The University of Cincinnati

1. They have brand new buildings and facilities: No one can complain ( at least be taken seriously) about Cincinnati's facilities. They have many new buildings that have won architectual awards. The have lots of great faclities in the buildings, which are chuck full of new computers, labs,etc. Their have one of the bigger libraries in the nation too that is very wired for research. Trust me on this. Cincinnati's facilites are great.

2. The have some great school spirit, which is not shown on these forums. Being in the Big East, they have some great sports teams to play. Cincinnati usually fields some good teams itself especially in Basketball. The games are a hoot and lots of fun. I get the pleasure of being up front as part of the pep band, which will be discussed later on.

3. Academics range from fabulous to mediocre: Cincinnati is really several schools within a school. They have varying academic qualities. They have strong graduate programs in Medicine and Law. They have several well known and very highly ranked programs too. Pharmacy and Criminal Justice is very highly ranked. However, their two top school, by far, is their Conservatory of Music (CCM) and their School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning (DAAP).

CCM has programs that are listed in the top 5-10 in the US. They are are par with Julliard, Bard, Oberlin, Rice etc. for music and drama training. Their programs,which we student get to see, are terrific. They also have a great performance auditorium that is state of the art.

The DAAP school has some of the top ranked programs in the US. For Example, the interior design program is ranked number one of the country by Design Intelligence Magazine. Their school of architecture is ranked number two, which is ahead of Rice, Carnegie Mellon, and many others. Their Industrial Design program was ranked number 2 by Design Intellience Magazine and they have very strong programs in both graphic and digital design. Their new building is out of this world and has won a number of design awards.

I can't speak for other programs there since I am not familiar with them. Students give mixed reviews from the other programs; however, I can guarantee that most kids like their respective programs especially if they have a coop program. Also, Cincinnati has a combined BS/ MD program that future doctors should look into. Although it isn't easy to get admitted to this combined program, it is easier than that of other combined programs found at some other schools.

I should note that Cinncinnati does have a good honor's program, duel majors, many minors to choose from and host of majors to choose from too.

4. Coop: It may surprise you to learn that Cincinnati started the whold concept of coop education. Many majors have mandatory coop experience for 6 quarters, which is 1.5 years! This provides a lot of real world experience for the students and can provide a much more impressive resume. In fact, as one professor noted, kids that have been on coops are looked at more as collegues than as students. These are great forms of experiential learning that is unsurpassed.By the way, coops are usually paid coop, and they usually pay well! Each year over $25,000,000 is earned by Cincnnati students. I should note that many majors have guaranteed coops too;thus, you don't have to worry that you may not find a coop.

5. Pricing: Cincinnnati tuition at first seems somewhat high for a state school. However, most decent students get a Cincinnatus Scholarship that lowers the tuition by $2,000 for instate and #5,000 for out of state. This makes Cincinnati a real deal considering the great education provided and great coop experience.

5. There are an unlimited number of things to do and be involved in. If you go to the Cincinnati web site, you will find 10 calendars of events. True, some may not be of interest to you such as the admission's calendar; however, there are a huge number of activities going on all the time. Just check out the CCM calendar and Main Street Calendar. In addition, there are literally hundreds of clubs and activities to join.

Having a strong music program also trickles down to the rest of the student body. There are plenty of music opportunities for non-music majors such as marching band, pep band, concert band etc.

Speaking of things to do, there are many activities in a big city, which are near the campus. The Bengals are not far away if you like the football. There is a host of museums, concert halls, and restaurants available nearby too.

The only downside is that although there is a big campus, it is a city school. Crime outside of campus does occur.It is rare when it spills over into the campus however due to very strong security on campus and due to having a lot of call boxes all around the campus. Kids do need, however, to be aware of their surroundings especially when going off campus. A big city does have its programs.

The bottom line is that now that most construction is FINISHED, the school is a great place to attend and to learn from for many majors. They do, however, get a wide variety of kids with differing academic strengths. Thus, you really need to take some of these negative posts with a "grain of salt."