The University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Date: Apr 20 2007
Major: Accounting (This Major's Salary over time)
I used this website repeatedly before deciding where to go to college my senior year or high school (Spring of 2006). So for any prospective freshman, this is the review I wish I had had access to when I was making a decision.

Coming to the U was just like coming to any other college at first, but after the honeymoon period wears off (about one month after move-in) the truths about the school you are attending begin to set in. I am going to lay out what I think about the U of MN in Pro and Con form, and then move into a final reflection:

Pro:

Resource availability: The U because of its sheer size is capable of offering an immense body of knowledge and opportunity to its undergraduate student population. From Coffman Union to the multitude of information available online to the incredibly streamlined processing systems for ordinary tasks like class registration, the U is miles beyond any other school I am aware of. If you want the largest and most diverse array of possibilities for personal and academic growth, the U is a definate contender.

Socializing: Aside from the academics of college, one of the biggest benefits I have found is that you can meet new people every single day and constantly network and grow your self socially with little or no bound. I find this is the most important part of why I am at the U and not a smaller school, again because the U's size offers something else that a smaller private school could not possibly offer: 20000 potential lifelong friends. Granted, there is no way you could meet even half of these people over the course of your college career, but the potential is still an amazing benefit.

Availability of exclusive programs: Being a business major in finance and accounting, I have the benefit of attending the Carlson School and being part of a very small and select subset of the student body here at the U of MN. Honestly, I would not have attended the U had I not been accepted to one of the smaller and highly exclusive undergraduate programs, the Carlson program being one of the most highly regarded on campus and in Minnesota in general. The feeling around Carlson is similar to having your own "high school" within the confines of the much larger college. From this point of view, you have the ability to meet and interact with new people constantly, while maintaining relationships with friends through all four years of the Carlson Undergraduate Program. Looking out at the rest of the university from a place like Carlson, I could not ask for a better place to learn and grow as a college student.

CONS:

More than any other factor, be prepared to deal with the IMPERSONAL attitude everyone shares here at the U. Most of this is unavoidable, the feeling around campus (especially on the East Bank during the week) is almost like being in Lower Manhattan during the lunch hour. The immense size and complexity of campus prevents any sense of meaningful human interaction unless one makes a concious effort to seek out relationships and maintain close personal contacts. I came to campus expecting to see at least a few of the people I knew day to day. That did not happen. I had to become an active member of the student organizations at Carlson my freshman year, and make continual contact with new people in Territorial Hall (my dorm) in order to achieve this sense of knowing people around campus.

Campus aesthetics: To be honest, some parts of the U of MN are in desperate need of any kind of remodeling. The administration is on a continual push to improve physical facilities and the effort is beginning to show, but much work remains to be done. From a general standpoint, the location of the Minneapolis campus is such that everything looks dead around campus in terms of natural plants and trees almost all year long. Granted, alot of the campus is concrete and has to be so, but if you are looking for a campus that feels like Madison with the natural feeling of the lakes on both sides of campus, the U will not be comparable. This is definately an urban campus, and sometimes that point cannot be stressed enough.