West Virginia University VS Marshall University (Charleston, Huntington: apartments, home, dorms)

[lacece22]

What are the positives and negatives between these universities? How do the areas differ in activities and weather between Aug and December?

Thanks Again

[tbailey1138]

I am a person who is from and currently lives in Huntington but went to school at WVU in Morgantown. Marshall and WVU are the 2 largest schools in the state of WV. Both are very good schools and each has it's own advantages. WVU has about 10,000 more students than Marshall and also offers more degrees. WVU is nationally known for some of it's programs but so is Marshall. Both schools have seen a lot of building projects over the last few years with Marshall having more projects in the works for the next year or two as it is experiencing a lot of growth. The campus at WVU is split into the main campus and the medical campus and both are very hilly. Marshall is set up on a flat campus with the main buildings around a central courtyard and is somewhat self contained. I personally like Marshall's campus much better than WVU's and I think it is also more convenient. If Marshall had offered what I wanted to major in, I would have likely gone there. Both schools also offer good sports programs but WVU has had the upper hand in athletics the last few years in terms of high ranking teams.
To compare Huntington and Morgantown, I like Huntington much better. Huntington has just over 20,000 more people than Morgantown and there is more to do here. Huntington has a bigger and nicer downtown area that is seeing a lot of revitalization with future plans for even more growth. Huntington also has more and nicer parks that are very convenient to downtown. It is also laid out much better in terms of roads and as a result, traffic flows very well in Huntington. Not so much in Morgantown as it can take 45 minutes to go 3 miles across town during rush hour. The weather in Huntington from August to December is much more mild with slightly warmer temps. Morgantown tends to see more snow/rain as well and when combined with the hills, winter driving can be much tougher in Morgantown. Shopping is also better in Huntington as the state's largest mall is here and there are a lot of new businesses going in as a result of Pullman Square. The area around Morgantown has seen a lot of growth in retail over the last couple of years though and it has gotten better up there. My wife is from Morgantown and after living down here she too likes the convenience of Huntington much better. The best way to decide between the two is to visit both and see which one meets your educational and living needs better. Hope this helps.
Tim

[lacece22]

Tim,

That was very helpful thank you so much

[GottaHerdOn]

Go with Marshall !!! I love it here. The city of Huntington has a lot more than Morgantown. Morgantown is a great place however. Marshall's campus is all in one, which is great. Class sizes at WVU can range from 30-500 students. At Marshall class sizes top out around 70 for the biggest classes with most classes having around 30-40 students. The staff here want you to actually succeed in life and what you to do great things. I had a professor last semester that actually picked up on me going through a personal crisis and made sure I was doing alright and gave me a lot of leniency when I missed class and stuff... I love it here. I transfered here from another university and this place tops it!

[just2584]

I love Morgantown the best, Huntington seems to have more but the convience is all a dream. The Huntington Mall isn't in Huntington its in Barboursville which is a good long drive from the Marshall campus. The campus is also set in between some of the worst spots in the city of Huntington being self contained between 2 boulevards that are 3 lanes so safety is always an issue as it is at any college near major roadways. Parking is a problem in Morgantown but thats because you compete with people who work downtown and do business. Morgantown is more centralized than Huntington as areas of the campus keep you from distractions. The city also has one of the top rate medical facilities along with a top ranking medical school with the only cancer research center being built right next to Ruby Memorial Hospital. Morgantown's downfall's are the roads but Morgantown is a young city as it wasn't expected to grow to the large scale that Huntington and Charleston were supposed to grow to. Huntington right now hovers a population of 49,198 which keeps it from Federal grants and monies as it dropped below 50,000 which will cause problems for the city as Morgantown is at 28,292 as it continues to grow tremendously. WVU also continues to grow with its world acclaimed forensics program about to make its home in a newly renovated Olgeby Hall. The WVU campus may not be building new buildings every second but thats because WVU has been updating and rennovating older buildings to fullfill the needs of students as many new classrooms will begin to open this summer as the completion of Brooks Hall will be complete. The city is also home to WV Public Theater which hosts events throughout the summer with tent showings of great Broadway plays which brings many people to the city. The theater plans to build a theater with the help of the city so they may continue showings during the fall and winter months. The class sizes will vary depending on your major. I've been in classes that have 100 or more people and I still recieved one on one attention from my professors some who see me and still say hello and talk to me if they are grocery shopping or exercising on the city's many popular rail trails. I've also been in classes where there have been just 20 and still got the same response. I went with Morgantown because I have family in the area and I've always enjoyed coming here. Huntington smelled bad since the college is near old smelting factories, I didn't like the dorms, access to public transportation I noticed was terrible and here in Morgantown when I had no car I'm able to use the PRT to get to classes or visit friends in other buildings or on other campuses or ride the bus for free to anywhere in the city or to the Pittsburgh International Airport. With all the new additions to the city and plans for more its really exciting esp with top notch off campus housing located in town. Plans for the Square at Falling Run are happening as I write this the first of buildings called the Augusta at the Square which are luxory apartments are being constructed, the Suncrest Town Centre is being completed, and the Wharf District continues to build and add more restaurants and shopping to the downtown area. Morgantown's Wharf is like Huntington's Pullman Square in some ways but Morgantown's Wharf is a redevelopment of older buildings in many cases when most of Pullman is brand new construction both are very nice and no other city in WV can beat them. Weather is almost similar anymore since city life is starting to affect it. Morgantown will usually get more snow but rain and sun are about the same. Since we are more north we'll get clipped by those nor'easters and lake affect snows. Summer temps and spring temps can vary there has been times this past summer when Morgantown was much warmer than Huntington and times where it was the same or a little cooler here its more of a city affect with temperatures. It is really your decision. Go where you like, go to where you had a good impression of the campus life, the city, the students, and the city folk.

