Searching for Cardshops

[taniquetil]

Alright, I'm looking at colleges to apply to (it's my senior year in high school) and obviously one of the most important things is whether I can find somewhere to play close to school.

I'm looking into several universities, so if everyone could chip in and tell me any card shops I could visit, it would be much appreciated.

Keep in mind I probably won't be able to bring a car freshman year.

THese are the Universities' addresses:
Northwestern: Evanston, IL
Cornell: Ithaca, NY
Brown: Providence, RI
University of Michigan: Ann Arbor, MI
University of Chicago: duh
NYU: New York
UPenn: PHilidalphea, Pennsylvania

I know a lot of these are longshots which I probably don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into, but places to play Magic are very important in my college search.

Thank you very much in advance.

[Matt]

Choosing a school based on a card game is a really bad decision. Magic should not even be a tiebreaker.

[Komatteru]

Choosing a school based on a card game is a really bad decision. Magic should not even be a tiebreaker.

[taniquetil]

Yes, I understand that choosing a school based on Magic is a bad choice.

At the same time, I think that Magic has become a part of my lifestyle and I would like to continue playing.\

The question wasn't rather or not I should go 'college X'. The question was whether or not there are places to play around certain universities.

[Komatteru]

Location is often an important factor in choosing a college.  That is, some people want to choose a college in a place where there are ample things of interest to do nearby.  Some people are into drinking and clubbing, and look for towns with an active nightlife.  Others would rather have an art house theater, and are would be more likely to choose a town like Ann Arbor over one like Los Angeles. 

I can understand that you want to choose a college where there's something around other than the college itself.  Getting away from college and into a differnet society can be a relieving factor for some people.  What a person thinks of the surrounding area depends on what he's interested in.  Some places do have something for everyone, while others are just completely unattractive to others (and wonderful to others still).  Other people prefer to have nothing nearby, since it forces students to look to each other for entertainment and things to do, thus increasing campus activity and community.

I did my undergrad at Rose-Hulman, in Terre Haute, IN.  While Terre Haute grew on me in the later years, there really isn't a whole lot there, especially compared to my hometown in the suburbs of Detroit, MI.  If I had been into nightclubs and all that, I would have been pretty disappointed with my time in Terre Haute.  Other than that, most of what students at Rose did was either drink at fraternities or bars (for those old enough) or play video games.  In my last two years, I wasn't into those things anymore, and it was a nice relief that there was a Magic shop with some really nice and fun people in it not too far from my place.  It made my time in Terre Haute more enjoyable for sure.

I was playing Magic before I went to college, but I never considered it in my search for a school.  I suspected there were students at any school who played, and it wouldn't be hard to find them, but I didn't end up bothering.  I stopped playing after I got to college because I found better things to do.  I ended up getting back into Magic after my sophomore year after a pretty random suggestion from my roommate (and became heavily involved in Magic because I was actively seeking to forget someone).  It was nice that Magic was available for me in Terre Haute, but if it hadn't, I'm sure I would have survived.

Academics should be the most important factor in choosing a college, but I can tell you that if you get a group of schools of similar quality, your academic experience at any one of them will be about the same.  You can't predict the professors you have, since they will change while you are there.  Every school will have classes you really like, classes you really dislike, professors you like, and professors you dislike.  Good professors, bad professors.  Every school has them.  Some have more good professors than others, but once you get a list of schools of similar reputation/quality, you won't be able to distinguish much beforehand.  All schools have positive aspects of curriculum and negative ones, and it's probably going to be pretty hard to figure out beforehand (for undergrad, that is) which curriculum seems like the most attractive.  I felt that I had an excellent academic experience at Rose-Hulman and was completely satisfied with it, but I feel that I could have gotten an education of about the same quality at any one of five other schools.

You would get a fine education at any of the places you listed.  However, all of them are different, and have different ways of teaching material.  The types of students you will meet at each will be different.  However, the actual quality of your professors will likely be similar, and you will learn the same material at any of them.  They're all major universities and should be able to provide courses in anything you would want to take.

