What is the best public university in New England?

Anonymous
PP clearly doesn't understand the thread and plainly lives in a glass house so should drop the stones.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Easily U. Penn.


U penn is an Ivy


Public Ivy.


You're just messing with me now, right?


Are people here that dumb that they think Penn (Ivy league) is interchangeable with Penn State (big public school)?


Yes. Yes, they are. Welcome to DC, and welcome to DCUM. These are the smug ones at the grocery.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I live in New England. Kids in Mass think UVM and UConn are better than UMASS and vice-versa. Honestly, UMASS has come a long way since it’s ZOOMASS reputation. Even Maine and UNH have improved a lot. But for the best, I think it’s a tie between UMASS and UVM with UCONN right there. It simply suffers from a crappy location.


Curious which one you'd most recommend a high school kid with strong grades apply to, who is totally undecided on major (maybe humanities. some days says bio. lol)
Just based on your opinion.
-OP


Hi OP . Sorry for the delay in responding. Anyway, my DC and his friends all applied to the NE state schools, with the exception of URI. For some reason, that school doesn't appear to be worth the OOS cost. Maine is probably not ranked any higher but it offers tuition at the in-state rate for kids from Mass, so it's basically another in state flagship that they can apply to. I see the college results of his class on IG and find that there are many attending UMASS, UVM, Maine, and UNH. I haven't seen a URI yet. Obviously, there are also quite a few attending the directional or smaller state schools (UMass Dartmouth, Framingham State, etc). However, the higher ranked kids of all stripes are mainly looking at UMASS and UVM.


That sounds about right. Years ago, URI used to be respected, and UMass had been ZooMass since forever.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:if really a strong student and really likes the cold, add U Mich


OP did not want an Ivy.


Anonymous
UMass, Amherst- outstanding faculty additions in the last few years, strong recruiting from Boston (esp in Tech) and increased funding has made this the ideal Public Univ in the NE!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I thought DCUM had smart posters...

...until I read this thread.


Do you mean because people are naming colleges outside of New England?

First, all the time on dcum answer post questions with off point information that they still think may be helpful, so that has nothing to do with not know what states comprise New England (go look at the thread asking for PA college recs where people are naming colleges in Ohio and other non-PA states).

Also, I grew up in CT and don’t find it surprising or a sign of lack of intelligence that some people link upstate New York with New England - it is adjacent to Vt and MA, shares similar climate and topography, kids often look at colleges in all of those areas, and so on. I am sure I have made similar geographic faux paux when responding to questions about the Rockies, southern areas, etc.


I took the PP's comment in jest. Perhaps you need to lighten up?
Anonymous
I'm a native of Mass. My take:

1) UCONN
2) UMASS (a close but definitive second)
3) UVM (solid third)
4) Maine, UNH, URI (I wouldn't consider these schools if out-of -state)
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've always thought of UNH as the worst of the bunch, but maybe that's just because I'm from NH? UMaine seems high ranked overall and as a party school than I would have expected.

OP, I think it would be worth expanding to some of the SUNYs and maybe Rutgers. SUNY Oswego is smaller, not a party school from what I hear, and has a strong honors program.


Interesting perception PP. UNH is highly sought after by students from both in state and out of state (despite the costs) for having a wide range of programs- agriculture, excellent business school, even the connected law school. It has come a long way to shed the party image of the 90s/early 00s. If I were to pick a party school in NH as the worst it would be Plymouth State. Most public universities can be called party schools to be honest- it’s such a small part of the culture that OPs dc could easily avoid it and find other interests- radio station, student clubs, etc.


I think that's a good point about the "party school." The good thing about doing to a decent-sized university is that you can find your people and other alternatives to party culture.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I thought DCUM had smart posters...

...until I read this thread.


Do you mean because people are naming colleges outside of New England?

First, all the time on dcum answer post questions with off point information that they still think may be helpful, so that has nothing to do with not know what states comprise New England (go look at the thread asking for PA college recs where people are naming colleges in Ohio and other non-PA states).

Also, I grew up in CT and don’t find it surprising or a sign of lack of intelligence that some people link upstate New York with New England - it is adjacent to Vt and MA, shares similar climate and topography, kids often look at colleges in all of those areas, and so on. I am sure I have made similar geographic faux paux when responding to questions about the Rockies, southern areas, etc.


