I'm about to graduate this year from a University in the UK and instead of getting a job I've been looking into prolonging slacking and attending another University. I really fancy a year abroad in America for a new experience.

I am at law school and likely to come out with a 2:1 from a decent school (can do law as undergrad in UK) I am probably a B+ type student, with mostly As and Bs throughout High School. Luckily, money isn't much of an object (not due to poker uNLr)

What I'm looking for is some advice/recommendations of some schools to look at. The choice in America is just overwhelming. However, I have a few criteria that I've narrowed down from weeks of internet searching:

-Good academic standard (nothing massive needed)
-Think I'd prefer a campus based university rather than one right in the middle of a big city
-Good social life (i like to drink, play soccer, go to gigs etc.)
-not in the south

Pretty basic stuff. The only university I've found that seems ideal is Dartmouth, but it seems extremely difficult to get into and the only reason I've heard about it is through popular culture.

Any advice would be seriously appreciated, I'll even ship $5 for anything I find extremely helpful. Cheers.

1) wat
2) you might want to differentiate "an American university" from "American University" in DC.
3) wat???

Use the collegeboard website's college search feature. http://collegesearch.collegeboard.co...peofschool.jsp

It's probably a good idea to figure out the type of grad program you want to apply to. Select a school that's highly rated in the subject you intend to study.

Why not in the South if you don't mind me asking? Some of the best universities in the country are there (Duke, Vanderbilt, Emory, Rice, UT-Austin, etc.)

If you're a B+ student, you don't stand a chance of getting into Dartmouth or any other Ivy League school. So don't waste your time.

I'd recommend somewhere in the SEC (Southeastern Conference). They're relatively inexpensive, party hard, aren't hard to get into, and the girls are incredible. LSU, Alabama, Florida and UGA meet all your criteria other than being in the South, but why go somewhere other than a place where the girls don't wear hardly anything for 3/4's of the year?

US News Graduate School rankings

A family friend went to Dartmouth for the International Relations program (or whatever it's called, he wanted to be an ambassador), but he was a straight A student in HS, all sorts of awards and whatnot. It's a really good school. His brother is a professor there now, amusingly enough. There wasn't a heck of a lot to do in Hanover when I visited (that was about 20 years ago though, so it has to have changed). It did seem like a nice little college town though.

There are lots of really good graduate schools all over the US, so pick something to study and go from there. Also consider the climate. It gets _really_ cold and snowy up in Hanover during the winter (as will anyplace in the northeast).

I've lived in Louisiana. I wouldn't want to put a seemingly nice, but unsuspecting foreigner through that Especially Baton Rouge, oiy.

thanks for replies. The reason I wasn't too keen on south was because I've traveled around it for half a year and quite fancied a change. Saying that I wouldn't mind going to somewhere like Florida. I've researched a few schools and was looking for opinions/inside knowledge on:

University of Rhode Island
University of Connecticut
University of Michigan
University of Florida

They just look nice enough from their website and seem decent(?) academically? Quite fancy east coast I think. Weather doesn't really bother me, as long as summer and spring are mild enough! cheers

The populace in Florida are, to put it mildly, insane. And/or retired. I wouldn't curse my best friend with having to live there.

Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Michigan are a$$ cold in the winter. As is the larger part of the midwest.

Perhaps USC/UCLA/San Diego St/UCSD, if you're not going to get into Ivy or Ivy+ (which it sounds like)? Close to Vegas is an added bonus, as well as an active poker scene.

Thanks for reply. I assume I'll be doing graduate as I will already have a Law degree. I'd want to study something like History/English for the year. Ivey's are def. out of my league, and I've no idea which are Ivey+.

UCLA, USC, UCSD all look good, and Vegas as a bonus would be awesome. What are they like to get into/social life etc? I've been a B+ student at University, but had mostly A's at high school and have average extra-curricular activities.

High school is meaningless. Does a UK 2:1 equate to a US JD? If you just want to take grad (or undergrad) courses after graduating, anyplace will gladly take your moneys, especially if you are a non-degree-seeking student.

Ivy+: Stanford, Chicago, WUStL, a few others.

Yeah. UCLA, USC. They're in LA. That's all I'll say. Hell, go to UNLV.

I'll have an LLB which is the equivalent to the US JD, the 2:1 is the 'grade' of degree. I thought for some reason having a Law degree would help me get into places easier, but obv. not. Gonna look a bit more at places in Cali. cheeers

There are a few decent schools in the Pacific NW too. UW in Seattle and Washington State (I can't really recommend living in Spokane to anyone though). There are some schools in Oregon around Portland too. Climate wise, you can't go wrong with the bay area in CA. You could try Berkeley. I have a friend who's just about to finish up his PhD in CS there and he loves the area.