This isn’t the best time to be coming to California because of the budget crisis. The state universities are cutting admissions so it’ll be tougher to get in. Check it out carefully and have an alternative just in case. Once you’re accepted, it should be OK.
…What are the top two universities in the world? I would say Harvard and Princeton but that would be a guess.
#1 Harvard, #2 Yale, #3 Oxford, #4 Cambridge
Harvard and Yale have the two largest endowments in the country and in the world. The earnings from their endowments allows them to have resources that the British government does not provide to Oxford or Cambridge.
go to the univ. that has the best academic program in your chosen major. If you are looking for overall reputable name in the USA then I would say Berkely.
My meeting with the study abroad people gave me these options:
State University of New York at Stony Brook
University of Arizona
University of California (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz)
University of Hawai’i
Oregon State University
University of Texas (Arlington)
University of Virginia
University of Washington
Ofcourse I need to apply to them so it’s not definite yet. Any advice on which ones to go for???
California somewhere is tempting but I have already been there so maybe I should try state. I did love it though.
I am from NZ btw
I guess it depends on what you are studying. There is no such thing as the best University for all areas of study.
I agree with Raptor. The US has one of the worst public education systems in the world but they upper level (college) education is one of the best.
U of Arizona has some H-A-W-T women there. U of Cal is awesome if you can get in. Yes, you have been to California before, but SoCal is way different than NoCal. I like the SF/Berkeley area much more than the SoCal area, but both are expensive, congested, and full of people. The thing is that SoCal tends to have better looking woman. OSU is in a cool little town. I think U of Virginia is the best choice so far since you are in Virginia which is close to a bunch of cool cities on the east coast.
Avoid SUNY Stony Brook. Great school for research and the sciences, but 3/4 of the experiences of studying abroad are not in the classroom. You wont exerience the school spirit or the social life of students. Iv never been there but grew up about 2 towns over from SUNY SB and had tons of friends go there, and there is no school pride, great sporting events, or social life (all of the students commute from home).
Go abroad for sure and broaden your horizons. 
You can always do an Ironman but your are a student only for a short time.
Once you are involved in a career very few companies allow you to take longer breaks.
…Once you are involved in a career very few companies allow you to take longer breaks.
Except for Silicon Valley companies which give you a sabbatical every so often. I wish I knew about that before.
**Opinions about which one to do? **
I have not read the thread but hope you are kidding.
You can do an Ironman anytime there are so many around the world and almost every month of the year. When you start working, you can do an IM but how many chances will you get to travel?
Everyone and their brother does an IM but very few travel abroad.
Haha so Virginia for location, Arizona/SoCal for good looking ladies?
hmmm…could be a tough decison
I can assure you that UVA has plenty of good looking women.
The thing is I’m ust gonna do whatever papers I want (hopefully not accounting related which is my major) so I don’t really care about the academics that much. I just want to have a good time and travel. I didn’t think about getting a good job in the US and I did hope to work over there at some stage. So something to think about thanks.
The best schools academically are UVa and Berkeley. There will be hot, SMART, ladies at both places. Charlottesville is a super cool place and the riding around there is stellar with little traffic. You have access to the whole east coast. It would be between these 2 if it were for me. Cost of living would be much greater in Berkeley, but you’ve got SF, year round good riding, and great scenery.
Weather for training would be good at Cali or Az. OSU - Corvallis and UW - Seattle = RAIN 8 months of the year, gloomy, UGH.
U of Arizona has some H-A-W-T women there. U of Cal is awesome if you can get in. Yes, you have been to California before, but SoCal is way different than NoCal. I like the SF/Berkeley area much more than the SoCal area, but both are expensive, congested, and full of people. The thing is that SoCal tends to have better looking woman. OSU is in a cool little town. I think U of Virginia is the best choice so far since you are in Virginia which is close to a bunch of cool cities on the east coast.
You didn’t hear this from me, but for all the notoriety SD gets for hot women, it is seriously lacking down here at UCSD. We have a saying: “9 out of 10 girls in San Diego are hot. But that 10th girl. . .goes to UCSD.” (look up triton eye on urban dictionary ;-)). Of course if I really cared that much, I would have gone to that other SD school…
And to all the people commenting on Berkeley having the best academics, it really depends on what you’re looking for. In regards to the biomedical/biotech studies, I don’t think any of the UC’s compares to SD. Of course, if you want anything other than science, don’t come here.
You didn’t hear this from me, but for all the notoriety SD gets for hot women, it is seriously lacking down here at UCSD. We have a saying: “9 out of 10 girls in San Diego are hot. But that 10th girl. . .goes to UCSD.” (look up triton eye on urban dictionary ;-)). Of course if I really cared that much, I would have gone to that other SD school…
And to all the people commenting on Berkeley having the best academics, it really depends on what you’re looking for. In regards to the biomedical/biotech studies, I don’t think any of the UC’s compares to SD. Of course, if you want anything other than science, don’t come here.
haha looked it up, Thats hilarious! Can’t stop grinning to myself, probably look strange to everyone one else in the computer lab. Could look at it the other way though, maybe I’d be popular there? I would’ve thought there would be some nice South Americans there. Is it immature to base a semester abroad on the attractiveness of its students? Or is that all part of a semester abroad?
No brainer. Study abroad. You have all your life to do an IM. Studying abroad is a unique experience.
This isn’t the best time to be coming to California because of the budget crisis. The state universities are cutting admissions so it’ll be tougher to get in. Check it out carefully and have an alternative just in case. Once you’re accepted, it should be OK.
Actually, the UC schools are looking at expanding their out-of-state admissions because those students have to pay non-resident tuition.
Dude, do semester abroad. I would go with Virginia or Arizona. My school actually has exchanges to both as well, maybe we go to the same one. I guess there aren’t that many in NZ though.