Sort By:
[Date]
[Major]
[Rating]
| Quite Bright |
Great expectations do often lead to great disappointment. Before coming here, I had esteemed Indiana University as one of the best public colleges in the nation, and I was not alone in this appraisal. TIME magazine ranked IU as the "best research university" in 2001. Perhaps that still holds true, but I came to IU as a student to learn and to enrich my life, not as a faculty member to conduct research or publish a book.
IU is famous for its ?beautiful campus?, a sentiment I share for the most part. However, this is a relatively old university, and not all buildings have been well maintained. Classrooms are sterile, devoid of any decoration or design, yet this is admittedly the case with most college classrooms. Some of the lecture halls have been updated with padded seats, which are quite comfortable, and make sitting for long stretches of time relatively easy. But the more ?traditional? halls have wooden or hard plastic seats, which become torturous after an hour or more. The campus sprawls across nearly 2,000 acres, meaning that students must take into account the distance between buildings when scheduling courses back-to-back, as it is quite possible that you would not have enough time to get from one class to the next if they are held in buildings on opposite sides of the campus. The campus does benefit from a decent bus system (free for all full-time students) which helps offset this problem. Parking for freshman is abysmal---you may only park at the stadium, and the university makes you move your car whenever there is a home football or basketball game. They don?t care WHERE you move it, so finding a legal space is up to you. Further, there is no warning system or ?three strikes and you?re out? policy. They towed my car the first time I forgot and left it at the stadium during a home game. It was towed to a place off campus that I had to walk to and pay $140 dollars to have it taken out of impoundment.
Administrative aspects aside, I have not been disappointed by the academics. I?ve been fortunate enough to be taught by actual professors in all of my classes (not TAs) but I do not think this is the norm, especially for intro level math and science classes. All of them seem knowledgeable in their fields, and eager to communicate with students via e-mail or office hours. I?ve never felt belittled by my professors, even as a freshman. Additionally, most have a generally gregarious personality, and may crack a good natured joke in class on occasion. My only academic complaint is that, as a student wanting to major in Psychology who had already taken AP Psych in high school and scored a 5 on the test, I was still obligated to take P 155 (an intro course) which was essentially a review of everything I had already learned from the AP class. I got next to nothing out of that semester-long course, and could have easily started out in a 200 level class.
IU?s most glaring flaw is the social scene on campus (or more accurately, the lack of one). The Greeks essentially control the school, so if you want to have ANY fun on a Friday or Saturday night, join a Fraternity or Sorority, or make friends with someone who?s Greek. There is next to nothing to do off campus---Bloomington is a sorry excuse for a ?college town? and has little to offer anyone too young to get into bars. The students themselves are aloof, backward, or indifferent. Almost everyone drinks heavily, and many also smoke. It?s an unwritten rule that you do not attempt to make eye-contact or even look at someone whom you pass on the sidewalk, or attempt to speak to someone waiting at the same bus stop as you. I?ve been to New York, and the same social conventions seem to be in place here, despite the fact that everyone is a student going to the same university in the Midwest. There is also no dating scene. A girl probably wouldn?t know how to respond if someone asked her out, because no one asks anyone out. Fun follows a basic pattern in the form of 1) go to a party hosted by a Greek house 2) become intoxicated to the point of memory loss the next day 3) hook-up with someone and have casual sex 4) wake up the following day hung-over, and with little recollection of what happened the night before. To some, this may exemplify a great college experience. But to me, or anyone else looking to meet people while sober, take a girl out instead of just having sex with her, or just have fun without going to a rave party, that kind of ?fun? is ultimately shallow and grows stale quickly.
In short, if you want to major in business or music, consider IU Bloomington for its academic programs in those areas. If you?re from out of state, want to major in something like math, physics, or engineering, or want to feel like you?re a reasonably significant part of the college you attend, look elsewhere. At IU, you are merely a dispensable cog in the machine that is the university. | Campus Aesthetics: A, Individual Value: D- |  | | |
| | Sep 26 2009 | 1st Year Male --
Class 2009 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
Just copy and paste!
<script src='http://www.studentsreview.com/active/shared/sr_comment.js?sckey=61032&uid=465'></script>
<a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a>
|
|
|
|
| Not so bright |
I've had several professors in higher level classes which have been outstanding, but overall I have not enjoyed the time I have been at this school. I feel like I've wasted my time and money and that I should have been more selective in choosing a school. My biggest mistake was in staying at IU when I started developing negative feelings about the place rather than finding a different school. In my defense, credit does not transfer easily to other schools, especially to schools in other states.
