[Warren86]

Hi everyone, i'm a 22year old male from ireland and ive recently won a scholarship to come over to the usa for one year (august-may). I'm faced with the decision of picking either Regis University, Denver, or Saint Leo University, Florida. I lived in Jacksonville FL for 3 months over the summer so i think i've got a good idea of the lifestyle (which i liked) i would expect at Saint Leo. I've never been to Colorado but Denver seems like a good city, although i'm not really interested in mountains, snow, skiing and the like, i prefer the sunshine much more which i see that it has plenty of!(not a fan of the extreme cold)

Anyway i've got all other areas of each college covered from information on the net ,so the only area i'm going to touch on here is the social side of life, as thats the only area i've struggled to find info on. So what is it like at each college?

Is there much going on at each college, and has the surrounding area got a good college feel to it? (ie nearby bars, coffee shops, student housing with partys or gatherings happening and things to do)
Do people, and how do they party at each place on and off campus?
I know Saint Leo is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, do students go off campus regularly to Dade City, Ybor/Tampa for fun ,or how do students deal with this problem, and is this easy?
I pretty much just want any info possible on the social scene for each college.

Thanks in advance

[beachmouse]

A former coworker of mine went to Regis because of a good scholarship offer and really liked it. Good location, a pretty diverse student body, and her Georgia Belle self had a blast getting involved in intramural ice hockey even though she'd never worn skates before she got there.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by Warren86

Hi everyone, i'm a 22year old male from ireland and ive recently won a scholarship to come over to the usa for one year (august-may). I'm faced with the decision of picking either Regis University, Denver, or Saint Leo University, Florida. I lived in Jacksonville FL for 3 months over the summer so i think i've got a good idea of the lifestyle (which i liked) i would expect at Saint Leo. I've never been to Colorado but Denver seems like a good city, although i'm not really interested in mountains, snow, skiing and the like, i prefer the sunshine much more which i see that it has plenty of!(not a fan of the extreme cold)

Anyway i've got all other areas of each college covered from information on the net ,so the only area i'm going to touch on here is the social side of life, as thats the only area i've struggled to find info on. So what is it like at each college?

Is there much going on at each college, and has the surrounding area got a good college feel to it? (ie nearby bars, coffee shops, student housing with partys or gatherings happening and things to do)
Do people, and how do they party at each place on and off campus?
I know Saint Leo is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, do students go off campus regularly to Dade City, Ybor/Tampa for fun ,or how do students deal with this problem, and is this easy?
I pretty much just want any info possible on the social scene for each college.

Thanks in advance

Wow you are talking a huuuuuge contrast in areas. Denver is a big, big city and St. Leo is just a little burg 30 or so miles north of Tampa. We used to live in the area, it is beautiful and charming but very tiny. There are a few little bars nearby where students hang out in Dade City, but for the true social scene you would probably have to go into Tampa. Probably would be a 30-40 minute commute to Ybor or downtown. There are no little coffee shops or "college feel" etc. in the immediate area, so if that is important to you, you may want to choose Denver. St. Leo is just too small for that. Can you make a visit to each area? That might help make your decision.

Hope this helps!

[Gatornation]

St. Leo isn't that close to Tampa for it to be convenient often.

[EscAlaMike]

St Leo is TINY. There is nothing there. The drive to Tampa is not a convenient one either.

[Warren86]

I can't visit each area before hand unfortunately so i'm just going to have to go on any info i can gather, so thanks for everything so far. The only con i seem to have against Regis so far is that it mite get a little cold for me there in winter/early spring but i'm only going on info from places like weather.com and all that, but i could maybe overlook that if the social scene was outstanding, something i'm trying to find out. I'm expecting St Leo to be very small and in the middle of nowhere but aslong as theres plenty happening on campus for students to have fun, and regular trips arranged down to tampa at weekends or whatever i wouldn't mind that so much - its just wether this happens at the college or not is what i don't know and am trying to coax out from this forum. So if anyone has any info like this it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the helpful response so far guys!

[Big House]

Originally Posted by Warren86

I can't visit each area before hand unfortunately so i'm just going to have to go on any info i can gather, so thanks for everything so far. The only con i seem to have against Regis so far is that it mite get a little cold for me there in winter/early spring but i'm only going on info from places like weather.com and all that, but i could maybe overlook that if the social scene was outstanding, something i'm trying to find out. I'm expecting St Leo to be very small and in the middle of nowhere but aslong as theres plenty happening on campus for students to have fun, and regular trips arranged down to tampa at weekends or whatever i wouldn't mind that so much - its just wether this happens at the college or not is what i don't know and am trying to coax out from this forum. So if anyone has any info like this it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the helpful response so far guys!

I went to the University of Denver which is right next to Regis. I can assure you that you will love going to school there! Denver gets a huge amount of sun, and is dry so even though sometime it will get cold you won't mind it. Some days it would snow, and the next day it would all be gone, and you could walk around in a tee shirt. Denver is a larger city, and has all of the larger city things to do, and it has the mountains. There is an out door amiptheater in the mountains called Red Rocks, and the Rocks are Red. When you take in a concert there, you will see the sun set behind you and the lights of the city turn on as the sky darkens around you while you watch your favorite musician! It is unbelieveable! Regis is a really good school too, and has good name recognition. I loved Denver - as I said there are a lot of things to do, and all the major sports teams are played there. The University of Colorado is about 45 minutes north of Denver, and is actually situated at the edge of the mountains. A lot of students travel up there for the day. The Coors brewery is a short drive away as well. During the Summer, from Regis and Denver you can see the snow capped mountains. It is breath taking. There is pollution problems in Denver though, the mountains stop the air movement quite a bit - that can be a downer sometimes. Also it is arrid there so everything is more brown. You wont get the beautiful fauna and flora of Florida.

I would spend a few bucks and check out both places - as someone said they are dramatically different places. I lived there, and now live in Maryland and Florida - I like it here! The US is a huge place. While your here, even if you just pick a place, you should do anything you can to take it all in.

I'll let others fill you in on the Florida School.

Good Luck on your choice!

[blitzpooch]

I live about 15 miles from St. Leo. To the best of my knowledge, St. Leo does not have a hopping social scene. Dade City is a small community, a nice little downtown but it is more family/adult oriented. Tampa/Ybor is about 45 minutes away. Beaches about an hour away.

New Tampa is closer and you might find more of what you are looking for in the USF area. There is a Mr. Dunderbak's that had a pub atmosphere, good German food and plenty of college students there. New Tampa (Bruce B. Downs corridor) has a number of new restaurants. The outdoor Wiregrass mall is very nice and has a few restaurants with outdoor seating and a Barnes and Noble. The best pizza in the area, Pizzamania (IMHO) is across the road.

Hope this was helpful to you,