I'd suggest looking at this matter after you've been accepted and are trying to reach a final decision.  It is very important to choose a college where you think you will fit in well--with students in particular.  Talk to the students and professors, see what they do for fun and how life is.  Your enjoyment of college society depends solely on how well you feel you fit in, and how well you mesh with everyone else.  If you feel out of place, you won't be inspired to do things with as many people, and won't get involved with campus or anything.  However, it is also important to choose a college in a location that you think you will enjoy.  If things with students don't work out quite as you expected, or classes end up being worse than you might have thought, you will want something else around to make your time fun.  Even if everything is wonderful, it can be nice to get away from campus and other students every now and then and do something completely unrelated.

[Storm]

On the other hand, I will say that going to a college where you don't think you will fit in may change you.


I was a very different person after my first year of college.  I learned more social skills in that first year than in the prior 18 years of existence. 

[The Atog Lord]

Well, fortunately, you don't really need to pick between a good magic scene and a good school. Brown's probably the best school on your list, and RI is a great place to play Magic.

The RI/MA Magic Scene is the best I've ever seen. There are tournaments just about every weekend, and a wealth of great players there.

Brown itself was a wonderful place to be. Providence, RI, is a terrific city, and the quality of education I recieved at Brown was outstanding.

Of course a local MTG scene shouldn't determine where you go to college, but at the same time I understanding wanting to examine every angle of where you'll spend four years of your life. And that includes Magic.

If you have any questions about Brown, please feel free to IM me. I'll be happy to talk about it. If you think you have a shot, I'd encourage you to apply. I loved it.

[Dxfiler]

Ditto what Rich said.  Brown is the toughest school on your list as far as I can see, but it's probably the best.  The fact that the surrounding magic scene and the nightlife are both very big definitely helps its case.  Brown is in the center of historic Providence, which is surrounded by numerous restauraunts, record stores, clubs... etc.  It's right off Thayer street, which is like a mini college town.  Just outside of Thayer Street is the rest of Providence, which is enormous and has oodles upon noodles of things to do. 

Magic wise, the scene in that area is pretty good.  I've been around it my entire life and there's always games in every format going on at various locations.  The player base is strong and there are tourneys every single weekend.  MA is a stones-throw away and also offers much in the way of gaming.  Vintage is strong across the board in both states.  The fact that SCG chose Boston as its next location (even though the venue stinks :p) reflects this.

Another strong location for gaming on your list appears to be Michigan.  Although I've never personally been, I know there are several different shops that hold vintage tournaments and the player base is very strong.  The vintage scene in particular seems very big there, as I'm constantly seeing posts for events in that area...usually lotus tournaments.  I know Demars, Nicolo and the rest of that crew regularly play there.  I imagine one of them wll make a case for the Michigan scene, and rightly so.

So yeah, I'd personally say RI is a strong bet for you... but don't base your decision around the gaming alone.  I don't know what your intended major in College is, but Brown is a strong school for alot of different options.

- Dave Feinstein

[+t]

I'd like to point out that the YMG moved to a location slightly further away from Brown.  Its not that much further, but its not in East Providence anymore.   

Yea, I'm in a pretty similar situation.  Not to thread hijack, but is anyone familiar with the area surrounding Vassar? 

With regards to the original poster, I'm looking at many of the same colleges as you are.  Good luck/not really because we're competing.

[Komatteru]

Brown's probably the best school on your list

Well, except if you're doing Engineering, for instance, and then the University of Michigan would be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else on the list.    You can't really say "this is the best school" in general, since it depends so much on your major.

Like I said, I found that "this is the best university" is a not something worth making a deal about.  Finding a place that you think you will like and fit in well at is what I think is important.  I never felt like I fit in at my undergrad institution, and if I had to do it over, I probably would have choosen a different school.  I choose based on academics alone, and it turned out that there were far more things worth considering that I didn't know about.  I didn't hate it or really even dislike it or anything, but I think I could have done a better job choosing a school.

