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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Going to University in the USA - your help needed!
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Showing posts 26 - 50 of 58, (reverse)
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 03/03/2009 08:41:54 AM · #26
What are the other possible choices in addition to University of Wisconsin Greenbay?

FWIW, keep in mind that University of Wisconsin Greenbay is not the main University of Wisconsin campus (the one at Madison is the main campus), so that whatever you read about the University of Wisconsin in general may not apply as much to the Greenbay campus as the main campus.
 03/03/2009 08:52:13 AM · #27
If he ends up in Greenbay he better be prepared for bitter cold winters, and I do mean BITTER COLD!!!! Also, I'm not sure exactly about Greenbay, but most Wisconsin schools have a reputation as party schools. To give you an idea on the alcohol laws in Wisconsin...if you are with your parents and they say it's okay you can drink in a public restaurant at ANY age.
 03/03/2009 09:12:37 AM · #28
Originally posted by talj:
Well, just when we thought he'd decided he's now looking at another University!

Does anyone live near or know anything about University of Wisconsin Greenbay?

Any advice about what my brother should expect if he definitely decides to go here would be greatly appreciated :)


Greenbay is a great little community. Yes, nasty cold and snow in the winter, but truly great and nice people. And, a fun little party town for a college student as well!
 03/03/2009 09:18:41 AM · #29
Originally posted by NathanW:
To give you an idea on the alcohol laws in Wisconsin...if you are with your parents and they say it's okay you can drink in a public restaurant at ANY age.


Yeah, if you are with your parents and you are 18-19 the waiter probably won't have a problem serving you a drink in a lot of places in Wisconsin, but legal? I don't think so? And at any age? Highly doubtful.
03/03/2009 09:25:43 AM · #30
he is from england where the whole drinking age thing is irrelevant anyway, from what i understand. :)

(though obviously he would still have to follow the laws here, drinking probably won't factor in the way it does with some americans that age)

Message edited by author 2009-03-03 09:27:52.
 03/03/2009 09:43:41 AM · #31
Originally posted by LoudDog:
Originally posted by NathanW:
To give you an idea on the alcohol laws in Wisconsin...if you are with your parents and they say it's okay you can drink in a public restaurant at ANY age.


Yeah, if you are with your parents and you are 18-19 the waiter probably won't have a problem serving you a drink in a lot of places in Wisconsin, but legal? I don't think so? And at any age? Highly doubtful.


Yes, legal, no doubt about it. Maybe the law has been recently changed, but this article is from 2008.

NYT article
 03/03/2009 10:03:17 AM · #32
Hi Talj,
My oldest son went to and graduated from James Madison University. And my husband got his master's degree from University of Wisconsin (the main campus in Madison).

I can tell you that James Madison is a very well respected university. And it was a great fit for TJ too. Does your brother have a field of interest yet? If you'd like I can send some pics from James Madison area and probably answer a lot of questions he may have. I could also put him in touch with my son. TJ graduated from JMU in 2003, but he lives in Washington DC and that is a few hours away so he does go back to visit occassionally.

Harrisonburg is situated in the central part of the Shenandoah Mountain range, in the valley. The views are beautiful, the weather is moderate, and he would really have no need for an automobile to get around the town and the university. They have a very good bus system and the campus is well laid out for walking.

PM me if you need other or more detailed info.

Jeanne

Edit to add: Soccer scholarship ... JMU has an absolutely fantastic soccer program. TJ played soccer most of his life and knew that he would not even be considered for their program. So he concentrated on scholastics and also played intramural roller hockey (and those were both good experiences for him).

Message edited by author 2009-03-03 13:50:03.
 03/03/2009 02:51:58 PM · #33
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Yes, legal, no doubt about it. Maybe the law has been recently changed, but this article is from 2008.

NYT article


Wow! I did not know that. Having grown up there I can't say I ever knew anyone that took advantage of the law. Nor have I ever seen 15 year olds at the bar throwin down with dad.

We had to get our alcohol in creative ways just like kids in other states!
 03/03/2009 04:55:46 PM · #34
Originally posted by LoudDog:
Wow! I did not know that. Having grown up there I can't say I ever knew anyone that took advantage of the law. Nor have I ever seen 15 year olds at the bar throwin down with dad.

