Why did you pick MU in the final analysis?

[WellsstreetWanderer]

Had a full ride to Illinois but it was too big. turned down a partial to DePaul because i went to the academy for HS and knew it sucked. My dad knew the Dean of Business at MU and suggested I check it out. Forever greatful for that

[pbiflyer]

I was pretty clueless when it came to picking a college. I applied at Dook (Like I said, I was clueless) and UNC. Both said no.
So, was all set to go to University of Florida. Enrolled, apartment lined up, then Marquette called with a scholarship offer. I had to ask where it was located. Never saw snow before.
Found out there were 3 breweries within walking distance and it sold me. 
Actually, most of my high school friends were headed to Florida. Didn't want college to just be an extension of college, so I accepted the Marquette offer (later, I was shocked to discover my outstanding b-ball abilities had nothing to do with the offer).

Happily, despite my cluelessness, I ended up at the perfect place. Would have ended up hating it at Dook, UNC or SoCal (my other option).

[GGGG]

Grew up in Madison.  Parents are both Carroll grads.  They wanted me to go to a small liberal arts school.  I wanted something larger like Madison.  Marquette was the perfect combination.  Plus, like pbi, I didn't want my college experience to be an extension of high school.  This was before Madison clamped down on their admissions so 200 of the 500 kids in my class went there.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

the drinking age was 18.

Reading this thread, it strikes me that the biggest killer of culture around campus the past 30 years has to have been the drinking age change. Spike the drinking age, eliminate the reason for over half the student body to stay on campus over the summers, which eliminates a customer base for businesses (alcohol or otherwise) to stay on a college campus that doesn't have a full year-round presence and why many left, which further eliminates incentive for students to stick around all year. Lather, rinse, repeat.

That sound anywhere near right for people who were around campus in the 80's when the drinking age changed?

[GGGG]

warrior07, it is hard to answer that question because I have no idea what campus life is like now - I don't know what you mean by campus culture.  I was on campus was the drinking age was gradually changing from 19 to 21.  I was on the young side of the line so I had to wait to *legally* drink until I was 21.  However, acquiring alchohol was never a problem.

I can tell you one thing.  When I was in school no one had a computer except for use as word processors.  No one had cell phones and only one guy I knew had a car.  We didn't talk to friends from back home very much and we didn't go anywhere except for a few blocks around campus.  I get the sense that many student now go to the east side bars - we never did that.

[Warriors4ever]

Could be away from home but close enough (Chicago) to easily get home if I wanted to.  I was on campus the year the age went down to 18- who will forget that night!

[mosarsour]

Born and raised in Milwaukee. I wanted to stay somewhere close to home so I could keep an eye on my elderly father. It helped that my 3 older brothers and brother in law were all Marquette alums. I also remember being a huge Marquette fan as a kid and my brothers would take me to games during the Majerus, Dukeit, and O'Neil years. Kerry Trotter was a God back in the 80's! I really never considered any other university. Also my acceptance in MU's EOP program really helped seal the deal!

[pbiflyer]

warrior07, it is hard to answer that question because I have no idea what campus life is like now - I don't know what you mean by campus culture.  I was on campus was the drinking age was gradually changing from 19 to 21.  I was on the young side of the line so I had to wait to *legally* drink until I was 21.  However, acquiring alchohol was never a problem.

I can tell you one thing.  When I was in school no one had a computer except for use as word processors.  No one had cell phones and only one guy I knew had a car.  We didn't talk to friends from back home very much and we didn't go anywhere except for a few blocks around campus.  I get the sense that many student now go to the east side bars - we never did that.

First, on the 18 age. Again, I was clueless. Florida was 18, just assumed that Wisconsin was as well. Thankfully, I was correct. I have to admit that the bar culture was a big part of my expereince. I was a bouncer at one. Knew 2 of bar owners very well.
I can't imagine a college experience without being able to walk into a bar. Can't imagine Marquette without the Gym, OPs, Ardmore, Monday nights at Park Ave., Friday happy hour food at John Hawk's (dinner and a beer for $3), etc.

Second, Wiz, man, you lived a sheltered life. We regularly ventured to the East Side in the early 80s. We went to many Brewer games,  Lived with 5 roommates, had 2 cars between us.
Regularly talked with my friends back home. Living in Florida, somehow, I became a very popular person around Spring Break time, so had to keep in touch to bring a dozen people down each year.
One of my roommates was a well off techno-geek. So we had an Apple Lisa for reports. I think that the full page formatting still got me a .5 higher gpa. 

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

I can't imagine a college experience without being able to walk into a bar. Can't imagine Marquette without the Gym, OPs, Ardmore, Monday nights at Park Ave., Friday happy hour food at John Hawk's (dinner and a beer for $3), etc.