*Insert long praise for Michigan and RIW (details to be filled in by Brian Demars)*

[marcb]

Brown's probably the best school on your list, and RI is a great place to play Magic.

  This will totally depend on your intended major. I spent my freshman year of college at Caltech, which most would argue is a great school. I transferred afterwards and was accepted at Brown and University of Chicago. After discussing the options with people who knew both schools, I went to the University of Chicago. The school can be as hard as you make it or pretty easy if you take the right classes. The magic scene on campus is not too extensive, although if you come here let me know and we'll definitely play! I am really writing to ask you what you're interested in studying in college. This is one of the more important questions to consider, and given the vintage community, I'm sure there are people who have attended every university on your list, who would love to help you make a decision.

Marc

[The Atog Lord]

It is true that what you wish to study is a factor to strongly consider when you choose a school. Yet of course there are factors beyond that. Brown is a small(ish) New England Ivy League school. It's a very liberal place with lots of eccentric but brilliant students. The New Curriculum is really nice -- being able to avoid required courses gives you tremendous academic freedom and the ability to pursue your interests. For instance, I was a computer science and classics major. Not many places would have let me do that.

Now I'm at Purdue. If you want to do hard engineering, it's a great school for that. Still, the atmosphere here is very different. I've gone from New England Ivy League to Midwest Big Ten. I know that I was much more comfortable, and felt far more at home, at Brown. But there are likely people who would prefer this larger, more conservative, and less eccentric campus to Brown's. Frankly, the entire aura of Brown and Purdue are very different. At Brown, we were addressed as though we would go on to become future leaders. At Brown I felt like I was being groomed to have a huge impact on society. At Purdue, I've felt as though I am being trained to be a productive worker. Very different feelings.

As for Engineering at Brown, ask Andy (Hyperion) about that one.

[marcb]

Brown sounds similar to the University of Chicago (U of C)  in the fact that the school is small (4,000 undergrads) and has its fair share of eccentric students. Also, the liberal arts education taught at U of C, also makes it seem as if you are studying "to become a future leader" or at least a future thinker. The curriculum certainly has requirements (many more than Brown's curriculum), but the requirements are designed to ensure that you have a broad liberal arts education. You must pass a foreign language exam, take roughly three one-year long sequences in humanities, social sciences, and civilizations, as well as take math, bio, and some physical sciences. You will not leave without studying some of the classics (Aristotle's The Republic comes to mind).  One of the downsides to the liberal arts education at U of C is that they have never had an engineering program here. If you want to study engineering, then you should not come here. The school tends to look at engineering as a specialized education designed to train you to perform a particular vocation, and this goes against their liberal arts education policy. Frankly, the school really needs to get an engineering and applied math department. Any reason not to is simply an excuse. Also, U of C is on a trimester system, so your course schedule changes three times/year and courses only last 11 wks. This gives a lot of freedom to take many different courses, and be exposed to many different subjects. This is hands down one of the best parts about their curriculum. Caltech also had this academic calendar, and now I would never want to be on a semester schedule.
Lastly, I want to mention that a small school can be really nice, but if the school is too small there can be difficulties with privacy and the like. Caltech has 800 undergrads roughly, and everyone knows everyone else's business. It drove me nuts while I as there. Northwestern does have a pretty decent engineering program. When I applied to Brown I was going to study in their biomedical engineering program, which is also a very good program for biomedical engineering although not as good as Duke's or John's Hopkins but probably better than Northwestern.

[The Chosen One]

Oddly enough I know that there is a fair amount of people that attend Cornell that play magic. One seller from ebay that I worked with several times is a student there and he said they play weekly.

[orgcandman]

Brown's probably the best school on your list

Well, except if you're doing Engineering, for instance, and then the University of Michigan would be leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else on the list.    You can't really say "this is the best school" in general, since it depends so much on your major.

