[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by debbie at bouontiful

Stillwater is a smaller type town than Norman. Stillwater has the large Professor community living in town so you have lots of the arts and drrama stuff to do at the OSU after graduating. Wereas in Norman many of those professors live elsewhere. Norman just cost more to live. Now, drive a few miles out of town (Stillwater)and your really in the country. It has the best of both worlds. Norman is higher cost and the main problem I see it just keeps on going running into OKC, edmond and etc... just one big area. Too many people. I am a rural personality I guess.

I am an OU person but I am very familiar with Stillwater and OSU. OSU has better student housing than OU at this time for someone in your situation.

Stillwater is smaller and has a much more rural feel than Norman. The agricultural factor is notable on campus in Stillwater. You will see a lot of cowboy boots and hats at OSU that you wouldn't see in Norman. However, OSU has many students who are similar to those in Norman.

Both campuses are nice. I think OU is greener, but OSU has a beautiful spot called Theta pond and the Georgian architecture theme throughout campus is pleasant.

All in all, if you were over 27 years old, OU would probably be better as far as the social scene, but if you are younger than that OSU would be fine.

I think OSU is a little bit friendlier place but I attribute that to the fact that there are a lot more small town people there.

I picked OU when it was time to pick a school and I would still prefer OU if I had to pick again but I think OSU is a great place and wouldn't hesitate recommending it to anyone who was interested.

And oh yeah, I hope you don't have a problem with the color orange.

[peggydavis]

I've never been to Massachusetts. Does it rain horizontally there?

Actually, my daughter walked to all her classes in Norman, because the parking is horrible, and her apartment was a mile from campus. She had some tall rain boots, a poncho, raincoat etc. Her main complaint was walking in the heat. She figured out the route and sides of the street with the most shade.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

I am an OU person but I am very familiar with Stillwater and OSU. OSU has better student housing than OU at this time for someone in your situation.

Stillwater is smaller and has a much more rural feel than Norman. The agricultural factor is notable on campus in Stillwater. You will see a lot of cowboy boots and hats at OSU that you wouldn't see in Norman. However, OSU has many students who are similar to those in Norman.

Both campuses are nice. I think OU is greener, but OSU has a beautiful spot called Theta pond and the Georgian architecture theme throughout campus is pleasant.

All in all, if you were over 27 years old, OU would probably be better as far as the social scene, but if you are younger than that OSU would be fine.

I think OSU is a little bit friendlier place but I attribute that to the fact that there are a lot more small town people there.

I picked OU when it was time to pick a school and I would still prefer OU if I had to pick again but I think OSU is a great place and wouldn't hesitate recommending it to anyone who was interested.

And oh yeah, I hope you don't have a problem with the color orange.

More cowboy attire in Stillwater? Well shucks, pardner, if'n Ah's t' end up in Stillwater, whah Ah'd just git me a ol' ten-gallon hat an' a pair o' lizard-skin boots, an' go a-saunterin' raht down the main street o' town, lookin' just like a gen-yoo-wine walkin' ster'type wannabe cowboy!

Seriously, I get the picture. More cowboys and rednecks and just basically regular folks among the non-student population in Stillwater than Norman.

Stillwater better if I'm not over 27? Well, I'm over 27 by, oh, just a bit, but if OSU ends up looking like the right school, I'm sure I'll make do.

Lots of details in your post. Thanks for the good info.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by peggydavis

I've never been to Massachusetts. Does it rain horizontally there?

Actually, my daughter walked to all her classes in Norman, because the parking is horrible, and her apartment was a mile from campus. She had some tall rain boots, a poncho, raincoat etc. Her main complaint was walking in the heat. She figured out the route and sides of the street with the most shade.

If you're asking about MA weather out of concern about whether I've experienced enough of a variety of weather to know what I'm talking about when I say I can handle walking places out in the weather, trust me, I have.

If you're just curious about the weather in Massachusetts, well, remember that I also mentioned Ohio, which has a somewhat similar climate to that in Massachusetts, in a broad kind of way. My family lived in three places before moving to MA when I was still a little kid. After growing up in Massachusetts I went to college in Ohio and lived there for several years after college before returning to MA, so MA and OH are the states I'm most familiar with. Neither of those states gets as much severe thunderstorm kind of weather as Oklahoma, but that kind of weather is not unheard of in either of them. Also, in MA we sometimes get big ocean storms with wind strong enough to drive the rain sideways.

One kind of weather you get in the Plains region that I've never heard of while living in either Massachusetts or Ohio is large hail, like the size of baseballs. In MA and OH, when they occasionally get hail there's neve been any I've ever heard of that has been larger than large pellets, like maybe half of golf ball size.

