Reply to Why hasn’t university of Utah blown up for oos like Boulder/Burlington?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Remember this is DCUM.    The most opinionated people here generally don't know much about anything but their so-called "T50" universities and those in VA/MD/DC/PA/DE.   Once you get past that list, most of their opinions are shaped largely by a particular college's location and whether they'd like to visit or live there.

In the more informed real world, I think the issue with U of Utah is largely a perception lag:
- UVM and Boulder have long sought and attracted wealthy OOS students (drawn to the beauty and skiing), dating back decades.  Not so with Utah.
- CU and UVM also have had stronger academic reputations that would attract OOS students (and their paying parents).   E.g., Boulder has always been viewed as the strongest university in the Rockies.    UVM's rep might not be as strong as it was but it was considered one of the original 'public Ivies.'  Utah was a fine school but didn't have that kind of national-level academic reputation.   
-  There's almost certainly some degree of ill-informed stereotyping of Utah going on, particularly among those far away on the East Coast.   Notwithstanding that UofU is actually considered Utah's school for non-Mormons (compared to BYU) or that Salt Lake City with its LGBTQ mayor is a lively state capital not a theocracy.  For people given to simple-minded dismissals, "Utah - Mormons!" is considered thoughtful analysis.
- I think for OOS applicants who actually looked into the UofU, the fact that until recently it had a relatively low percentage of students living on campus (or from OOS) reinforced the perception that it was mostly a commuter school for Utahns (compared to the livelier campus life at places like Boulder or Tucson or Eugene).

Some of these are issues (more dorms, better academic reputation) that the University is addressing, and some will be remedied more organically (perceptions of Salt Lake City will eventually catch up with reality).    But I suspect the OOS trailblazers at Utah will be not East Coasters but California students who can't get into UC schools, and will start establishing an OOS presence at Utah as they have at other state flagships around the region.  That will change the university's OOS demographics, and also help change UofU's on-line reputation for OOSers in a way that will finally trickle back to the East Coast.[/quote]

Op here…this all makes sense

Just wanted to give a heads up to all the sporty outdoorsy kids in dmv that there is another option besides Vermont and Boulder [/quote]
I met a parent of a UofU freshman over the weekend. She said her student snowboards 2x per week. Freshman, loving it there, great friend group.[/quote]

Yeah sounds about right [/quote]

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