And to go completely dutchy off topic, if you're doing Plastics Engineering, UMass Lowell is either second best or the best school to attend.

I wouldn't consider magic at all in your college search. It's something that, say, 5 years from now, you may not even be doing. Things change, people change, and your life may have new priorities that far outweigh magic. Look at most of the older members. They barely play. They have wives, kids, jobs, etc.. that are far more important than magic. School is the same way. It determines your future jobs, and living situation. Magic just determines what you do with some spare hours of time.

[BigMac]

You could off course go study oversees. If you come to Holland studying, this country is so small there will always be a magic community close by. Most possible studies can be attended here, although language may pose a problem, there are international courses as well mainly in english.

[Cross]

There's not much to do at Cornell but drink. It's a really good school though.

I go to RPI and I recommend against it. It's geographically in a nice position, but there's mostly guys here, and most of those guys are in lame frats. Unless you like paying for friends. It's a fine school for engineering or science though.

Anywhere in Eastern NY Or Mass you'll be near an awesome type 1 scene. The Trick is having a car to get there, or having sweet friends who'll pick you up, like Outlaw.

[jro]

There is no Magic playing in basically all of Philadelphia.  There's one card shop in the city limits where people actually play consistently, and it's a total dive, and nowhere near Penn.  There's been some good tournaments run over the past year or so at the Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, but that's a solid 45 min - 1 hr drive from Penn.  It's kind of pathetic, really, that the place where Magic was invented has nowhere decent to play Magic.

Although, since I'm from Philadelphia and we're notoriously down on ourselves, maybe you shouldn't trust me.  I also don't have anything nice to say about Penn, but that's a whole different story.

[Mr. Nightmare]

I go to RPI and I recommend against it.

I went to Clarkson.  Can I quote you on this?

oh, and in order to add some actual content, read this again:

I'd suggest looking at this matter after you've been accepted and are trying to reach a final decision.  It is very important to choose a college where you think you will fit in well--with students in particular.  Talk to the students and professors, see what they do for fun and how life is.  Your enjoyment of college society depends solely on how well you feel you fit in, and how well you mesh with everyone else.  If you feel out of place, you won't be inspired to do things with as many people, and won't get involved with campus or anything.  However, it is also important to choose a college in a location that you think you will enjoy.  If things with students don't work out quite as you expected, or classes end up being worse than you might have thought, you will want something else around to make your time fun.  Even if everything is wonderful, it can be nice to get away from campus and other students every now and then and do something completely unrelated.

This is also why a campus visit is so important.  I grew up in a rural area, and after visiting 2 or 3 schools with similar academics/scholarship packages/etc. the campus visits really chose for me.  A few were very urban, with giant brick buildings all over, and I wasn't really keen on that.  My school ended up being in the middle of nowhere, but I had grown up with that and it appealed to me.  You have to be comfortable in not only the academic setting, but the geographic setting of the school, as well.

Having been forcefully ejected from both Cornell's and Brown's Ice Hockey arena, I would reccomend going to Brown.  I have a bunch of friends there, the people are generally much nicer than the Cornell people I've met.  On top of that, Providence rivals for the best city in the US, as far as I'm concerned.  Providence Place mall is great, and they have a Dave and Buster's (For those who don't know, picture Chucky Cheese's, with beer).  You won't find yourself at a loss without a car, either, since the school is just outside the city proper.

[vex]

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php

When in doubt, use the list.

(But seriously, don't - go where you can study exactly what you want to with the best professors you can) 

Also, there is a thriving magic community at Cornell.  The games club meets every week and there are several people who play. 

[freakish777]

I go to RPI and I recommend against it.

I went to Clarkson.  Can I quote you on this?

You can quote me on it.  I just got done with the place...

but there's mostly guys here, and most of those guys are in lame frats. Unless you like paying for friends. It's a fine school for engineering or science though.

Not to mention Troy NY itself leaves a lot to be desired.