I took the PP's comment in jest. Perhaps you need to lighten up?


You are right! Let posters call everyone else stupid, and anyone who doesn’t think that being superior is funny is uptight!
Anonymous
As a native of Connecticut, most of my friends are seriously considering UMass.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I'm a native of Mass. My take:

1) UCONN
2) UMASS (a close but definitive second)
3) UVM (solid third)
4) Maine, UNH, URI (I wouldn't consider these schools if out-of -state)


This was the way things were 20 years ago. Now, it’s solidly UMASS followed by UVM. UCONN doesn’t provide the merit for OOS NE kids. On the other hand, Maine gives everyone their own in state tuition (so Mass kids pay UMass tuition and CT kids pay UConn, etc) UNH is a good fall back for kids that want to study STEM or business but don’t get into UMass (never mind that UMass Lowell would be the better STEM school, it is not as well received by the high school set as UNH - mainly due to, well, Lowell). URI seems to be an afterthought - not enough guaranteed merit and no better reputation than Maine or UNH.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm a native of Mass. My take:

1) UCONN
2) UMASS (a close but definitive second)
3) UVM (solid third)
4) Maine, UNH, URI (I wouldn't consider these schools if out-of -state)


This was the way things were 20 years ago. Now, it’s solidly UMASS followed by UVM. UCONN doesn’t provide the merit for OOS NE kids. On the other hand, Maine gives everyone their own in state tuition (so Mass kids pay UMass tuition and CT kids pay UConn, etc) UNH is a good fall back for kids that want to study STEM or business but don’t get into UMass (never mind that UMass Lowell would be the better STEM school, it is not as well received by the high school set as UNH - mainly due to, well, Lowell). URI seems to be an afterthought - not enough guaranteed merit and no better reputation than Maine or UNH.


^^ forgot to add that the reason UVM is seen as better than UCONN is that it feels and looks more like a traditional LAC. UCONN is simply a giant state school in the middle of nowhere without even the benefits of Amherst.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm a native of Mass. My take:

1) UCONN
2) UMASS (a close but definitive second)
3) UVM (solid third)
4) Maine, UNH, URI (I wouldn't consider these schools if out-of -state)


This was the way things were 20 years ago. Now, it’s solidly UMASS followed by UVM. UCONN doesn’t provide the merit for OOS NE kids. On the other hand, Maine gives everyone their own in state tuition (so Mass kids pay UMass tuition and CT kids pay UConn, etc) UNH is a good fall back for kids that want to study STEM or business but don’t get into UMass (never mind that UMass Lowell would be the better STEM school, it is not as well received by the high school set as UNH - mainly due to, well, Lowell). URI seems to be an afterthought - not enough guaranteed merit and no better reputation than Maine or UNH.


^^ forgot to add that the reason UVM is seen as better than UCONN is that it feels and looks more like a traditional LAC. UCONN is simply a giant state school in the middle of nowhere without even the benefits of Amherst.


Any data to back up all of these subjective thoughts? Otherwise, it's an opinion - no different than the PP's list.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Not a lot of great choices in that part of the country. SEC is where it's at.


Big 10 too!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I'm a native of Mass. My take:

1) UCONN
2) UMASS (a close but definitive second)
3) UVM (solid third)
4) Maine, UNH, URI (I wouldn't consider these schools if out-of -state)


This was the way things were 20 years ago. Now, it’s solidly UMASS followed by UVM. UCONN doesn’t provide the merit for OOS NE kids. On the other hand, Maine gives everyone their own in state tuition (so Mass kids pay UMass tuition and CT kids pay UConn, etc) UNH is a good fall back for kids that want to study STEM or business but don’t get into UMass (never mind that UMass Lowell would be the better STEM school, it is not as well received by the high school set as UNH - mainly due to, well, Lowell). URI seems to be an afterthought - not enough guaranteed merit and no better reputation than Maine or UNH.


^^ forgot to add that the reason UVM is seen as better than UCONN is that it feels and looks more like a traditional LAC. UCONN is simply a giant state school in the middle of nowhere without even the benefits of Amherst.


Any data to back up all of these subjective thoughts? Otherwise, it's an opinion - no different than the PP's list.


Just data from one high school throughout the last few years- certainly anecdotal at best. But if you want to go to UConn, you do you.
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