Dates of visit: April, July, and August 2017

Reviewer Eric Stutman, Top Choice College Consulting

School visited: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Vital stats

US News #54 National University

40,000 undergrads, 52% male, 19:1 student:faculty ratio.

Public, Urban, but grassy campus of 1,800 acres.

94% freshman retention rate.

83% 6-year graduation rate.

53% acceptance rate.

Cost of Attendance: ` $30,000 in state, $44,000 out of state.

Getting there

OSU is in Columbus, the capital of Ohio, about a 15 minute drive from CMH airport. Very convenient.

Surrounding area

Suburban/urban. A commercial street (High Street) has shops and restaurants with homes behind it. Stay on High to the center of Columbus.

Curb appeal

Very pretty for a state school. Variety of architecture with some very attractive buildings.

Campus

Large, 1800 acre campus. Very flat campus. One large and one huge grassy quad ("The Oval").

Housing

3 areas of dorms. Freshmen and sophomores must live on campus. A lot of dorms have air conditioning and have been renovated or are new except for the two "towers" that look like the 1970s.

Academics

Every program you can think of. This is the third largest college in the US behind Texas A&M and Central Florida.

Food

3 main cafeterias, and over 20 other food options on campus where students can use "dining dollars". Food seems good.

Library

Many. The main library (Thompson), seen below, is amazing since a renovation replaced many interior walls with glass.

Greek life

About 10% of students join fraternities and sororities, which means that they are available, but do not dominate the social life.

Sports

It doesn't get more RAH RAH! than this. Division 1 sports, with many contending for national titles. Ohio Stadium aka The Shoe, is on campus and seats 105,000 of your closest friends.

Religion

No affiliation.

Getting in

About 53% overall acceptance rate. About 16% of students are from out of state. Similar competitive admissions to University of Maryland.

Eric's opinion, not fact

Ohio State is a great option for students who want a solid education, beautiful campus near a city, and want to have fun and attend sporting events and perhaps paint their face red (actually, scarlet). It is a bit warmer than New England, and academically higher ranked by US News than UMass, UNH, UVM, and UConn. 1 1/2 hour nonstop flights from Boston and other airports is also attractive relative to schools like Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan State, Penn State, etc. which are harder to get to from out of state. Finally, out of state tuition is lower than UConn, UVM, and Maryland.