What US college has the best typical American college experience?

Big Ten works as long as you stick with Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Iowa, maybe Penn State. But not Northwestern or UCLA or Minnesota or the ones in big cities.

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Ok-Energy-9785@reddit

Exactly. U of I is another one. Apparently it has the largest fraternity system in the US. OP has a lot of options.

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daveescaped@reddit

Ann Arbor, Madison are hard to beat. But I’d make a pitch for East Lansing as well.

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ShipComprehensive543@reddit

East Lansing most definitely - I would also add Bloomington IN

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daveescaped@reddit

You’re right. Bloomington is a great college town.

Not as big of a fan of W Lafayette.

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The horrific greek system is a cancer - it makes the experiences worse for many students and fosters corruption from a young age. UIUC is soooo much better as a student when you get away from those elitist cesspools!

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HammerDown125@reddit

They are easy enough to ignore.

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Ok-Energy-9785@reddit

Ok

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AchtungCloud@reddit

I actually don’t think your examples fit well. They specifically asked for “college town” vibes. Austin and LA don’t have college town vibes.

Michigan and Georgia are better examples, imo.

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maceilean@reddit

If you never leave Westwood it feels like a college town but with the bonus of also being in LA with the various communities an exchange student might value.

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YouWillHaveThat@reddit

I agree.

You need some separation from a big city.

UCLA just feels like you are living in LA.

Which is not a bad thing. It’s just not what OP asked for.

Penn State is a great example of a college town. Pretty much everyone who lives in State College, PA is there for the university in some way.

Notre Dame is a good one too. Closer to a city but very old-school vibes on campus.

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J-Dirte@reddit

Austin isn’t a ‘ college town’ but it has college vibes, it’s just blown up.

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nope-its@reddit

Texas is SEC

That being said I’d suggest an SEC school.

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daveescaped@reddit

I wasn’t saying Texas was Big Ten. I was listing a few examples of flagship state schools. And I forgot UCLA is B10.

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royalhawk345@reddit

Why'd you say UCLA twice

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Cool-Bunch6645@reddit

Holy moly you’re right

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daveescaped@reddit

Oh god , you’re right. That’s gonna take some getting used to.

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royalhawk345@reddit

I'd barely gotten used to Nebraska

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Premium333@reddit

100% this. Choose one in a town that is dominated by the existence of the school and you'll have a good time.

Fort Collins and CSU perhaps, or CU and Boulder if you like mountain access.

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21crepes@reddit

Fort Collins is such a fun college town!!

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Premium333@reddit

Never went to college there. I grew up there though. It was an excellent place to grow up in the late 90's and early 00's.

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goatcheezre@reddit

Especially ones in textbook “college towns.” Madison WI is a city built to support the college, while you could pluck the University of Minnesota out of Minneapolis and morning traffic would barely change.

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JustAnotherDay1977@reddit

Yeah, but Madison has grown pretty dramatically and has state capital and related business too. I’d suggest a place like Iowa City as a more quintessential “college town.”

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No-Conversation1940@reddit

Going from undergrad at a mid-sized Midwestern town where the college exists in its little bubble and has seemingly no effect on the broader community to Madison for grad school is like going from single-A to the majors.

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goatcheezre@reddit

100%, my trajectory was the exact same. When I got to Madison, my first thought was “man, I should have gone to undergrad here.”

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KennyKettermen@reddit

Madison is definitely more college town but I’ll say Dinkytown is great (when you’re in college)

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ian9921@reddit

This! That changes so much of the culture. As a personal example, the University of Idaho is Moscow, Idaho. The student experience & culture bleeds into everything about the town, from the macro-level physical layout to the individual business philosophies of local shops.

Meanwhile, if Boise State University never existed, very few things about Boise, Idaho would be different.

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Responsible_Ask3976@reddit

Ann Arbor 💛💙

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MattHelpsPortland@reddit

I went to Oregon, but for some reason I feel compelled to say the answer to this question is Florida State.

