Is Mississippi State a good school? (Jackson, Starkville: house, private school, universities)

[MrLonely1990]

My younger brother is only 14, at 9th grade, but he already has chosen the college he wants to go. He loves college football and his favorite team is Mississippi State. But college is not all about football, and sports right? So my parents would like to know if Mississippi State is a good school, and what's studying there like?
We also want to know what's Starkville and the surrounding area like?

Thanks!

[GrandviewGloria]

It is an EXCELLENT school.

[JacksonPanther]

State is ranked #156 out of 200 schools, by US News. It has no national prestige, so if you are not from Mississippi, a degree from MSU will not be looked at favorably by employers. If you child plans to live in Mississippi after graduation, then he will be surrounded by others from MSU and will therefore be considered employable.

I would not let my children go to MSU, because I know it will be a limiting factor. There are much better schools, even state schools, with better reputations that will provide your kid with a degree that will open doors.

Going to a school because of football is a terrible reason to select a school, and selecting MSU for football means your child has poor judgment, because they have had exactly one good season in the last 40 years. You think he would pick Alabama or something...

[viverlibre]

If you read Jackson Panter's postings you will quickly realize not to pay much attention to his thoughts.

MSU is a fine school, you can find rankings for any school to show the school is great or terrible. MSU has the highest enrollment of any state university, obviously with that enrollment, many people have a high opinion. If the school wasn't good, enrollment would be on pare with the smaller schools in the state, plus tons of out of state students choose MSU.

Starkville is not a great college town, but not bad either.

As someone who has spent time on most of the public universities in the state, MSU's campus is likely the nicest; however, judging campuses is subjective, Ole Miss has a nice campus too. Gameday weekends are awesome and worth the experience, tailgating is huge. The Bulldogs just hired one of the best college basketball coaches in the county, plus got a commitment from one of the top high school players in the country, so look for excitement around the basketball program to explode.

[JacksonPanther]

Originally Posted by viverlibre

If you read Jackson Panter's postings you will quickly realize not to pay much attention to his thoughts.

MSU is a fine school, you can find rankings for any school to show the school is great or terrible. MSU has the highest enrollment of any state university, obviously with that enrollment, many people have a high opinion. If the school wasn't good, enrollment would be on pare with the smaller schools in the state...

Wow, I guess I'm relegated to GG territory, in terms of people to be ignored.

I challenge you to find a reputable ranking that shows MSU is a great school. Great to me means top 50. I'll wait...

High enrollment doesn't necessarily mean it's a great school. It might just mean that it's easy to get into, or inexpensive. Enrollment numbers have no correlation to quality.

[Gamecock Student]

I think Miss State has the prettier campus and better architecture. Something about the buildings at Ole miss annoy me.

Miss State has a good reputation in engineering and being close to Texas and LA is good and employers hire Miss St grads all the time for petroleum and power related jobs.

Stennis Space center in southern Miss also hires a lot of them

[gwgirl80]

Mississippi State is a great school in my bias opinion, I attended the school from 2000-2002. It's a very friendly learning environment compared to what I experienced at an expensive private school prior to my enrollment. The instructors were their to teach us, not collect a pay check. The campus has grown since I attended but the community still maintains the same friendly environment. When comparing schools though it really is important to judge them based on what you want to major in. My major was Early Childhood/Elementary Education, the program was not very selective and anyone could be enrolled as long as they had a 2.0 in core classes. My classmates and I started out in large classes that were weeded down to 10 to 15 as we progressed in our major as people failed or changed majors. The in demand majors like engineering, architecture, agriculture, vet school were selective and very competitive.

After relocating to Western NY, I learned most people have heard of Mississippi State. My first job in this area was landed because of the curriculum for my major, it was actually more advanced than the local college programs. Also with the school being in the SEC, it has a very positive reputation.

[golden eagles fan]

What is your brother's major? MSU has an excellent engineering program.

[viverlibre]

Originally Posted by Gamecock Student

I think Miss State has the prettier campus and better architecture. Something about the buildings at Ole miss annoy me.

Miss State has a good reputation in engineering and being close to Texas and LA is good and employers hire Miss St grads all the time for petroleum and power related jobs.

Stennis Space center in southern Miss also hires a lot of them

Ole Miss put metal roofs on a buch of their buildings, not a good look (IMO).

[cab591]

I did my first year of college at MSU.

Absolutely loved the university -- beautiful campus and great faculty. Starkville left a LOT to be desired. That's the reason I couldn't wait to get away. There's literally nothing to do, besides house parties (not the best atmosphere if you're underage). It's 2 hours from just about any significant city (Jackson, Birmingham, Memphis), with no attractions anywhere nearby. I couldn't stand being stuck in literally nowhere.