My son has chosen YSU. (Cleveland, Cincinnati: best city, apartment, rent)

[jodipper]

Originally Posted by TheYO

I kind of agree with this. At least that's how many local high schools students feel. When I was a senior in high school, nobody was really excited about going to YSU, the way the rest of us were about going away to school. Even those who got full-scholarships usually had to make a tough decision if they should stay home for free or spend the money to go somewhere else. As noted previously in this thread, YSU is VERY generous with financial aid, so many local students who can't afford anything else settle for it. Those students are usually smart enough to go elsewhere, but money doesn't allow it.

But why suggest Carnegie Mellon, a private school that probably costs double what YSU costs, even with out-of-state tuition? If anything, I'd suggest Pitt or Temple in PA, although safety at Temple is definitely a bigger question mark than at YSU.

Carnegie Mellon had a great art program. Isn't that the case today?

[TheYO]

Originally Posted by jodipper

Carnegie Mellon had a great art program. Isn't that the case today?

I pretty sure it's still true today. I was just looking at it from a cost standpoint since the OP mentioned the great financial aid package her son received from YSU, plus the lack of budget for a car.

[JR_C]

Since your son won't be driving, here are the local bus schedules: WRTA Fixed Route Service Schedules I'm a regular user of WRTA, (I don't drive at all) so if you have any questions about that, I should be able to help.

If he chooses to live in the Wick Park neighborhood, (the neighborhood just to the north of YSU) he will be most interested in the "33 Fifth" and "31 Elm" routes. Although, if he does live in this neighborhood, it makes it a little harder to go out to the venues downtown, because normal service stops around 6pm. It takes about a half-hour to walk from downtown to the Wick Park neighborhood.

Having said all that, I never went to YSU. So, I don't know what kind of dorm options there are, and whether he'd be interested in those. I don't know if YSU even allows freshmen to live off-campus. (I went to Kent, and all non-commuter freshmen had to live on campus)

I might have misled you about the Erie Terminal Building, too. I think it might be targeted more for upperclassmen and young professionals. But, it wouldn't hurt to give them a call, I suppose, if it's an option your son would be interested in.

[sheena12]

YSU has a great art program and it's NSAD accredited. It's less costly than many of the PA state colleges. They are really welcoming to out of staters.

The social life concerns me. I guess I'm the only mom who wants her kid to have fun.

Are there any shows in town? Do any bands play YSU? he likes Punk, Alt, Ska etc.

[jodipper]

Enough people have given you information. YSU is a commuter school. People go home after class. Many have to go to work. Your son will not have the complete college experience if he goes there. Don't come here next year and complain.

[TheYO]

Originally Posted by sheena12

YSU has a great art program and it's NSAD accredited. It's less costly than many of the PA state colleges. They are really welcoming to out of staters.

The social life concerns me. I guess I'm the only mom who wants her kid to have fun.

Are there any shows in town? Do any bands play YSU? he likes Punk, Alt, Ska etc.

I think YSU has one or two bigger concerts a year at their basketball arena (the Beeghly Center). From what I've seen, they aren't the biggest names, but they are nationally touring acts. The other place to see bigger bands is the Covelli Center. It seats something like 7000 for concerts, and usually only classic rock bands and hip-hop artists perform there. While it's certainly big enough to have other bands play there, most just elect to play Cleveland/Pittsburgh instead.

As I mentioned before, Cedars and the Lemon Grove are probably the best bets for shows in Youngstown. They are both downtown and host a wide variety of genres. Not sure how many (if any) national acts they bring in, but if he likes underground music, those would be my top choices.

Most bands have dates in Cleveland and/or Pittsburgh on their tours, so he will probably have to go there to see his favorite bands. Both cities have great venues of all different sizes, from tiny places that only hold a couple hundred people, to the arenas that the Cavs and Penguins play in.

Not having a car will definitely limit his options. I guess the good news is that nearly everyone else at YSU will have a car, so once he finds some friends with similar tastes in music, he'll be able to throw in a few bucks for gas and head to Cleveland and Pittsburgh for better concerts.

[JR_C]

Does your son use Facebook? One of my "friends" is "Cityof Youngstown," and one of the things they post is a weekly list of events happening downtown. Here is this week's list: http://www.icontact-archive.com/17K_...EaWYUrivPw?w=1 But I don't know if there is a way to get updates without using Facebook.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by TheYO

I kind of agree with this. At least that's how many local high schools students feel. When I was a senior in high school, nobody was really excited about going to YSU, the way the rest of us were about going away to school. Even those who got full-scholarships usually had to make a tough decision if they should stay home for free or spend the money to go somewhere else. As noted previously in this thread, YSU is VERY generous with financial aid, so many local students who can't afford anything else settle for it. Those students are usually smart enough to go elsewhere, but money doesn't allow it.

But why suggest Carnegie Mellon, a private school that probably costs double what YSU costs, even with out-of-state tuition? If anything, I'd suggest Pitt or Temple in PA, although safety at Temple is definitely a bigger question mark than at YSU.

Carnegie Mellon is not at all in our budget. Temple does not have dorms. Or they might for the first year and then they don't. Mostly, people who live around Temple live in apartments or commute from the Phillie 'burbs o live in the city.

Pitt would have been a consideration, but his 3.02 GPA dissuaded him from applying.

Most of the PA State schools are in the sticks. Which he HATES. He really does not like the country , and even more so, the suburbs.

We are originally from Long Island NY and we lived there until three years ago, when we were priced out of the area. He loves Wilkes-Barre and other gritty cities. He despises places that are not walkable.

So we needed to look for colleges in an urban setting, with a good Art program, that have the type of Art he wants - not advertising, digital, commercial, where a 3.02 average is OK, that has dorms.

Most SUNY schools are in the boonies too. With the exception of Albany and Buffalo. He would have gotten into one of the Buffalo SUNY (college not the U) Not sure why he did not apply.

So I looked to Ohio, and I gotta say, you guys have an excellent State College System! There are many colleges in a variety of settings, including urban.

YSU is accredited by the NACAD - (I think that's it) National Association of Colleges of Art and Design. Along with places such as RISD and Pratt.
They do not look at GPA as much, but he really did not want an Art School.
Pratt is 50 Grand a year.

He was also accepted into Bowling Green, (didn't like the campus) Akron and Cleavland.

He also wants a BFA in Art (3-D) and not a BA. Believe it or not, all of these restrictions of his rule out plenty of schools.

He is going to be in a Living Learning Community with other ther Art students, in Killcawley Hall.

I really hope that he won't be transferring.

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by JR_C

Does your son use Facebook? One of my "friends" is "Cityof Youngstown," and one of the things they post is a weekly list of events happening downtown. Here is this week's list: http://www.icontact-archive.com/17K_...EaWYUrivPw?w=1 But I don't know if there is a way to get updates without using Facebook.

He does use Facebook. A lot. I'll pass this on to him. Thanks!

[13th Alphabet]

Sheena, did you guys look into the college of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati? Given the criteria you mentioned, DAAP possibly sounds like it could be a good fit. DAAP is fairly widely recognized and it is also pretty competitive. I think it probably would be pretty hard however to get accepted into most of the programs in DAAP since a lot of the programs want you to have at least a 3.5 GPA for acceptance. It's still worth a look IMO; it's a great college in the University of Cincinnati school system.

I would argue that DAAP harbors some of the best, if not the best art programs in Ohio.

DAAP, University of Cincinnati