"Who wants to go to school in Nebraska? And at that, Lincoln, Nebraska?"
Boy oh boy have I heard those words more times than I've seen cows or cornfields. *Kidding, I grew up in rural Nebraska, I lived on a farm.* I never get over the fact that everyone from out of state hates on the idea that I stayed in state for my college education. "You could have gone so many other places" or "I thought you wanted to get away from home" rings in my head.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is overlooked as a quality education quite often because of a few things, and I'm here to help put those myths to the past.
Research.
UNL has such an amazing research program that allows undergraduate students participate, and lead, research studies under the supervision of a professor or faculty member. The really awesome part about this is that students can get paid for their work and/or earn credit. A lot of the college departments have their own research centers where students can work part time.
Location.
Sure, we may be in the middle of a cornfield and you might believe that there's nothing to do in Nebraska. If you think about it, Lincoln is almost center to the United States, which mens plenty of chance to travel without restrictions. Omaha is less than an hour away (with a very large airport). Lincoln is a huge name in growing businesses and start-up companies because of it's central location, and that excites me. It also has a good downtown for night life, many good restaurants within walking distance of campus, and LOTS of Uber drivers for when you need to go somewhere.
Price.
Get this biggest bang for your buck, right? UNL is actually the cheapest of the Big 10 Conference schools, all which pride themselves on solid academics, diversity and research. With a low cost of tuition, and a low cost of living in Lincoln, UNL pulls in a lot of out-of-state students who can make tuition disappear with the amount of departmental scholarships offered.
Opportunity.
The University has such a wide range of clubs, organizations, and internships to immerse your education into something greater than just books and tests. It's nice to have a university that holds regular career fairs to have future employers come to us, instead of us going to them. I also like how UNL hosts study abroad trips to many countries in most of the college departments, and they acknowledge other programs like CIEE, AIFS and ISA for students to travel and transfer credits back.
Community.
26,000 of us, roughly. The best part about that number is that I can go a whole day without seeing anyone I know while on campus, but I can meet so many people that I see a familiar face in each of my classes. I thank this campus for introducing me to the people I know now and making the network I'll need in a career.
Commitment.
UNL has some type of commitment to student success I have never seen in another institution of similar nature. All of the faculty, from admissions to graduate studies, want to see you succeed. I was thrilled to see this one-on-one connection right away when I started classes here. Even if a professor doesn't seem to care if the whole class failed a test, I have never been turned away when I have asked for help.
So whether you're a Husker fan or not, Nebraska isn't that bad. I may be partial to it since I've grown up in The Good Life, but I made the choice to stay here.
