My kid is there. My child is in CSE (science and engineering). I think the place is well run. There are plenty of opportunities, and so far advising has been good. Her intro classes are enormous, but TAs have been fine. She has friends and has fun.

Being in a city was important to her. A sense of a large frat presence was also important. that didn’t leave too many OOS flagships. Basically UMTC and UWashington.

Unfortunately the hockey team isn’t doing too well this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:U of Minnesota, Twin Cities, is one of the top public institutions in the country. You can tell because it draws a lot of foreign students, like UCLA, UC Berkeley, UMichigan, University of Wisconsin at Madison. Minnesota is just below those schools.

Nice try,

The part about foreign students is that when you have a critical mass of foreign students, that tells you the school has an international reputation. I have seen high-level African students, Asian students, and European students in the University of Minnesota. And I have never heard any of them coming here because they read the US news rankings. State research universities, including the U, have a very good reputation in their home countries for various reasons.

And the comments on here about the U and the state being mostly white is just about right. Minnesota is a liberal state so they tend to attract a lot of refugees. In and around the campus is relatively white.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD’s good friend is in her 2nd year there. Loves it but has said this winter has been rough. She was a D1 recruit. Academics are top notch. Loves the college campus feel while being urban and safe. It is basically Midwest and west white students and international Asians. Very friendly. Like it is very apparent how pathetic and rude this area is after being there only a short time.

It is apparent as soon as you exit the plane and no one is yelling.

I had a very nice experience in Madison where some smiling students tried to correct me while I had a blinker on to turn the wrong way on a one-way street. It was the nicest driving correction I've ever received!

sounds about white.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD’s good friend is in her 2nd year there. Loves it but has said this winter has been rough. She was a D1 recruit. Academics are top notch. Loves the college campus feel while being urban and safe. It is basically Midwest and west white students and international Asians. Very friendly. Like it is very apparent how pathetic and rude this area is after being there only a short time.

It is apparent as soon as you exit the plane and no one is yelling.

I had a very nice experience in Madison where some smiling students tried to correct me while I had a blinker on to turn the wrong way on a one-way street. It was the nicest driving correction I've ever received!

Have friends who teach there. Formerly taught on east coast. Find students hard working and delightful. Said they have students who turned down offers from top 5 schools to go to UMinn and save their money for grad school. Sorry, no insight on what it’s like to be a student there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is there and loving it. She is in CSE. Not many DMV kids. We have been Impressed so far and enjoy the separate administration of the different colleges, but ymmv because liberal arts is much bigger/different than engineering.

The twin cities are great fun. It is easy to get around town. They call Minnesota the “Canada of the US” which is true. People are really nice and friendly. It is cold, but with the exception of the occasional polar vortex, very manageable. The grad Econ dept is highly regarded.

It is definitely very white, as is the state. Most kids are from MN, IL, WI and SD.

If you are seriously interested, put down the $50 now to reserve housing (separate from admissions) as the dorms fill up. (This is probably good advice at many big ten schools).

Very white? There is a huge population of refugees and immigrants.

I suggest you look at the demographic statistics for Minnesota. Compared to DMV, the description "very white" is accurate.

Where in the DMV?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is there and loving it. She is in CSE. Not many DMV kids. We have been Impressed so far and enjoy the separate administration of the different colleges, but ymmv because liberal arts is much bigger/different than engineering.

The twin cities are great fun. It is easy to get around town. They call Minnesota the “Canada of the US” which is true. People are really nice and friendly. It is cold, but with the exception of the occasional polar vortex, very manageable. The grad Econ dept is highly regarded.

It is definitely very white, as is the state. Most kids are from MN, IL, WI and SD.

If you are seriously interested, put down the $50 now to reserve housing (separate from admissions) as the dorms fill up. (This is probably good advice at many big ten schools).

Very white? There is a huge population of refugees and immigrants.

I suggest you look at the demographic statistics for Minnesota. Compared to DMV, the description "very white" is accurate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have feedback on this school? DC is thinking of a political science or economics major. TIA!

Political Science department is well regarded. I considered doing my doctorate there but opted to stay in DC. (I went to undergrad at Minnesota-Duluth) The twin cities are very happening right now, and the state of Minnesota has become quite the booming economic powerhouse, particularly compared to the disaster that is Wisconsin thanks to Walker. While the state as a whole, and admittedly a lot of the suburbs, are very white, the cities are very diverse. There are large Hmong and Somali communities.

Surplus, state revenue has grown consistently, record low unemployment...Wisconsin is in GREAT shape. Thanks, Walker!

By every measure, Minnesota is ahead of Wiscon. Look, I grew up in Wisconsin. My family is still there. I want the state to succeed. But Walker was a disaster, Minnesota is booming. That Foxconn deal alone.....jesus, what a cluster.

