American Studies: Year Abroad in USA

Hey , I'm going into my second year at Swansea University doing American Studies and history and I will be spending my third year abroad in the USA.

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. I have a long list of universities to choose from but I'm not really sure how to choose one. I think i would like one near to some cities with a decent nightlife. I've already cut down on the universities i would maybe like to go to and i was wondering if anyone could give me an information about the ones i have picked.
Thanks

California state university system
Louisiana State University
San Francisco State University (SFSU)
The State University of New York at Albany
University at Buffalo, State University of New York (UB)
University of Houston Texas
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC)
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
University of North Carolina (UNCW)
University of South Carolina
University of Southern Mississippi
Washington State University
Texas A&M University

Reply 1

username2324315

The uni which jumped out to me the quickest on the list is SFSU - San Francisco is known to be a great city for nightlife and it's located in the heart of SF :smile:

Reply 2

JMuslimah

What exactly are you studying? UIUC is a great school. Great social life and academics

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

zombiejon

Original post by george_c00per

The uni which jumped out to me the quickest on the list is SFSU - San Francisco is known to be a great city for nightlife and it's located in the heart of SF :smile:

That's only if you are at the downtown campus. The main SFSU campus is in the suburbs. That said, it's around a 30 min MUNI ride to downtown, assuming you actually don't have a long wait for the M train.

If you want some sort of nightlife, cross out WSU/some of the Cal State campuses.

Reply 4

JMuslimah

Do not choose UNCW. I now live 30min from there. You will end up in one of the most boring areas in the US and unless you have car, getting around will be difficult.

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

jill96

Original post by JMuslimah

What exactly are you studying? UIUC is a great school. Great social life and academics

Posted from TSR Mobile

Im most likely going to be studying history or something along those lines

Reply 6

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by jill96

California state university system

Which colleges specifically (there are a lot of them)? Personally I think I would go to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, it is a good university in a lovely New England location. Living there would give you a very American college experience.

Reply 7

mathplustutornj

You can be in the middle of nowhere more in the US. Also, there are not good public transportation systems and students usually don't have cars. Schools usually have there own nightlifes, and students don't do into cities that much.

U illinois, U. Southern Mississippi, Texas A&M, and Washington State are definitely in the middle of nowhere. In terms of interesting location, I would recommend U. Mass. It is in a college town with several other colleges in Western Mass., sort of in the mountains, and close to cities and so on, as in Britain. Louisiana State University is in Baton Rouge, which has both southern and French culture, and might be interesting to a foreigner.

Albany and Buffalo are cities, but not particularly large or interesting, and somewhat depressed. UMBC is in the Baltimore suburbs, and 40 miles from DC and not far from Philadelphia, and NYC, but not sure if students there generally get into cities much.

Reply 8

jill96

Original post by Snufkin

it all the campuses im pretty sure

Reply 9

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by jill96

it all the campuses im pretty sure

I doubt that.

Reply 10

mathplustutornj

An American experience at all, but what kind of an experience? These are all mid tier state schools. Some like Texas A&M and Washington State are land grant schools, based on a law passed during the Civil War to provide education to more, and emphasizing things useful to the government like engineering and agriculture. Southern congressmen had blocked this, not wanting education for more people. They are in areas in the middle of nowhere with cheap land.

U. Mass is a decent college town with various places to see nearby. So it seems like the best choice as far as location. UMBC is a new campus in the suburbs, but it is also near a lot of places. A lot of the US is not densely populated, so I would be cautious of locations other than the east coast or California. U. South Carolina is one of the better schools on the list and in a small city. You might consider southern schools,in an area with an interesting culture, depending on whether you are comfortable with that culture.

Reply 11

jill96

Original post by Snufkin

I doubt that.

yeah i checked, its all 23 campuses

Reply 12

Snufkin

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by jill96

yeah i checked, its all 23 campuses

Even Berkeley and UCLA? I find that hard to believe considering the standard of the universities your home university has links with.

Reply 13

mathplustutornj

It's the 23 member California State University at _____ system. It doesn't include the more prestigious University of California at ____ system. Never mind UCLA and Berkeley, it doesn't include UC San Diego, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Cruz etc. I guess that is what a #40 or so UK university is equivalent to.

If you are looking for location and nightlife though, the California State system might be good though.It wouldn't be like one of those land grant schools, where the nearest city is 300 kilometers away.

Reply 14

zombiejon

Original post by mathplustutornj

If you are looking for location and nightlife though, the California State system might be good though.It wouldn't be like one of those land grant schools, where the nearest city is 300 kilometers away.

Cal State really varies. Some places, like Fullerton/SFSU/East Bay/SJSU, are in a major metropolitan. Others are on the fringes (San Benardino in LA) or may require a significant drive (Monterey/Humboldt/San Luis Obispo).

Reply 15

jill96

just thought i would post to say im going to university of texas austin and if anyone knew any additional info it would be welcomed

Reply 16

mathplustutornj

It seems like a good match for what you are looking for. It is better rated then maybe any of the schools you mentioned before. In general, the US is not as varied culturally as Europe. In Texas, you have southern and Mexican influences. Texas was briefly an independent country, and their are attitudes reflecting that. Austin is the state capital and was important in "outlaw" country music in the 1970s and later.

The school is big and there a culture about school varsity sports, filling up stadiums, on national TV, and so on. The distances between cities is big in Texas and other areas outside the east coast. The east coast is probably more culturally similar to Britain. However, it seems like a good place for an American experience, and to get a feel for what the US is like.

Reply 17

Kastelo

Austin is well known for being quite a fun city, I'm sure you'll have a great time. Also, interesting to note - Austin is not very similar to other parts of Texas. It has a very alternative, creative vibe (comparatively, it's no San Francisco, but there aren't many rednecks here). I don't know specifically about UT Austin itself though.