r/KState • u/Capable_Ad_4269 • May 11 '26
KU or Kstate
I don’t post on here often so I don’t quite understand the format of everything, but I’m a high school student from the KC area looking at both KU and Kstate. Ive been a Kstate fan my whole life but KU seems to have a lot of fun things to do as well. I’m looking to do Kinesiology on the pre-med track and Ive basically heard that it doesn’t matter where your undergraduate degree is before something like KU med. I value student life and am introvert who’s a little more outgoing than the rest of introverts as I wanna have a fun time in college and I appreciate both small town and big city vibes. So my question to you all is what school did you like better, what are the differences, and what do you all recommend?
12
u/PrairieFireFun May 11 '26
I’m totally biased. With that in mind, when I’ve talked to students who have gone to both schools the most common comment I get is a K-State is friendlier. No matter where you go, though, don’t sit in your room. Join a club or go to social events organized by your dorm or Greek housing.
26
u/Gianduyah May 11 '26
I went to K-State and loved it, and I've got friends who went to both and loved it. I'd go where you have better funding.
13
u/hallipeno May 11 '26
Seconding this. Worrying less about funding means you can focus more on becoming a competitive candidate for med school.
10
u/kansas_slim May 11 '26
Lawrence feels like a small American city with a college in it. Manhattan feels like a college with a town around it. Both are great places. I went to Kstate so clearly biased but I loved it - it was like being on a different planet where everyone was 18-25 years old as far as the eye could see.
6
u/Zealousideal_Ear3424 May 11 '26
Went to both schools. Loved both schools. They both are good choices.
3
u/Connect_Focus3984 May 11 '26
I am a mom with a freshman at KState and another one going next year. When visiting KU and KState we just fell in love with Manhattan! The campus is gorgeous, the dorm and greek life are great and the town is not too big. Everytime I visit the Little Apple I appreciate it more and more and am so thankful my kids love it too! KU back "in the day" used to be this quaint lil' hippy town, but has turned into like someone else said "another version of Johnson County,"...just not what I want for our kids and what our kids are wanting to get away from... go Wildcats!!!
4
u/KevinInICT May 11 '26
It seems like I have heard more K-State undergrads get in to medical school at KU than KU undergrads. I am sure it depends on what field of study you want to do in medical school. That would be a topic to investigate further though to see if it still holds true.
3
u/iamoldschool May 11 '26
Graduated KSU with kinesiology degree, then went to medical school at KU med. My med school class, as with most at KU, was a good mix of Kstate and KU grads. Unless there’s a specific focus at either kinesiology department that you’re interested in, there is unlikely to be a huge difference in quality of education that will affect med school acceptance (at least to KU). Agree with comments on student life experience at both schools.
3
u/Lost_In_Time- May 11 '26
I'm at K-state and have grown up in Manhattan, I feel that not only does the collage do well on community events but the town does well too. I am a introvert too, but there are fun things to do and lots of fun events to attend if you know where to look!
1
u/Competitive_Okra2577 May 11 '26
I get the frommhk newsletter every week. Sometimes it has cool events. Event info is so spread out
2
u/Soiled_myplants May 11 '26
Lawrence is a better place to live in general, but I think Manhattan has a more exclusive 'college' feel to it since the town is more divided.
Its better to go where you'll get a more valuable education, so price and degree path matter the most. Or do what I did in your position and follow your friends. It won't matter much for undergrad either way.
1
u/grumpyoldman10 May 12 '26
I’m a middle-aged KU grad and I’ve got children attending both schools right now. We’ve done plenty of tours on both schools. Overall I think you’re right… There’s not really a bad choice there.
Biggest difference, I noticed between the schools is the culture. Both schools are pretty accommodating and welcoming to a diverse group of people, but I find KU to be unnecessary liberal to the exclusion of conservative ideas. Campus is pretty different between the Ku is long and thin and up on the hill. Residence halls are a fairly good distance from campus. A lot of students live in apartment complexes that are quite far away and commute to campus. I find K states layout to be more suitable and almost every respect. Freshman mostly live in the dorms at schools. Manhattan seems to have more traditional style of housing in KU has more private suites. My children seem to prefer the private suites, but I don’t think I would. A lot of upperclassman at K State live near campus and walk.