We had to get our alcohol in creative ways just like kids in other states!


I used to work in a restaurant and the first time I had a 12 year old ask for a beer I nearly freaked out when my boss said to give it to him.
 03/03/2009 06:17:17 PM · #35
LOL, that NYT article makes us look like rolling drunkards! FWIW, yes, Wisconsin does have pretty lax laws on alcohol, mainly because of the strong lobbying of the Tavern League of Wisconsin. We definitely need to crack down on excessive consumption, particularly multiple-offense DWI offenders.
UW Madison is probably one of the most notorious party schools around, but is also a top school for Engineering and some Biomedical specialties. UWGB is a good school, and Green Bay (and the Fox Valley in general) is a very nice area.
 03/03/2009 06:28:51 PM · #36
I agree UW in madison is a fine school with good programs across the board including a top grade network of hospitals for the med students. UW Whitewater is a decent school too but kind of small and a bit limited in courses available compared to the larger campus schools in the UW system.

Originally posted by kirbic:
LOL, that NYT article makes us look like rolling drunkards! FWIW, yes, Wisconsin does have pretty lax laws on alcohol, mainly because of the strong lobbying of the Tavern League of Wisconsin. We definitely need to crack down on excessive consumption, particularly multiple-offense DWI offenders.
UW Madison is probably one of the most notorious party schools around, but is also a top school for Engineering and some Biomedical specialties. UWGB is a good school, and Green Bay (and the Fox Valley in general) is a very nice area.
03/03/2009 09:20:02 PM · #37
Thanks everyone for your replies, I really appreciate it and know my brother is reading this thread too :)

I told my Mum tonight about the party 'reputation' but quickly followed it up with "he can't legally drink there for another 2 years Mum, dont worry" ;) Not sure that helped much lol ;)
 05/07/2009 09:26:25 PM · #38
Well, it's all change...again!!

My brother just got back from a 2 day trip to visit the university (college?) he will be attending from this August. Though we are not Catholic he will be going to Mount St Mary's University, Baltimore (I think Baltimore is right?).

So, anyone here live near this place? Do you know anything about the university, their soccer team, the surrounding area etc etc?

As the time for him to leave is getting closer my Mum is freaking out a bit so I thought checking what you guys know about this place might help me to calm her down!

Cheers,

Natalya :)
 05/07/2009 09:33:27 PM · #39
My very first thought was: Health Insurance!

He is young, he may think he doesn't need it, but the costs are insane and I would make VERY sure he has excellent coverage.
 05/07/2009 10:12:49 PM · #40
Originally posted by Beetle:
My very first thought was: Health Insurance!

He is young, he may think he doesn't need it, but the costs are insane and I would make VERY sure he has excellent coverage.

Especially since he will be playing competitive sports on a regular basis.

Don't know anything about the place, but it appears to be in a very rural area about 60 miles or so northwest of Baltimore.
 05/07/2009 10:52:34 PM · #41
I've just had a quick look through their website and stumbled across a TORNADO PREPAREDNESS PLAN and other information on storms.

Being from the UK I am not sure about the sort of weather you can get in Baltimore (well, near ish to Baltimore). Are Tornados and storms something that happy a lot there? Apologies for not being very clued up on all this!
 05/08/2009 03:03:50 AM · #42
Although I'm not specifically from there, I would say the prevalence of powerful tornadoes is lower, but still something to consider. You do get periodic heavy thunderstorms, but they aren't as prone to becoming tornado producing supercells as some other areas in the US are. There is technically a chance that they'd get a hurricane that migrates up that far (New York city has been hit). There is a lot of crazy weather in the US to be aware of, but in my mind, Baltimore isn't situated in an area specifically known for an extremely dangerous phenomenon's occurrence (like the Great Plains for tornadoes or the gulf coast for hurricanes). I live right on the edge of the great plains and we get periodic tornado warnings for my area, but few amount into something other than tiny funnel clouds. I'm sure there are some Baltimoreans? with more specific info, though.
 05/08/2009 08:40:12 AM · #43
LOL, talj Baltimore is about 40 miles from Washington, D.C.
(That's about 64 kilometers to you) so tornadoes and hurricanes might be more
of the manmade variety than nature's worst.

