lawrence, ks

[warwickland]

of those of you who have lived there and or attended KU as either a grad student or outside the typical 18-22 bracket, how is it for someone in their mid twenties who is easily annoyed by large hordes of drunk and or sober undergrads? im trying to decide what/ where/ if / i should enroll in grad school during the spring/summer/fall of 2007 and KU is on my short list. UMKC has been really great but i don't know if i want to do grad school here (or if i should do grad school at all). obviously my course of study should take top priority, but as im getting older, im pretty fussy about where i live - and if im not comfortable, my academics might suffer.

[Tosspot]

In my grad program at KU, we're actually fairly isolated from the undergrads, except for the architecture students in other parts of the building.

I would never want to live there though, it's too small.

[warwickland]

In my grad program at KU, we're actually fairly isolated from the undergrads, except for the architecture students in other parts of the building.

I would never want to live there though, it's too small.

im pretty naive i suppose, i never got to live in a full blown college town - warrensburg...not quite - so i have these skewed perceptions of an idealized intellectual enclave spiced with a healthy dose of anarchy.

[chrizow]

obviously, i have never lived in lawrence, but my guess is that the situation is similar to that at MU.

basically, if you live in lawrence (columbia) you won't be able to avoid undergrads.  period. 

in your studies, you'll be relatively isolated.  no worries there.

in your social life, it just depends on where you go.  you'll quickly identify where the frat/sorostitute bars are and how to avoid them.  you'll figure out where the "grad student bars" and "grad student friendly bars" and other establishments are too.

basically, you'll have no problem carving out a niche.  now, if you're in downtown lawrence at closing time on a weekend night?  god help you.  but for the most part i think you'll be able to avoid it.  it's sort of like in KC:  if you want to minimize your exposure to douchebags, minimize the time you spend in westport after dark on weekends and certain Plaza establishments.  voila! 

you'll be comfy in lawrence, i promise.

[Tosspot]

im pretty naive i suppose, i never got to live in a full blown college town - warrensburg...not quite - so i have these skewed perceptions of an idealized intellectual enclave spiced with a healthy dose of anarchy.

I can't offer a full review since during the semester I basically get in and get out as soon as possible, though I do meander around the KU campus in between classes when I feel like it.

As for Warrensburg/CMSU -- it's a drunken hillbilly's paradise, featuring ignorant and cacophanous inebriated pricks and sluts...so overall I'd say it's more of a typical college experience than you give it credit for.

[chrizow]

im pretty naive i suppose, i never got to live in a full blown college town - warrensburg...not quite - so i have these skewed perceptions of an idealized intellectual enclave spiced with a healthy dose of anarchy.

that element is definitely there.  in any large university town, you'll be able to figure out where the intellectual/anarchists/hipsters/hippies/whatever you want hang out. 

once trailerkid sees this thread, i think he'll point you in the right direction.

[warwickland]

As for Warrensburg/CMSU -- it's a drunken hillbilly's paradise, featuring ignorant and cacophanous inebriated pricks and sluts...so overall I'd say it's more of a typical college experience than you give it credit for.

true, although during a time i spent almost every weekend in columbia and about once a month in lawrence and always perceived a vital "collegiate dimension" and otherwise that was pathetically absent in warrensburg.

[warwickland]

that element is definitely there.  in any large university town, you'll be able to figure out where the intellectual/anarchists/hipsters/hippies/whatever you want hang out. 

once trailerkid sees this thread, i think he'll point you in the right direction.

i'm not a big fan of 'labels, etc' and feel fairly 'free' here in kc - this would be one dynamic of lawrence (college towns in general), that would be hard for me to (re)adjust to.

[KCMax]

Well, it depends on what you're into. Obviously, being a much smaller town, the options are more limited than in KC. You have a great choice of restaurants - Mad Greek, Free State Brewery, Wa, Zen Zero, La Parilla, La Familia, Jade BBQ, Papa Keno's, Kokoro's were some of my favorites. The community arts center is a pretty cool place - I took some sketch classes there and they offer many classes for very reasonable prices. There are some options if you like the outdoors - a frisbee golf course, a nearby lake (Clinton), competitive softball leagues, bike friendly areas, and its always nice to just to stroll around Mass Street or campus and admire the eye candy!

Lawrence provides you with a much stronger sense of community than perhaps you would get in KC. And with a university there, you have a lot of resources a city that size normally wouldn't have. There are numerous ways in which you can get involved and find your niche.

[kard]

Just buy a winter coat and go to Madison, WI.

[warwickland]

Just buy a winter coat and go to Madison, WI.

yeah, that would be very interesting. i am spoiled by lower midwestern winters, however.

[LenexatoKCMO]

I lived there for three years during law school.  The only time that I really ever got frustrated was with the nightlife scene.  If you don't go out you can easily avoid the undergrads in most other walks of life but not when you go out.  With most of the lawrence watering holes, if you are 24-5 you will be by far one of the oldest in the bar and in some places, the only one with a legal id.  It seems like every year or so someone tries to open a bar that is targeted towards the more mature crowd but they always wind up overrun with underage undergrads after a month or two.  The best you can hope for is a place that gets a mixture of some older and some underage.  There is something rather amusing about walking into a bar with a bunch of guys in their mid twenties to early thirties, some balding, some graying, and the bouncer will spend five minutes elaborately inspecting every detail of your id; and then you get inside and everyone in the bar is 19.  All that being said, I still managed to have a pretty damn good time for three years.  Just make sure to avoid the more extreme fratish, high testosterone, bar-fight places and it gets quite a bit more enjoyable.

As for on campus life, I don't know which program you are looking at but I can tell you that the Law School kept itself entirely sequestered from the undergrad student body.  About the only time you had to do anything outside of the law school was to go and collect yur student loan check once a semester. 

[KCMax]

Some good bars for older patrons include the Red Lion and the Sandbar on certain nights.

[bahua]

I second the recommendation for Madison. It's the best college town I have ever been to, including CoMo, Lawrence, Ames, Iowa City, Champaign, mpls, and Boston. I'm not saying it's better than MPLS or Boston, but it's much more survivable and fun for young people.