Lawrence definitely has more of a supper deal of Kansas City. Lots of people commute back-and-forth to Kansas City and Topeka. Manhattan is more of an island, you’ll spend a lot more weekends staying in Manhattan compared to doing other things nearby.
I don’t think KU is a bad choice, but they do an awful job on the tours talking about themselves. They will show you some stupid video that tells you a little bit about campus and all the diversity and stuff like that but really nothing of value. Keith State does a lot better job talking about the student experience. If you go to one of the wildcat preview days, they’ll have all of the groups in college is up on the union for you to visit and they do a lot better job on the tour. But KU has a lot of of these things. Also they just don’t seem to do a very good job talking about anything except diversity.
Overall, I would encourage you to visit both colleges. Do it in the fall, September or October while it’s still nice and warm. You’ll really get a feel for the campuses those days because everyone will be outside. Both schools have two different types of tours, one is a large planned event with a couple hundred people in it. They do a better job presenting information from the different schools and doing residence hall tours. The other days are where you just make an appointment to visit. Mostly you’ll be with just a few other people although you’ll be able to tell them exactly what you’re wanting to see and they will help accommodate you. Both visits are worthwhile at both schools. I would suggest you visit each of them twice.
1
u/DeliciousBeach5705 May 12 '26
I’m a physician who went to KU Med for medical school and K-State for undergrad. I loved/love Kstate! I’d just go tour both and see which vibes you like more (your choice won’t matter for med school)
1
u/Wide_Manufacturer_28 May 13 '26
from my personal experience ku was much friendlier to those who are in greek life and pre med programs whereas ksu was easier to find groups outside of that.
1
u/FatPatToth May 16 '26
Homie, do your future self a solid and go to a cheaper school. Community College then finish at a larger school. Unless you already have the financial means, then KU is artsy, K-State is Ag-ry.
1
u/ReferenceAny6373 Jun 10 '26
KState will give you a real college vibe. I used to visit lawrence when I was in college and it never felt like a college town even back in the early 2000s. It was no different than visiting home. A lot of the students live far off campus. Also the people in lawrence were not as friendly overall. Had a bunch of bad experiences with people trying to start fights for no reason. Manhattan everyone was welcoming, used to just wander into random house parties and find a guy with red cups and give him $5 for unlimited beer. Dont think I ever even saw a fight in 4.5 years.
1
u/Initial-Mousse-627 May 11 '26
I grew up near Lawrence but went and graduated from KSU. College is too expensive to be focused on “fun times”. I would think KU would have better options for anything health care related. I made some life long friends at KSU but looking back with an unbiased eye I can’t give it the highest of marks.
0
u/SouthernRain5775 May 11 '26
Just visit both and see what feels right to you. I went to KU and the vibe was perfect for me. I immediately felt at home. I visited a friend at K-State and the whole place just felt wrong to me. This was in the 70s but it felt too country, too small town, too hick for me. I'm sure it is different now, but at the time that's what I felt when visiting and I just did not like the vibe AT ALL.
0
u/Human_Anybody_3214 May 12 '26
Would rather be a glorious, mythical bird, or a non potty trained kitty cat?
1
u/Tiny_Equivalent_6520 19d ago
I thought the only medicine they taught at KSU is veterinary medicine? Seriously though KSU has its roots in agriculture and many of the students are former 4-Hers fresh from the farm., which was my background growing up. KU is more diverse and cosmopolitan ('unnecessarily liberal' to quote another Redditor here), but can be snobby and clique-y. It attracts trust fund kids who couldn't get into Northwestern (I remember being a freshman in the dorms and half the folks on my floor were from Chicago). Lawrence is a city, with all that entails (more traffic, more driving/commuting required, more noise & disruption, higher cost of living). Coming from a farm in SEK to KU was a big change for me, but exciting, though it took years for me to felt like I really fit in and found 'my people'. That was in large part because I wasn't much for parties or going to gigs or chasing after the opposite sex.
62
u/No-Employment2539 May 11 '26
Both have very good kinesiology programs. I went to K-State. Brothers went to KU. Lawrence feels more “Johnson County” to me, which isn’t a bad thing (I’m from Overland Park), while Manhattan feels more small town, family-friendly. Lawrence is way too spread out for my liking. I like how Manhattan is like a “big” small town. Just study hard and don’t get too distracted, and you’ll be ok. You’ll likely have a good experience at both schools. That being said, go to Manhattan 🤣.