Originally Posted by
Spartan
You don't strike me as someone who is familiar with OU academics. Let me help you out. You're right, there are areas where OU is superior, and areas where OSU is superior. OU is clearly superior in meteorology, and petroleum engineering, esp considering OSU doesn't even offer a petro school (the Boone Pickens equivalent is OSU's geology program).
There are a number of areas where OU is absolutely abysmal, and architecture is the one I have the most familiarity with. OU's architecture school would be a joke if it wasn't such a dire situation. OSU's architecture school is Top 20 in the nation, can't imagine a bigger difference. OU's will probably lose its accreditation eventually, and their still-craptacular recently renovated Gould Hall will be empty. OSU's arch school has an absolutely amazing facility which is going to help them expand into more graduate programs, such as city planning. OU's city planning school is kind of a joke because the reality is that undergraduate city planning degrees are irrelevant, as you should go to grad school for a good job anyway and many city planning master's students come from poli sci or other humanities backgrounds.
OU journalism is getting a lot better. It doesn't offer some of the programs OSU does, and OSU is the only j-school in the state that's always been accredited. OU's facility is absolutely amazing, thanks to The Oklahoman's money, and that's going to help OU a lot. OSU's newspaper wins awards, the OU Daily..yeah right lol.
Neither school are very strong for the arts and sciences, but OU has the edge because of the law school and the medical school. OSU has recently renovated a handful of beautiful historic buildings that host their humanities programs. A lot of OU Law and OU Medical students went to OSU, but they're in the OU system for their graduate education because of the way the state legislature has set OSU up with a speciality medical school, as opposed to a comprehensive one. OU Law is generally considered inferior in Oklahoma, especially to OCU Law which is a top law school. OU Law sort of backs up the saying that "there's a law school for everyone these days."
I think agriculture is very relevant in today's technical world, and of course OSU is a top 10 ag school--I think they've capitalized on this to build a foundation for other good science curricula, as well as engineering. Lots of engineering research is done at OSU, believe it or not. I think the two are on even footing for engineering, and both have strong programs, but OU's engineering classes for the most part take place in facilities that aren't very nice, one difference from OSU. This is starting to change though with Devon Hall and the new Engineering Practice Facility in Norman.
As for business, OU is much superior although OSU has some very dynamic business graduate programs. I think overall OSU is a much better grad school (ironic when you compare their "missions") because of the narrowness and small number of programs OU offers. It's also worth noting that a friend of mine in OSU arch showed me some impressive new designs recently for OSU's new business school that they're building. I like OU's better because they did a beautiful restoration of a historic building, but that's just me. It has more of an Ivy League-caliber feel to it.
As far as college towns go, obviously Norman is a better college town. It's much classier. I don't think Norman is on quite the "upward trajectory" that Stillwater is (being the state's fastest-growing small town and all), but I think Stillwater is too sprawled out and suburban. Downtown Norman and Campus Corner have immaculate streetscapes, and Boyd Street is just a very classy, elegant "scene" altogether. Of course it's more influenced by the Greek scene at OU, whereas OSU is more GDI--and the result in my opinion is that Norman is just head and shoulders classier. Fiji represent. It's also indicative of the arts scene that's alive and well in Norman, as opposed to the arts scene that's undergrand and badly fostered in Stillwater. OU's dance school, music school, drama school, art program, etc etc.. people would be very shocked to see how top-notch these programs are. OU also has the top university arts museum. OSU's offerings here are just not as good, but I suspect a new arts campus with a new PAC and a new art museum are on the way--I've been to Mesa Vista, TX before and seen T. Boone's art collection, which is reportedly the largest private collection of American art in the world (larger than the largest public collection at the Gilcrease in Tulsa).
I think from a campus residential life perspective though, Norman is beyond inferior to Stillwater. OU's dorms suck. The worst dorms at OSU are still a lot nicer than the typical OU dorm. I had to live in Walker and I HATED it, and sleeping in was impossible because they were doing renovations on the residential commie blocks that always started promptly at 8 am.. OSU dorms come in different varieties, unlike OU dorms. You can chose from several historic, renovated, upscale halls, you can chose cheepo commie blocks, or you can chose brand-new urban townhome-style units, or brand-new suburban apartment-style units. Off-campus most of the old rental houses are well-cared for and not falling apart like in Nompton. Norman does offer more stylish "urban living" options for high-end students, such as downtown lofts and the new condos going up on Boyd Street, but Stillwater already has something very very similar to the 401 Lofts project.
And athletically, we all have our own spin on the Sooners v. the Cowboys. But I will say this: My post isn't intended as, "I was a Sooner, I have experience here, I hated it, here's why you should all be against OU." This post is intended as, "I was a Sooner, I always will be a Sooner, and guys, we have some work to do." Take it as Berry Switzer's statements he made after touring Stillwater's amazing new athletic facilities, where he said it should strike fear deep in the heart of every Sooner. Do you think he's turning against us and rooting for the Pokes? Of course not! But he has seen first-hand that OSU is really getting their act together. OSU's gargantuan alumni giving (esp compared to OU alumni giving) has given OSU something it hasn't had in a long time thanks to the biased legislature, and that's money. They've got a strong vision, a strong leader in Burns Hargis, and all I have to say is watch out..
OU also has a strong leader in David Boren, but he will probably only be around another 5 years. Do we really want to give our school to Brad Henry?? NO!! If we let Brad Henry become the new president, the Norman campus had might as well just become OSU-Nompton or UNT-OK.
Quit beggin ostate sports fans
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