I was fortunate enough that I turned 21 the second weekend of my junior year and had an additional year for another degree after undergrad ... so, lots of bar time. For people who turn 21 mid-semester, late semester or even the summer after their junior year, there really isn't a lot of reason to stick around campus if you're not 21. You could say that the campus area loses two full classes (post freshman and post sophomore) because folks decide that if they can't drink at a bar over the summer, which is the time to be out in a bar, they may as well live elsewhere (likely home).

Even putting aside summer-related factors, probably 2/3rds of a campus population is under 21, which means that a 21 year old drinking age reduces the customer base from an 18 year old drinking age for bars by a whopping 2/3.

[caltruda]

After going to an all-boys Catholic HS in New Jersey, I really wanted to leave the time zone, let alone the great Garden State. Came down to Southern Cal, Missouri and Marquette because I wanted to do something in TV/radio/journalism. Went to Southern Cal first, where my dad instantly decided the smart-ass in me would get killed the moment I stepped foot off campus (likely true). Then Missouri. Loved the campus, especially the story with the columns on the quad, saw Doug Smith and Anthony Peeler in the cafeteria and then went wandering around the J-school, where they informed me I had to take two years of core classes and "re-apply" to J-school. When I asked what kind of grades they looked for, they said "3.7 and higher" and I just shook my head since academics at my high school were a bloodsport I didn't care for. Went to Marquette on a gray, dreary day, got splashed by a bus on Wisconsin Ave before meeting my advisor, Dr. Havice, at Johnston Hall, who introduced himself as the "reason why you'll never make Dean's List." My father fell in love with him and the fact I could play with the toys in the 2nd floor studios from Day 1 sold me. Would do it all over again, too.

[GGGG]

First, on the 18 age. Again, I was clueless. Florida was 18, just assumed that Wisconsin was as well. Thankfully, I was correct. I have to admit that the bar culture was a big part of my expereince. I was a bouncer at one. Knew 2 of bar owners very well.
I can't imagine a college experience without being able to walk into a bar. Can't imagine Marquette without the Gym, OPs, Ardmore, Monday nights at Park Ave., Friday happy hour food at John Hawk's (dinner and a beer for $3), etc.

Second, Wiz, man, you lived a sheltered life. We regularly ventured to the East Side in the early 80s. We went to many Brewer games,  Lived with 5 roommates, had 2 cars between us.

Sheltered may not be the best word.  "Limited" maybe???   

[77ncaachamps]

Catholic school kid. Jesuit since Kinder except for three years under the Presentation Sisters *shudder*.

Looking for a direct admit program in physical therapy.

Got into Boston U. and NYU. But you had to reapply to NYU's program.

MU gave me a Jesuit scholly (Ignatian?) and it was the only school I visited of the three.

Wanted to take a scholly test in February, and immediately fell in love with the ice "banks" alongside West Wisconsin. It was TRULY different from sunny CA and would make a TRUE college experience as mom and dad couldn't drive down and knock on the door one early Saturday morning (they'd have to call). Still remember it was below freezing and I had five layers on...and STILL could feel the wind chill! Best buds were hoop heads (Georgetown and UCLA) and both went to hoop schools (Santa Clara and UCLA).

In the end, it was...
- Jesuit
- big enough and small enough
- in a city and close to a larger one
- the direct-admit program in PT (never finished it...in teaching now)
- not wanting to be at a HOCKEY school or a FILM school
- being a WARRIOR...The last class to be christened Warriors. Still have my ID.

I told my experience to my MU tours (I was a tour guide) and to my CA students all the time.

I'd do it ALL OVER again.

[MUfan12]

Went to my first MU game when I was 3, I loved it so Dad got season tickets. I was hooked, there was no way I was going anywhere else when the time came.

Easiest, and best decision of my life. Grateful every day for my MU experience.

[mviale]

Tag cloud for post - looks like drinking age, campus and basketball are the top reasons

[Robyrd5]

My parents were born and raised in Milwaukee and moved to Georgia before I was born. My dad started talking up MU during their Final Four run in '03. I went to a small Catholic high school where I met an enthusiastic/persuasive MU alum at a college fair. I narrowed my choice to Marquette and UGA. In the end and after touring both campuses, I decided I wanted to go far from home, and Marquette was a school with religious ties that wasn't too big or too small. My extended family also still lives in the Milwaukee area, so that was an important factor as well.

