re: What would be Mississippi State's overall reputation as a university be?

I went to State and LSU.

Starkville gets a bad rep but it’s probably the safest city with an SEC university. You rarely hear of violent crime.

Mississippi State has a Presidential library, only State and A&M have those in the SEC. State is like a smaller A&M and the city of Auburn is about 5 years ahead.

You get SEC sports, it’s relatively cheap and they give great scholarship money. If you consider ROI, they are hard to beat.

Their president, Mark Keenum is a State grad that was high in the Bush administration. Mississippi State is the third most conservative Power 5 school behind Baylor and BYU. Doesn’t mean you get zero woke, but it’s really discouraged from the top.

The town is sleepy and boring, but not as bad as some make it feel. What most of my friend do is let their kids live on campus as freshmen, then purchase a condo, get a couple of roommates and when it’s sold in three years, they break even on the living expenses or make a little.

18-22 year old kids are going to find trouble if they are looking for it, but it’s a great place to spend your college years.