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University of Cincinnati is a public research university located in, as the name suggests, in Cincinnati. Founded in 1819, it is one of the largest universities in the United States in terms of student intake. Although it does not receive a terribly high number of applications compared to other Indian-favourite schools, University of Cincinnati is extremely renowned for some of its programs, especially aeronautical engineering. And fortunately for you, it isn’t too hard to get in, it isn’t frightfully expensive, and they even give out lovely scholarships.
The University of Cincinnati is located pretty close to the downtown area of Cincinnati, which is a pretty big city itself. Rather, it’s the biggest city around for hundreds of miles at least, so the university is built in what can be termed as an ‘Urban’ setting. Fortunately, there’s something for everyone at Cincinnati. Sports, music, theatre, culture, art, hot women - just about anything one could ask for. One thing you should be slightly wary of, though, is the safety issue – getting mugged once in a while is not totally uncommon, but then that’s the case in many, many parts of the country. And anyway, eventually you get used carrying just $15 on you at all times and handing it over when a nice, intimidating man comes up to you and says “Brother! Buy me my dinner!”
The Cincinnati campus is one of the most popular in the country. Built on a sprawling 473 acres of land, the campus is renowned for its architectural brilliance, which is probably a direct result of the fact that some award-winning architects were hired to design it. It’s clear that a lot of attention was paid to detail, and efforts were made to make the university look like, well, a university. While everything is absolutely state-of-the-art from the inside, the buildings look palatial from the outside. The engineering building is designed to look like a four cylinder engine! The libraries are well-maintained and well-stocked, having over 2 million volumes covering a number of subjects. Research centers are brilliantly designed and pretty safe too. All in all, it’s a pleasure to be on campus.
As for living, most grad students prefer staying off-campus. There are a number of apartments available throughout the year, if you’re actually willing to go around and look. Students say that good deals for good apartments are always available, but you can’t expect things to happen without soiling your hands a bit. The most popular areas students normally inhabit are near or on Ohio Avenue and West Clifton Avenue. Although safety, like we mentioned, can be an issue, these places have pretty good shuttle services at most times, and they’re not too bad as long as you have company. The average rent you’ll be paying per person per month is roughly $400 or so.
If you thought safety (rather, the lack of it) was a major headache, wait till you experience the climate. It’s terribly unpredictable, and very very erratic. Heavy snowfall, torrential rainfall, chilling winds, sweltering sun – it all happens here in Cincinnati. Sometimes, all in a day. The winters can get quite gloomy, especially because they go on for so long, so students often spend entire days outside when they see some sunshine.
Now, the faculty on the whole is pretty excellent, but of course there are positives and negatives, which normally depend largely on the stream you choose. But the one thing that cannot be debated is that the professors at Cincinnati are knowledgeable, well-versed, easily approachable and extremely passionate about their teaching, which is all that really matters, isn’t it? Students single out the Aeronautical engineering faculty for extra praise, but that in no way means that professors from other branches are not equally excellent.
Another plus point about UC is that it gives out excellent financial aid to its students. Scholarships of up to $10,000 a year are given out generously.
The placements at Cincinnati are pretty good, especially if you're doing a rather 'core' course such as Mechanical or Aerospace engineering. A massive Boeing production unit is right next door, so there shouldn't be much trouble getting a good, well-paying job if you deserve it.
People normally associate University of Cincinnati with a pretty good crowd. And when we say that, we mean both ‘pretty’ and ‘good’. You’ll definitely find a number of lookers on campus, and if you don’t, then there’s the whole of Cincinnati to explore. If you’re Indian, you ought to know that, for a change, you won’t be overwhelmed, or get what they call a ‘culture shock’ here. You’ll also be pleased to know that most people (including the pretty girls) are quite friendly, and easy to get along with.As for places to chill, there are hundreds. It’s all about finding your comfort zone, and there would be more than enough people who’ll share it with you. Downtown Cincinnati and Clifton are as good as next door, so there isn’t exactly any need to roam far from campus to find some good nightlife. Some of the popular bars around the place are The Mad Frog, Martino’s on Vine, Uncle Woody’s, etc.
Joseph Strauss - designer of The Golden Gate Bridge. Paul Tibbets - Pilot of the B-29 plane that dropped the nuclear bomb over Hiroshima. Vinod Dham - Father of the Pentium computer chip series and venture capitalist.
Definitely a good option if you’re looking for a big college in a big city, and one of the top schools for aerospace engineering.