[slingkong]

I'm from the Indianapolis area and only applied to Purdue and MU - both for engineering.  Got into both, but only got scholly money from MU.  Purdue also didn't have a bioelectrical engineering program at the time.  Plus I wanted to give college soccer a try and had known Steve Adlard for a few years.  That made a walkon position pretty easy for me (behind Jimmy Welch so no possibility of play time, deservedly so).  And Purdue didn't have a varsity program.

In the end, what a great decision.  Nearly all of my MU friends and me moved to Chicago after graduating.  It's fair to say that I regret not doing well enough in law school that I was forced to move to St Louis, and away from all of them.  That, plus St Louis pales in comparison to either Milwaukee and (especially) Chicago.

[mu_hilltopper]

I picked Marquette because I was a timid kid, and always took the safe route.  

It was the safest, easiest path I could take as a 17 year old.  Had two sisters who went to MU, so the path had been forged.

So there you go.  While I am a huge Warrior fan .. If I could do things differently, if I was a different kid two decades ago, I wouldn't have gone to Marquette.  

Many have commented on the "Jesuitness" of getting an education at MU.  Honestly, that doesn't ring a bell with me.  Sure, a portion of your classes had some connection to the Jesuits or religion in general, but IMHO, most classes did not.   Basically, I think my classes, econ, math, English, history, finance, business, law studies (and many others)  .. those classes, their textbooks .. I always figured those classes were taught pretty much the same way everywhere, from MU to UW to Minnesota to Ohio to Iowa to Colorado to Nebraska to every other state school.  

Different textbooks, class sizes, different teachers, sure.  But  .. there is no "Jesuit" way of teaching Accounting.  

And I had my share of good teachers, mediocre ones, and poor ones at MU.  Teachers who cared a lot about each student, teachers who did not care so much.   I believe that bell curve experience is replicated at every college in the US.  

I realize some of you have a very different impression, and that's ok.  I just never felt that when you got in most classrooms, inside those 4 walls with that textbook and a specific teacher, that being on a Jesuit campus really made much difference.  -- Outside the classroom, did it make a difference?  To some, especially if you were a religious type, going to mass, etc.  

Again .. Not to say I don't think MU is a good school .. it is.   But now that I am older and wiser, I think there are lots of good schools.

Just sayin.

[Henry Sugar]

fun topic

I had my heart set on going to Stanford and got wait listed (deservedly so... my essay was sh*t).

The rest of my applications were all very half-hearted.  It came down to Purdue, Illinois, and Marquette.  I originally only applied to MU because the application was so easy I filled it out during study hall.  I wasn't Catholic, had never heard of Al McGuire, and the mascot change was only a minor blip a few months before starting school. 

After scholarships, attending MU was about the same cost as Purdue.  I really liked that Marquette was a lot smaller than the B11 schools.  However, the clincher for me was Marquette's engineering co-op program.   

[mucrew08]

I grew up just outside of Milwaukee, a majority of kids from my high school went to UW-Madison, which is where all our teachers hyped all through high school. I starting looking at Madison and Marquette and found out that Marquette had the Les Aspin Center out in D.C. I was accepted to both Madison and Marquette. Didn't want to do Madison because too many from high school went there.

Chose Marquette cause it was close enough but far enough away from home, had the Les Aspin Center, and I had been following Basketball. Of the five kids from my class that went to MU, I was the only one to finish out and graduate. I would never do anything different, loved MU.

[GGGG]

I picked Marquette because I was a timid kid, and always took the safe route.  

It was the safest, easiest path I could take as a 17 year old.  Had two sisters who went to MU, so the path had been forged.

So there you go.  While I am a huge Warrior fan .. If I could do things differently, if I was a different kid two decades ago, I wouldn't have gone to Marquette.  

That is very interesting.  I loved my time at Marquette.  It was a nice, but not perfect, fit for me in many ways.  I mean, I am not Catholic and I was pretty liberal.  It was a hard adjustment because my public high school experience was nothing like the first few weeks at Marquette.  But I adjusted and was fine.  And being exposed to other points of view was good.

Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, and if I had a do-over, would I have chosen Marquette?  Probably...but my college search would have been a lot more extensive that's for sure.

[SCdem@MU]

I was deciding between Marquette, Villanova, George Washington University, and UC-Davis. First found out about Marquette from a HS recruiter and then Marquette put on quite the show by having various alums in high-ranking places write me letters.

Was given a large scholarship, invited to multiple basketball games, and when I visited Marquette I had two tour guides for just me and a private meeting with the Dean.

After having first looked at the UC schools, which place a barcode on your application and base 80% of admissions on a math formula, it was pretty amazing to get recruited like I was a prized basketball recruit.

In the end the Les Aspin Center sealed the deal as I ended up deciding between Marquette and GW. That and I didn't believe that a GW education was worth twice as much as a Marquette education.

