Experiences at Ohio University

[Anonymous]

My son just finished his first year at OU and really enjoyed it. He likes the vibe there and the kids aren't pretentious. He isn't in a fraternity but found his people. He made friends with lots of people from Ohio but also some kids from DC and Maryland. The classes for his major have been excellent.There is a lot of school spirit and pride and tons of parents go to Mom's weekend and Dad's weekend. If your kid is into sports, they are pretty competitive in football, basketball, hockey etc. There seems to be something for everyone. The campus is beautiful and the town is cute. Some of the dorms are a little old and he didn't care too much for the food but he is a picky eater. All in all, a great first year experience.

[Anonymous]

There is a tradition at Ohio U. where students' mothers sleep with undergrads during one weekend. not kidding. Very serious post. Ohio is a wild state regarding sex. at one point. Columbus (home of OSU) was the porn capitol of the US.

[Anonymous]

It's called MILF fest.

Ohio U. may be the single biggest party school in the nation.

[Anonymous]

I went there for grad school and had great professors and study abroad experiences (and barely any debt compared to colleagues in my field who went to more selective private institutions). Athens is a cute and fun college town (but isolated; so the study abroad opportunities were key for me). Regarding the high acceptance rate, Ohio is one of the states with a big demographic cliff of traditional aged students going to college, and the state has a lot of public universities. So most of the public institutions in the state, with the exception of OSU, are less selective than they used to be years ago. They are all competing with each other for a smaller pool of students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I went to a W school in MoCo. My kids were raised in Northern Virginia due to the commute. They went to FCPS schools. Ohio University is a great choice. DS graduated from OU. If your student doesn't go to UMD, I can't think of a better choice. There wouldn't be anything I would choose in the state of Maryland. (I think OU is more enjoyable and pleasant than UMD and College Park. Certainly UMD instate would be hard to reject) OU has a beautiful campus. Nice size. Greek life is little/not noticeable - in that way, it's very different from Miami of Ohio. More liberal politically. A MoCo student would feel at home. OU professors are engaged and love the university. Students and alumni are happy and successful.

Why not Ohio State instead of Ohio U, especially for a kid looking at a state flagship like UMD? Isn't Ohio U just Buckeye rejects who aren't preppy or rich enough for Miami Ohio?

No, not at all. In fact, it's more selective than Ohio State. In my hometown, OU is where the smarter kids go (the ones that don't make it out of state go there and Miami), OSU is for everyone else.

True of my Ohio hometown, too. It's interesting to see the rise of OU over the past 20 years. My older sister is an alumna from way back and is still very involved in the school through governance and volunteering. She's in the arts and both arts and journalism have always attracted students who could go elsewhere but were drawn to the Athens and the vibe of campus. The campus has more of a traditional campus feel than OSU but is more interesting than Miami (in my opinion).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I went to a W school in MoCo. My kids were raised in Northern Virginia due to the commute. They went to FCPS schools. Ohio University is a great choice. DS graduated from OU. If your student doesn't go to UMD, I can't think of a better choice. There wouldn't be anything I would choose in the state of Maryland. (I think OU is more enjoyable and pleasant than UMD and College Park. Certainly UMD instate would be hard to reject) OU has a beautiful campus. Nice size. Greek life is little/not noticeable - in that way, it's very different from Miami of Ohio. More liberal politically. A MoCo student would feel at home. OU professors are engaged and love the university. Students and alumni are happy and successful.

Why not Ohio State instead of Ohio U, especially for a kid looking at a state flagship like UMD? Isn't Ohio U just Buckeye rejects who aren't preppy or rich enough for Miami Ohio?

No, not at all. In fact, it's more selective than Ohio State. In my hometown, OU is where the smarter kids go (the ones that don't make it out of state go there and Miami), OSU is for everyone else.

True of my Ohio hometown, too. It's interesting to see the rise of OU over the past 20 years. My older sister is an alumna from way back and is still very involved in the school through governance and volunteering. She's in the arts and both arts and journalism have always attracted students who could go elsewhere but were drawn to the Athens and the vibe of campus. The campus has more of a traditional campus feel than OSU but is more interesting than Miami (in my opinion).

Ain't risen at all. By every quantifiable metric -- selectivity, incoming student stats, graduation rate, etc. -- tOSU has had the steepest upward trajectory of the big Ohio publics. OU has been fairly stagnant, and Miami has slipped. And I would bet a lot of money that if we had a roster of the most recent graduating class from your hometown, complete with class rank and ACT/SAT scores, we'd see that your observation is inaccurate and that the better students chose tOSU over OU on balance.

[Anonymous]

My DS is in his first semester here.
He’s a pretty regular joe.

I was nervous about him breaking into 85% in-state school (due to six degrees of OH hs separation game). As you can imagine joining a fraternity helped him. He found his people.

Campus is flipping gorgeous. In middle of nowhere so kids stay around. (Added note: OU is not a “suitcase school” that empties out on weekends which was very important to me)

To get for is a long drive or bus to Columbus airport. No buses unfortunately (pretty hilarious how long it would be)

Classes have all been in-person. (Frustrating that that on-line is an option).

I don’t know what an OU diploma will be worth but the experience has been great.