Interesting you mention your daughter's discomfort with walking around in the heat. That would be the other kind of weather not common in either of the states I'm most familiar with. Both of them get their share of muggy days in the '90's, but, while I believe that in OK you get quite a few days every year over 100, in MA and OH you can go a number of years between times when the temperature just nudges an even 100 for one day. If I end up in OK, the heat will take some getting used to, but I'm sure I'll deal with it. I'll just keep well stocked up with Gatorade, and press on!

Thanks for the advice on what I could expect.

[peggydavis]

I'm mostly curious. I lived in Maryland and Wisconsin, and neither one had the weather extremes we have here. If you are in good physical shape you can handle the weather in OK, as long as you are knowledgeable.

The largest hail I ever saw in OK was golf ball size, thankfully. But even the pea size can hurt if it hits you. I have heard of softball size, but have never seen it.

[ogre]

I've never been to Wisconsin, but I think the climate in MA would be roughly similar to that in southern WI, at least in terms of average temperatures. Don't know for sure, but I'd guess MA gets more snow than WI. It seems to be generally true that the Northeast is snowier than the Midwest, outside of areas along the east sides of Great Lakes that get lake-effect snow.

As I'm guessing is the case in Wisconsin, Massachusetts won't get the extreme heat of Oklahoma. I was serious when I said you could go a number of years here without one day where the temperature hits 100.

And there aren't nearly as many severe thunderstorms in MA as you have in OK, though they're not unheard of, especially in certain parts of the state (west-central, west, and northeast). We do get ice storms. They can happen any time during the cold season, but are more likely in Dec., the second half of Feb., and early March, than they would be in mid-winter like the one you got this year. As I said before, we do get a few big ocean storms every year.

Also, if Wisconsin is anything like Ohio (at least central Ohio, where I lived), it's probably more the case in Wisconsin than in Massachusetts that once you really get into spring it stays fairly steadily pleasant, except maybe for an isolated day here and there. In MA that's not the case. I think it's probably because you have the chill of the ocean wrapping around both to the south and the east, but here, spring is a jumble of occasional pleasant days with a lot of dank, gray chilly days still mixed in, even into May, even as late as early or mid June some years, though of course there are more nice days the further into spring you get. Late last week, we just had four days straight, I think it was, of raw, gray, rainy weather. But then today was gorgeous, sunny, '70's, while tonight it has gotten chilly again. I'm guessing that in Wisconsin, at least southern Wisconsin, by the time you got to this time of year you'd have more consistently pleasant weather. Just a guess, though.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by peggydavis

I'm mostly curious. I lived in Maryland and Wisconsin, and neither one had the weather extremes we have here. If you are in good physical shape you can handle the weather in OK, as long as you are knowledgeable.

The largest hail I ever saw in OK was golf ball size, thankfully. But even the pea size can hurt if it hits you. I have heard of softball size, but have never seen it.

I once heard something on the national weather report about softball-sized hail. I think it was in Texas. I think you definitely don't want to be outside when that hits! Well, not unless life has just gotten to be too much for you.

[ogre]

I was a little hesitant to start this thread, since I asked about both of Oklahoma's big state universities. I know there's a rivalry, and didn't want to start a war, but still, I had some questions, so I decided to chance it. It looks as if I had no reason to be concerned.

Interesting timing, because just recently I cruised through the forums and happened to run across a similar thread at the Alabama forum. A user who was further into the grad school process than I am had already been accepted at both Auburn and Alabama. She was basically trying to decide which of those schools to attend, and was seeking info about the towns of Auburn and Tuscaloosa. I swear, the thread went on for two or three pages with nothing but alums of both schools bashing eash other. Finally the poor girl who had made the original post got on and calmly reminded people that she was interested in learning about life in those two cities, not getting caught up in an intra-state rivalry. Maybe two people finally answered her question, and then the thread faded out.

Yet again, Oklahoma looks like a really okay place (OK looks ok ). I know these rivalries can get intense. Still, no one on this thread has stooped to the kind of bashing I saw in that thread at the AL forum. Instead, people have offered some good, useful information about both schools and both towns I'm asking about. Score some more points for Oklahoma, and thanks everyone, for the helpful info!

[Goodpasture]

Just don't come on here and try and talk Big 10, PAC 10 or SEC.........

[ogre]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Just don't come on here and try and talk Big 10, PAC 10 or SEC.........

Big who? What 10? SECretary of State . . . Interior . . . what?

How'd I do, GP?