[Pardner]

I was the youngest by a lot in my family.  So I was going to where my brothers and sisters didn't go.  I picked MU because it was in a city...campus life can get old and it is great to have other choices.  Milwaukee is a big home town city.  I studied business, and I liked that real world professionals taught classes.  Drinking age, basketball, close to home but far away were nice.  In the end, it was the only school I applied to.

Like Topper, I don't know the academic life stood out all that much to the point I enjoyed it.  I didn't like a lot of things when I attended school there either.  Course load was very structured and rigid.  I had to take a ton of econ, statistics, accounting, finance classes--and all I cared about was Marketing.   PC's were coming out, but MU made us take Fortran IV programming on the Xerox mainframe.  There was limited choice.  MU is so much better today and students have so many more options and choices, I believe.  MU is very impressive and an extremely popular choice.

Looking back, I appreciate my MU education more and more, however.  I sucked at stats, yet now it is my career.  MU exposed me to subjects I would not have even considered if I went to a U of I.  More than anything, the best education was through my group of friends who were from all over.  The MU connections are very unique.  My high school friends who went to big public universities are best friends with my MU friends who they met through me.   My brothers and sisters kids went to MU and my siblings are now MU fanatics.  As a parent of a college aged student, a private school like MU gives so much more attention to you and your kid.  My most successful friends went to MU.  MU basketball is a big part of their social and family lives.  Plus, I love the baby blues.

[Rollout-the-Barrel]

Applied to MU, Illinois, Knox college, and St. Louis.  Illinois was too big for my liking and I enjoyed the feel of being in a large city.  Got into PT at MU and St. Louis, but MU gave me more money  .  Had great visits at both MU and Knox, but decided being guaranteed a spot in the PT program was worth not playing D3 hoops at Knox.  I wavered pretty close to the deadline as a senior, but am happy with my choice.  I think I would have done fine with any of the options I had, but am thankful I was so fortunate to have a choice.  Retrospectively I recall my shadow visit being the clincher.  Met some interesting and genuinely nice people, drank some beer, sat in bleachers for brewers game for $4, and went to class the next day.  I would agree with some of the posters that weren't impressed with some of the classes at MU, but for the most part my teachers and advisers seemed to genuinely care about how I did.  Interestingly enough I ended up marrying a Knox grad that I met at a Pat McCurdy concert.  Small world.

[boyonthedock]

I am graduating in a month or so, so my college search is relatively fresh in my mind

Visited university of chicago, and decided it was where fun went to die. i did not like the campus either. Visited u of I, and hated how big it was. also, many, many people from my high school went there. and not the kids i liked. I had not even heard of marquette before the dewayne wade final four. Then my girlfriend at the time went there (she was a year older than me), and i looked into it more and it sparked my interest.

i shadowed at marquette, was given beer, and went to class the next day. I liked that it was not too big, an hour and a half away from home is also the perfect distance. I also really enjoyed the fact that there was a completely negligible greek life. I wanted nothing to do with a sorority or frat. Liked that they didn't have a football, as i hated and still hate college foot ball. The clincher for me was probably the fact that the rave, pabst, and riverside were all in walking distance from campus, and i have seen 50+ shows in my tenure at marquette. The oriental, a world class indie theater, was also a huge plus.

I later came to love marquette basketball, after discovering it was the complete opposite of everything i hated about the pro game. Also, I found out that my grandma graduated from the nursing program here in 1958, and it made her very happy that i was going there as well. Marquette was the only place I applied to, and in retrospect i would have probably looked around a bit more, but I have certainly enjoyed my time here.

[77ncaachamps]

Many have commented on the "Jesuitness" of getting an education at MU.  Honestly, that doesn't ring a bell with me.  Sure, a portion of your classes had some connection to the Jesuits or religion in general, but IMHO, most classes did not.   Basically, I think my classes, econ, math, English, history, finance, business, law studies (and many others)  .. those classes, their textbooks .. I always figured those classes were taught pretty much the same way everywhere, from MU to UW to Minnesota to Ohio to Iowa to Colorado to Nebraska to every other state school.  

Different textbooks, class sizes, different teachers, sure.  But  .. there is no "Jesuit" way of teaching Accounting.  

Coming from an All-Catholic school background, it was easy to see. Midnight Run, AMU Chapel nights, social awareness, etc.

In the classroom - here, I agree with you - it was very subtle, if that.

I don't think I had one Jesuit as a professor during my years at MU.

Boyonthedock - The Oriental. My favorite place to go watch movies; 2nd fave: Downer Theater. Took my gf there when I last visited MU about 2 years ago. She enjoyed the ambiance of the place.