[tbailey1138]

From someone who actually lives in Huntington, the convenience is not "just a dream." Yes the Huntington mall is in Barboursville, just as the Morgantown mall is in Westover and the University Town Centre is in Granville. Even at the height of rush hour, from the heart of downtown it would take you 15-20 minutes max to get to the mall seeing as Huntington and Barboursville are right next to each other. We travel to the mall frequently from work in downtown for lunch time which we only get an hour for. That leaves plenty of time to get there, eat and get back. In my experiences from living in Morgantown for 6 years, it has taken much longer to get to the mall from the heart of downtown during rush hour since traffic is usually deadlocked and moves at a crawl. And don't even think about going anywhere on football game day until well after the game has started. And yes, Huntington has Steel of WV and Huntington Steel right across from Marshall, but I always preferred this to the power plant in the heart of Morgantown that billows smoke, dumps hot waste water into the Mon River and requires trailers full of hot ash to be hauled through town by semis. And the PRT is a nice feature at WVU but it is unreliable at best as it often breaks down and takes several hours to fix. The TTA buses in Huntington offer free passage to Marshall students and these buses travel to a wide range of local communities. TTA is one of the best public transportation companies in the state and their service is anything but "terrible." Huntington and Morgantown both suffer from a lack of funding from Charleston but this will not get better until Charleston decentralizes city government and allows the cities to govern themselves. Both are great cities and will hopefully continue to grow for the sake of the surrounding areas and the state. Just wanted to clarify a few things. Hope this helps.
Tim

[taohofpoohness]

I am a lifelong resident of Morgantown. I live on the Westover side and work in the Sabraton area, I have an hour for lunch and drive home <across town>, & I haven't had any problems in finding "excessive" traffic during this time and have plenty of time <also stopping by the bank or for gasoline along the way>. I also haven't had many issues with traffic at quitting time <rush hour> either. As for game days, YUP.. it sure does get a bit congested around here, but hey, you gotta take the good with the bad <& it can always be worse>. Morgantown has a large diversity of people and makes for a very interesting place to live. Theatre is big in Morgantown <& growing>, as we have the CAC, MAC and WV theatre. Morgantown is also central to alot of the major eastern cities < Pittsburgh, NYC, Baltimore, D.C., etc.>. My best advice is: come for a visit, check out the area, the housing and the people and then make your own decision 'cause when it all comes down to it, its all based on personal, individual needs and tastes.

Shirl

[snorpus]

I'll also suggest that you consider the schools' reputations in the major(s) you're interested in. I'm not familiar with Marshall's programs, but WVU's strengths are engineering, medicine, agriculture and forestry. (I'm sure there are other programs that are strong, as well.)

After all, the primary reason you're going to college (I hope) is the education, so it makes sense to make that the #1 consideration.

[GottaHerdOn]

Marshall is especially strong in medicine. Teaching, business, and the arts are very big too. I feel like Huntington is more accepting towards minorities, gays, and people who have a taste for different things in life. We have several art museums, and downtown is within walking distance, or you can ride a bus. Marshall is investing millions into updating the campus and building new facilities and buildings as its enrollment is expected to grow vastly in in the coming years.

[WVUPharm2007]

Morgantown is a hipper town than Huntington, the school is better, the athletics program is better, it's closer to a major city and airport(70 miles up I-79 and you're in Pittsburgh), the student population is more diverse (roughly 20% alone are from the Philly/New Jersey area), the hospitals are better, the shopping is better, the town is growing....I could go on.

I think gas is cheaper in Huntington, though.