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Lamentation_Lost@reddit

FSU is a cool campus but it’s also the state capital. Miami, UCF and USF are in large cities. UF is the best answer as far as Florida goes. Gainesville is built around the school

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us287@reddit

Texas A&M

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Crying_in_99Ranch@reddit

A&M is anything but typical

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us287@reddit

Fair enough

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DannyDevitosAss@reddit

In the same way Heaven’s Gate was typical

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Guardsred70@reddit

Agree 100%. Every state has a flagship and they’re all good/great academically and offer a really good glimpse into the smarter and more serious people in that state….without being swarmed by wealthy kids. And ironically for international OP, they often have fewer international students so OP gets to soak in the American culture stuff. A lot of private schools have a dependency on wealthy international students because they pay full sticker price tuition.

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Ok-Energy-9785@reddit

I know private schools take in a bunch of international students but I am surprised that there isn't much of an international presence at state schools. I would expected it to be the case for Chinese and Indian students.

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Guardsred70@reddit

It obviously varies, but state schools usually have a set amount of in-state students to accept. And often even requirements to accept students from all counties. And even the out of state tuition isn’t nuts, so there’s less incentive to take international students.

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VentureCO6@reddit

CU Boulder!

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StuckInWarshington@reddit

Too broad of a question, but I’d say there’s a framework to narrow it down.

Since you mentioned football/sports, I’d say look at schools in the SEC, Big 10, or Big 12. From those, narrow it down to flagship public universities and land grant universities. Do you have a region or climate preference? Figure out what you want to study, and look at the remaining schools on the list that have good programs.

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Much-Duty-675@reddit (OP)

probs focusing on the big 10 core universities and i dont care about academics

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StuckInWarshington@reddit

Wisconsin

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PurpleLilyEsq@reddit

A large state university seems to most likely have what you’re looking for. Some that come to mind for me are places like UCLA, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Georgia etc. One way that might help narrow it down are schools in big sports conferences like the Southeastern Conference or Big 10 conference. Though I’ll admit I’m more of a gymnastics person than a football person. But all the schools I listed have both.

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jvc1011@reddit

UCLA definitely doesn’t bring the “college town” vibe.

This is a big big biiiiig city.

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5hallowbutdeep@reddit

Parties? SDSU, ASU and USC

Academics MIT, Standford

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GooseInLocalPark@reddit

The University of Colorado Boulder is up there. Sko Buffs

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Consistent_Damage885@reddit

Pick a state school in a part of the country you want to experience most. Different parts of the country are distinct in culture and geography. Do you want mountains, ocean, desert, snow, hot, laid back, business minded, etc.?

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Much-Duty-675@reddit (OP)

somewhere in the midwest pref big 10

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Minute_Point_949@reddit

For something different, try Appalachian State, in the NC mountains. The town of Boone is smaller than the university which is decently big, the area is beautiful, the whole region lives for Mountaineer football, incredible hiking, etc.

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Slight_Mood9168@reddit

UT Austin, definitely not biased in any way

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Quix66@reddit

LSU. Stay on campus of student apartments though.

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TheVentiLebowski@reddit

University of Massachusetts Amherst is very much a "college experience," and the town of Amherst is a quintessential college town.

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iaminabox@reddit

UMass Amherst.

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wiserTyou@reddit

I don't know about that. There's a lot of the valley mixed in that makes it feel less like the stereotypical movie college.

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TheVentiLebowski@reddit

It was definitely felt like a colleague movie when I went there. The Valley is just icing on the cake.

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sum_dude44@reddit

SEC college on a football Saturday.

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sum_dude44@reddit

my school

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caf61@reddit

University of Kansas - Lawrence, KS

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IsThisDecent@reddit

There are around1 4000 colleges in America. It is impossible for someone to know them all well enough to answer.

Tell us what state or region you are looking into. Overall, large public universities are your best bet.

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Much-Duty-675@reddit (OP)

somewhere in the midwest i think the big 10 schools

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sammysbud@reddit

Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State are probably the most known for it. I just visited Ann Arbor for the first time (a friend is in grad school there) and I think it has been bumped up to my top 5 college towns. I understood the hype.