Just because you read it on Occupy Democrats does not make it true.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have feedback on this school? DC is thinking of a political science or economics major. TIA!

Political Science department is well regarded. I considered doing my doctorate there but opted to stay in DC. (I went to undergrad at Minnesota-Duluth) The twin cities are very happening right now, and the state of Minnesota has become quite the booming economic powerhouse, particularly compared to the disaster that is Wisconsin thanks to Walker. While the state as a whole, and admittedly a lot of the suburbs, are very white, the cities are very diverse. There are large Hmong and Somali communities.

Surplus, state revenue has grown consistently, record low unemployment...Wisconsin is in GREAT shape. Thanks, Walker!

By every measure, Minnesota is ahead of Wiscon. Look, I grew up in Wisconsin. My family is still there. I want the state to succeed. But Walker was a disaster, Minnesota is booming. That Foxconn deal alone.....jesus, what a cluster.

Lol. If you think that is because of Walker, you are ignorant.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is there and loving it. She is in CSE. Not many DMV kids. We have been Impressed so far and enjoy the separate administration of the different colleges, but ymmv because liberal arts is much bigger/different than engineering.

The twin cities are great fun. It is easy to get around town. They call Minnesota the “Canada of the US” which is true. People are really nice and friendly. It is cold, but with the exception of the occasional polar vortex, very manageable. The grad Econ dept is highly regarded.

It is definitely very white, as is the state. Most kids are from MN, IL, WI and SD.

If you are seriously interested, put down the $50 now to reserve housing (separate from admissions) as the dorms fill up. (This is probably good advice at many big ten schools).

Very white? There is a huge population of refugees and immigrants.

Anonymous wrote:My daughter from northern VA is a freshman there and is happy. I thought she might want to bail out because of the cold but she's going back next year. The campus is urban and spread out. Not what I would have picked, but she likes it.

My son from Nova is also a freshman and happy there. We knew of only one other person attending from the area. Now we know of two!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have feedback on this school? DC is thinking of a political science or economics major. TIA!

Political Science department is well regarded. I considered doing my doctorate there but opted to stay in DC. (I went to undergrad at Minnesota-Duluth) The twin cities are very happening right now, and the state of Minnesota has become quite the booming economic powerhouse, particularly compared to the disaster that is Wisconsin thanks to Walker. While the state as a whole, and admittedly a lot of the suburbs, are very white, the cities are very diverse. There are large Hmong and Somali communities.

Surplus, state revenue has grown consistently, record low unemployment...Wisconsin is in GREAT shape. Thanks, Walker!

By every measure, Minnesota is ahead of Wiscon. Look, I grew up in Wisconsin. My family is still there. I want the state to succeed. But Walker was a disaster, Minnesota is booming. That Foxconn deal alone.....jesus, what a cluster.

My daughter from northern VA is a freshman there and is happy. I thought she might want to bail out because of the cold but she's going back next year. The campus is urban and spread out. Not what I would have picked, but she likes it.

Anonymous wrote:Can your kid handle this? It is 16 degrees right now. Here's a webcam on the quad (surprised to see liquid water on the lens). Who knows what you will see when you look. Blizzard, sleet, sunshine?

https://cse.umn.edu/college/tate-hall-webcam

There is water on the lens because it's snowing right now. Things don't freeze instantly. And 16 degrees does not feel that cold as long as there is no wind - we were out for a while playing with the kids. I came to U of M as an undergrad from the South back in the '90s and lived in NOVA for two decades working in nat'l security. Just moved back and love it here. Snow and cold are great bonding moments for students and make house parties more cozy. Snowball fights in the quad, learning the tunnels with classmates, and braving the cold on the way to class with friends are all good memories. If a kid hates the cold then take a pass, but most people adapt just fine. It's my favorite urban campus in the U.S. - it has a large mall with the space of a UW Madison (admittedly without the swimmable lakes) and a view of the skyline. GW and BU feel like narrow linear strips of buildings in comparison.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have feedback on this school? DC is thinking of a political science or economics major. TIA!

Political Science department is well regarded. I considered doing my doctorate there but opted to stay in DC. (I went to undergrad at Minnesota-Duluth) The twin cities are very happening right now, and the state of Minnesota has become quite the booming economic powerhouse, particularly compared to the disaster that is Wisconsin thanks to Walker. While the state as a whole, and admittedly a lot of the suburbs, are very white, the cities are very diverse. There are large Hmong and Somali communities.

Surplus, state revenue has grown consistently, record low unemployment...Wisconsin is in GREAT shape. Thanks, Walker!