Frankly, I think Baltimore would be a really exciting and adventurous place for a
young man to explore if the school has the subjects he wants to pursue.

:-))
05/08/2009 10:03:12 AM · #44
Will he live on campus? I understand that some areas of Baltimore are pretty rough.
 05/08/2009 10:26:54 AM · #45
Hi Talj,
Baltimore is in the east coast area of the country and even though they can happen, tornadoes are not commonplace. Now if he was in the midwest or the plains-states then you would have good reason to worry a great deal more.
So cross tornadoes off your worry list. However, those that have mentioned health care ... raise a good point.
We often head south towards Washington DC and Virginia to visit our grown sons. If you'd like we would be happy to stop by, occassionally, and take him out for a dinner and see if he needs any help with anything. Just let us know if you or your mom would like that.
Best of luck. Nice university. One of our sons considered it. If I recall properly it is more rural (nowhere near the rougher areas of Baltimore). Nice little town nearby.
Jeanne

Message edited by author 2009-05-08 10:28:36.
 05/08/2009 10:37:43 AM · #46
JerseyGenie is correct in her statements about the university. Mount St. Mary's is a small Catholic, liberal arts university in northern and rural Maryland. It is located very near Gettysburg, PA, in the rolling hills of that area of the country. From a scholastics perspective, it is considered one of the better Catholic universities in the nation. And from an athletics perspective, their teams are generally very good for the size of the school. They have done very well in the North East Conference in Soccer for years as well as getting several bids to the NCAA tourney in Basketball in recent years.
 05/08/2009 10:53:54 AM · #47
I have some friends from Ocean City Maryland, I think learning how to pronounce Maryland like the natives might be the hardest thing to adapt to. Sounds kind of like "Marrrrralund" when they say it.
 05/08/2009 11:05:22 AM · #48
Natalya,

one thing that I did not get from any of the posts is:

what is his goal? I mean, does he have academic goals? What does he want to be in his life? Sure, playing soccer while studying is one thing, but making that a primary goal in life is not what I would do. He's 18, and at that age most people should already know what they want to be and do for a living. Anyway, I'm not here to dish out lessons as there may as well be people out there that disagree, and that would lead this off topic.

So, in order for me to weigh in on the school choice, I would need to consider his academic goals. That would be my #2 criteria for picking the school. #1 was always affordability. Sports/hurricanes/tornadoes/scorching/freezing weather is something that is but a small distraction from the university's main goal - to prepare him for life.

I've also attended universities at both sides of the pond, so I could attempt at comparison, too. But first, let's hear clearly what are his academic goals. If he has none, then it may be a bad idea to go to college until he has some.

-Serge
 05/08/2009 11:53:50 AM · #49
Chiming in...I moved to Maryland nearly 3 years ago and live just west of Baltimore.

The weather's fine here! Hurricanes are more of a concern than tornadoes and you can see them coming. Haven't had one yet since I've been here. Spring and autumn start early and stay long. Winters are short. Summers are hot but quite tolerable.

In this part of the country you don't go much of anywhere without a car. But if he's busy with sports that probably won't be an issue. Besides, there's usually enough people with cars on campus that don't mind ride-sharing.

As far as safety goes, where he'll be there should not be an issue...at all. There are bad parts of Baltimore but they are obvious and easily avoided. Most of the city is quite pleasant and I go there often alone without much concern.

Rural safety is also not much of an issue. Drunk drivers perhaps like most other places. Dangerous animals are minimal and generally one has to go out of their way to encounter such things as bears (no offense, Rob't) and snakes. Mosquito repellent is handy, though.

Can't say anything about Mount Mary in particular or sports for that matter. However, many schools here have holiday accommodations for students who can't return to family during breaks. Sometimes schools have programs where local church families invite students to visit and dine with them during Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.

One nice thing about being on the East Coast is how varied it is while not being to far from one place to another. Plenty of interesting cities to visit within reason (Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C., NYC...) and lots of state and national parks for hiking, biking, swimming, etc.

...and the people are nice, too. (Not that I'm biased or anything.)

Hope that helps.
 05/08/2009 12:38:41 PM · #50
Tell him to stay home. It's too crowded here already and we certainly don't need any more people from "over the rainbow".
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