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SterileCarrot@reddit

As someone who has never been, Bloomington and Madison seem cool too from what I’ve heard

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KrazySunshine@reddit

Penn State

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shbd12@reddit

Penn State has a great college-town feel. You get four seasons, but it has no big city close by.

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KrazySunshine@reddit

This is just what I was going to say

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YouWillHaveThat@reddit

I think that’s why this would be my choice.

Everyone there is there for the university in some way.

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snokeweed@reddit

Boulder. Amherst

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Ryan1869@reddit

There are probably a 100 that fit that description, maybe more. Where in the country would you like? Do you want cold or warm weather? What are you looking for. There's college towns like State College (Penn St) in the middle of nowhere, but then you also have places like Austin that are also big cities that just happen to have a major university too.

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Much-Duty-675@reddit (OP)

somewhere in the midwest i think the big 10 schools

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Ryan1869@reddit

Can't go wrong with any of those schools, except maybe Nebraska 😂

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zmoneypapa@reddit

Depends on climate as well. Winters in the Big 10 schools will be vastly different from most SEC schools.

SEC: UGA (Georgia), UF (Florida), Tennessee BIG 10: Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State

If you’re looking for a real cultural immersion and don’t wanna freeze your ass off for 6 months of the year, I’m bias towards the SEC (it just means more)

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ladybugseattle@reddit

Beside the big state schools there is a sub-genre of small elite (expensive) private schools, many in the Northeast. One example would be Skidmore College in the resort town of Saratoga Springs NY. They have an equestrian program with a polo team.

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Loud_Inspector_9782@reddit

Kansas would be a good choice. So would Iowa. Georgia would be fine. All good schools in college towns.

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sideshow--@reddit

Faber College

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SenseNo635@reddit

Wait til Otis sees us. He loves us!

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diamondgreg@reddit

Filmed on the University of Oregon campus (the parade was in nearby Cottage Grove).

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OldJames47@reddit

Based off experiences at Dartmouth

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Creekridge1@reddit

Have a brew, don’t cost nothing

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RemotePossibility399@reddit

Knowledge is good

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capsrock02@reddit

It spends on wha you’re looking for.

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CriticalSuit1336@reddit

University of Wisconsin-Madison; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; University of Iowa; Iowa State; University of Tennessee-Knoxville; University of Georgia; Purdue University-West Lafayette; University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; Indiana University-Bloomington; Michigan State; University of Illinois-Urbana/Champagne; Oklahoma State; University of Arkansas-Fayetteville; University of Oregon; Oregon State; Washington State-Pullman; University of Arizona-Tucson; Kansas University; Kansas State - I'm sure I'm missing a bunch, but that's a good list

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Much-Duty-675@reddit (OP)

thank u!

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_Azamat_Bagatov@reddit

Big ten school. Bloomington, IN (Indiana University) is about as stereotypical of a movie college town as you can possibly get.

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Mite-o-Dan@reddit

This is like asking what the best one-off local restaurant in your country is.

Pick a state, city, or region.
Understand that you wont qualify, be eligible, or afford over 90% of them.
What do YOU like and prefer?
Better off just picking YOUR top 5-10 schools youre interested in and asking about them.

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Much-Duty-675@reddit (OP)

somewhere in the midwest i think the big 10 schools

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SnowblindAlbino@reddit

There are 4,500 colleges and universities in the USA. It's impossible to answer this question without a great deal more input from OP.

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tcspears@reddit

I don’t think there is a “typical American college experience “.

The schools by me tend to be smaller, and near major metro areas. But there are also these mega-colleges in the southeast and Midwest that are basically cities. The student experience at Harvard or Boston University will be radically different than a student going to Duke, Notre Dame, NYU, or UCLA.

