMU, the school's programs are pretty amazing. LMU offers SO many contacts for alums...grads are sought after, easier to get internships, etc. etc. Exposure to the entertainment industry...yada, yada..

I would just say that your major field should weight heavily in your decision. Both LMU and Santa Clara are good schools---as is Truman (so I hear). I know in communications/public relations/law/entertainment/design arts/etc. LMU is hard to beat.

Good luck to you regardless!

ET

[Ozarks21]

I'm glad to see you are considering Missouri. Don't worry, I'm sure you won't find anyone in Kirksville who speaks Euskadi or who even knows what it is.

When I was in college at the University of Missouri (about 1.5 hours from Kirksville) I studied for a semester in Barcelona. While there I spent a few days traveling in San Sebastian. The Basque Country is on the top of my list for places to return - I convinced my mother-in-law and sister-in-law that they must visit while they are in Spain next year.

From that experience I guess you are accustomed to friendly and polite people. Kirksville would be a good fit in that regard.

You are absolutely correct to find a location with the fewest Spanish speaking people. I made the mistake of spending time with English speakers in Barcelona. Also, the family I stayed with always spoke Catalan in the home so I didn't develope my Spanish as well as I hoped.

Your english is very good. You should have no problems. Good luck.

[socal12]

Hi Jon, get an english tutor, you said you have until 2007, go to the school that you think will best suite your needs, and stop focusing on your english. You will do great, don't sell yourself short.

[basque_boy23]

Hello ET, Ozarks21 and socal12. I would like to say that I am very grateful for your great replies. They are very complete and helpful.

I really appreciate the effort you do replying my post and I have to admit that I am really impressed with the kindness of this forum's people.

Thank you everybody.

Jon.

[Cyndler]

hey,
in case you haven't made your decision I'll go ahead and put in my two bits about kirksville.
The college is great, its been in magazines and the news for being one of the best in the midwest. It's somewhat tough, but if it wasn't it wouldn't be worth it.

I used to work at the college and the atmosphere is awesome, I was able to make friends from all over the world, the language barrier is easy to get past, (and it's also fun to learn the other languages). the community is great, and though it is in the middle of nowhere, there are still plenty of things to do and friendly people to meet.

I found this site on the numbers and random info on kirksville.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Kirksville-Missouri.html
the site appears to not have been updated for a good year but it should suffice.

If you decide on kirksville, I'm sure you wont regret your decision, sure its only about 18,000 people strong, but it still has a lot to offer.

[basque_boy23]

Hello Cyndler. First of all, excuse me for replying so late, I've been quite busy.

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate your help and I have to admit that I'm very impressed with the kindness I'm finding in this forum. You all have helped me a lot and I can say you that I have finally made the decision. I have decided to go to Truman State.

I got the TOEFL two weeks ago with a 97 score (the USA universities ask us for an 80 score), so now I only need to pass this 06/07 academic year. If nothing strange happens, and I don't expect it, I will be there on January 2008.

Thank you everybody again, and I would like to end saying that if anyone is in the opposite situation (studying at the USA and wanting to come to the Basque Country) please do not have any doubt to write an e-mail to me (basque_boy23@hotmail.com), or contact through this forum. I would be delighted to help.

Sincerely yours,
Jon.

[EllieMom]

Jon, Congrats on your great scores! When will you be enrolling at Truman? Please e-mail me if you need anything. My son is at Truman now, so I'm sure he would be glad to lend a helping hand, as well, when you get there.

[basque_boy23]

Good evening EllieMom. First of all, I have to say that I'm sorry I'm replying so late, but I've been very busy this week.

Having said this, thank you one more time for your help, I really appreciate all the information that I'm receiving from the people in this forum. Many thanks to everybody.

You asked me about my enrolling at Truman, and I'll try to explain my current situation in few lines.
We had the first meeting about the process to study abroad on the second semester of our fifth year yesterday. First, they told us our position on the list. A list, where all the students of the year are ranked according to their marks average (the one with better marks is the first one who chooses the abroad university where he/she wants to spend that semester, then the second, and so on). I'm ranked 58th out of 130 aproximately, but I don't expect to have much problems to get a place at Truman (nevertheless, anything can happen, and there can be some students who choose Truman before).
After that, they told us all the different universities all over the world where we can go, and we have until January 27 to submit the application telling the university where we would like to go (I have done it today, so you can see that I'm interested in going to Truman ).
It's at the end of March when we'll know definetively the university where we are going.
So as you can see, I'll still have to wait for a few months, before I know if I'm going to Truman or not (I hope yes ).

Before saying goodbye, I would like to say thank you one more time. Thank you for been so kind and thank you for offering your sons help (if I finally go to Truman, it would help me a lot knowing someone there that could tell me how the University is, how things work there, etc.).

Thank you everybody in this forum, and as I said in my last post, if anybody is in the opposite situation (studying at the USA and wanting to come to the Basque Country) please e-mail me, and I'll try to help you.

Best wishes,
Jon.

[Talmasca]

I would be happy to help with questions about Truman State if you need information. I live in KV and my husband is a Prof at TSU.Just email.

[basque_boy23]

Good afternoon "Talmasca". Thank you for your offer. If I finally get the place at Truman I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, and it's nice to know that there's people who can help you answering them.

I'm very grateful.

Best wishes,
Jon.