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I_Owe_Suzanner@reddit

Just a few that come to mind:

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Penn State University - State College University of Texas - Austin University of Florida - Gainesville Indiana University - Bloomington

All will have difficult entrance requirements and be very expensive

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RobotShlomo@reddit

I know that it wasn't Southern Connecticut State. That place was an absolute joke.

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Tommy_Wisseau_burner@reddit

I’m biased but Knoxville

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Carinyosa99@reddit

Definitely the flagship state schools will give you all of that. The non-coastal states probably fit the picture you have in your head more than those on the East or West coasts (and I say this as an East Coast girl).

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_MadSuburbanDad_@reddit

Miami, Florida, UCF, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Clemson, Duke, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest, UVA, Virginia Tech, Pitt, Penn State, Boston College…I’m probably missing a bunch more but that’s just the east cost off the top of my head. 🤣

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Carinyosa99@reddit

Yeah, but the stereotypical state universities that an international student will think of is usually more like the Midwest, Texas, or like Nebraska and Iowa. And I said flagship state schools - not all the ones you listed are that.

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_MadSuburbanDad_@reddit

All the East Coast schools I listed fit the criteria of having a strong social scene, good sports and football culture, and most are in college towns. Looking back, I’d remove Pitt because it doesn’t fit the college town vibe.

And if someone is coming from overseas, do you think they would prefer Nebraska to Florida? Oklahoma to North Carolina? Iowa to Georgia?

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mr_miggs@reddit

University of Wisconsin

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GonzoAndRizzo@reddit

only if you are a drinker and ready to party, and are ok with the winters.

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No-Conversation1940@reddit

Drinking culture is definitely present, but Wisconsin has over 50,000 students so there are niches for everybody.

Winters are a valid concern, and I will mention lack of sunshine since most attention seems to go to the cold. I knew people who had SAD there. Not everyone successfully adjusts.

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Great_Chipmunk4357@reddit

Do you realize that there are 4000 universities in the US?

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GhostOfJamesStrang@reddit

SEC

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Longjumping_Ant7025@reddit

VCU.

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primitive_thisness@reddit

UIUC

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RenaissanceGuy86@reddit

Dare I say Greenville-Spartanburg, SC? I was shocked with the amount of colleges and universities in such a small area.

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RTR7105@reddit

ITT people won't say Tuscaloosa for some weird reason.

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Huntscunt@reddit

If you prefer cold weather, University of Michigan. If you prefer hot weather, maybe University of Georgia or another big southern state school

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New_Order_6365@reddit

Pick a college in the SEC; can’t go wrong

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Rabidschnautzu@reddit

Michigan and Georgia are in great college towns.

Some universities like OSU and Texas are great, but their cities are big enough that they are more of big cities with colleges.

You want a small city with a large state college campus.

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NYerInTex@reddit

Honestly I think the Big 10 has the best options here - Michigan with Ann Arbor or Wisconsin with Madison are two huge schools that fit everything listed, big party schools, can still get a solid education, and their college towns are among the very best in the country. You have other examples but these really fit and you don’t get a better college town setting than these two… the four seasons and cold winters somehow add to the all American full experience.

Bundle up and drink.

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DontH8DaPlaya@reddit

FSU

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Left_Ad3575@reddit

There are several schools called FSU.

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SpecialsSchedule@reddit

The poster with the Florida flag is presumably referring to Florida State University, the school that comes up when you google “FSU”

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DontH8DaPlaya@reddit

I wrote something much much snarkier to respond to this person.

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DontH8DaPlaya@reddit

Use some context then digaling

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_MadSuburbanDad_@reddit

Fitchburg State University!!! Whooooooooo

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gleaming-the-cubicle@reddit

Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan

Go Bulldogs!

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DontH8DaPlaya@reddit

Nailed it!!!

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-Boston-Terrier-@reddit

There is no best typical American college experience.

It's whichever is right for you, specifically. There's a world of difference between how two very different people could view the best party scene. And, quite frankly, you can find drastically different party scenes within the same university.

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CosyBeluga@reddit

Depends on what you want but there’s really more ‘best fit’ than best.

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Honest_Road17@reddit

Cal State Chico.

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IndividualCricket415@reddit

University of Illinois - Urbana

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MetroBS@reddit

Most of them honestly

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No_Patience_6801@reddit

SMU

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MrRaspberryJam1@reddit

Take out the good sports and football culture and this could be any SUNY school

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OldRaj@reddit

Indiana University Bloomington

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MIZ417@reddit

I'd say a P4 school. So one that is a member of one of the following athletic conferences: the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, or Big 12.

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VentureCO6@reddit

Highly recommend CU Boulder for a great mix of everything.

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MIZ417@reddit

I enjoyed visiting Boulder when we were both in the Big XII.

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natigin@reddit

UW Madison

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dragonflamehotness@reddit

UCLA seems like the perfect environment. Huge campus, big sports culture, massive and fun city to explore, and from what I hear from friends a very attractive student body.

Compared to other schools which may have these like Michigan, UT or Penn State you also get the perfect LA weather.

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tres-vip@reddit

Back in my day, San Diego State University had a massive reputation for being a party school and hook-up central. Same thing for UCSB. Don't know if it's still true, but IME, state schools located near the beach party a lot, lol

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wieldymouse@reddit

UF or FSU

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datsyukianleeks@reddit

I think of Michigan as the quintessential example

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Reduak@reddit

I'd stick to the big schools in the Big 10 (Michigan, Ohio State, USC, UCLA, Washington & Oregon) or the SEC (really any of them, except Vanderbilt... its a bit more academic focused), and then throw in Notre Dame.

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Responsible-Care-388@reddit

Arizona State University

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_MadSuburbanDad_@reddit

You’ll hear a lot about the big “Power 4” schools but some of the big flagship state schools are TOO big and can be pretty daunting for a newcomer.

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blipsman@reddit

There are literally 1000’s of colleges and universities. There is no one best experience.

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thickjamaicanuncle@reddit

Rutgers, THE State University of New Jersey

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FunkIPA@reddit

The big state universities, Florida, Florida State, Clemson, Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, etc. There are a lot.

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Electrical-Ad1288@reddit

University of Alabama definitely fits this.

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Berck_Plage@reddit

University if Georgia in Athens is a great college town.

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chris-hatch@reddit

for a liberal arts education: the annapolis group colleges i.e Colgate, Emory, Reed College, Claremont, Pomona etc—wildly expensive but impressive on a resume for some fields

for a sports school/greek life: all the major flagships such as Oregon, Udub, KU, CU, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, arizona etc

For engineering and stem: all the aggie state schools such as Oregon State, Colorado state, Univ of Nevada Reno, Washington State, UCDavis, Texas tech, georgia tech, colo school of mines

For budget-minded but regionally accredited: regional colleges such as univ of Northern Colorado, Western Oregon, Metro State in Denver, southern illinois, eastern washington univ, Portland State etc

For christian adjacent but accredited: Univ of Puget sound, Corban Univ, Linfield, George Fox Univ etc they’re all private schools but often less expensive than the liberal arts college unless it’s pepperdine

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Hell_of_a_Caucasian@reddit

Wisconsin, Iowa, Mizzou, Illinois, Georgia, Ole Miss, LSU, South Carolina, Penn State, Michigan, Oregon, Alabama, Florida, Colorado, UNC, Arkansas

There are many more, but those are the big state flagship universities that came to mind that are still in what I would mostly consider “college towns” and not in some big city or part of a larger metroplex but also not tiny little towns where there’s not much else to do. (I left one out but couldn’t in good conscience recommend it due to my lifelong fandom).

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royalhawk345@reddit

How are your academics? Some that I'd suggest, like UCLA and Michigan, are very competitive to gain admission to. Others, like Illinois, are easy to get into only so long as you aren't trying for a competitive major, where acceptance percentage can go down to single digits. If you don't care (and you probably should) there are party schools like Alabama and Arizona that don't have restrictive standards.

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morosco@reddit

Too many to name. Most of the big state schools.

Finding the right program and right regional fit is more important.