I don't feel that I've learned anything that will really help me go further. Most of what we covered in the classes for my degree I already knew from my own research from being interested in the field. I've also had to spend a great deal of time taking classes I have absolutely no interest in to fulfill the "distribution" requirements of my degree. This is to, apparently, give a graduate a "well rounded education" but I think my time would have been better spent working on my portfolio or using university equipment to further develop skills related to my degree.
There is not much space available for parking on campus. Most of the parking is park at and ride from the stadium. The buses are usually at capacity, particularly in poor weather. Walking and biking are the most reliable methods of transportation, although biking is rather perilous (both to bikers and pedestrians) with the current campus infrastructure. A permit is required to park a bike on campus because there are not nearly enough bike racks to accommodate demand. The permit is not expensive but you have to register your bike with parking operations (you don't have to register a vehicle, which makes no sense to me) and you have renew the permit regularly.
Most classes meet and end at the same times on the same days (this is the primary cause of bus congestion and unavailability of bike racks), and many classes are limited to single sections. As a result, some classes are impossible to take together in a semester schedule. If you are not able to get into a class, there is no guarantee you will be able to get into it during a future semester (i.e., there is no administrative waiver for students who have been waitlisted for multiple semesters to grant them early registration for a course), therefore you may have to wait for several semesters to take a class.
Many of the 300 level (junior level) classes seem to be merely review of material covered in the 100-200 level (freshman/sophomore level) classes. Classes did not get interesting for me until I started taking 400 level (senior level) classes.
Foreign languages are difficult in college. The instructors here are technically not allowed to speak English during class, nor are students permitted to use English during class (instructors take points off). Most degrees have a 2nd year foreign language competency requirement. This means taking 4 semesters of one foreign language, or if you studied a foreign language in high school, you can take a placement exam for credit when you enroll.
Bloomington is not the great city it once was. I was born here and have lived here most of my life. The city is becoming a victim of urban sprawl. Mass transit options are limited and inefficient (most bus routes have limited service on Saturdays and some routes don't have service on Sundays whatsoever). The music scene is gone. The art scene is gone. Local businesses are going out of business because of competitive pressure from larger/national brands who have better economies of scale. There really isn't any local Bloomington culture anymore.
Every year the traffic gets worse because the infrastructure can't handle the peak loads. Housing costs are high. Expect to pay at least $600-$700 minimum per month in rent, not including utilities and other expenses, for a 1 bedroom apartment.
Speaking of costs, the financial aid cap through IU (about $19,500 annually) is unrealistic, especially if you want to take summer classes. I don't know where the school gets information for their estimates from, and they don't disclose details on anything, but they need to make better estimates. It easily costs $26,000/year to live here, particularly if you are an independent student or otherwise don't rely on parents/family assistance or don't have a job (the job market here is not good either).
The one thing Bloomington has going for it is that crime is quite low and the streets are safe at any hour, although you should still use good judgment anywhere you are.
I would not recommend IU Bloomington to anyone. Whatever you choose, good luck. It's important to get some higher educational certification because a degree will soon be the minimum standard of education for employers. Besides a degree, it is also important to get to know people and "network" as well as build a professional portfolio or reputation, and it's never too early to begin reading trade literature for the field you're interested in. Not many professors I've had ever mentioned those things, and the ones that did were talking to seniors - by which time it's getting late to hit the ground running. | Perceived Campus Safety: A+, Education Quality: D+ | | | |
| | Mar 16 2009 | 5th Year Male --
Class 2010 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
Just copy and paste!
<script src='http://www.studentsreview.com/active/shared/sr_comment.js?sckey=58543&uid=465'></script>
<a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a>
|
|
|
|
| Quite Bright | Terrible drinking problem. If you want an education, look elsewhere. | Innovation: A, Scholastic Success: F | | | |
| | Apr 21 2008 | 1st Year Male --
Class 2011 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
Just copy and paste!
<script src='http://www.studentsreview.com/active/shared/sr_comment.js?sckey=46333&uid=465'></script>
<a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a>
|
|
|
|
| Quite Bright | In terms of academics, I like this school. I don't even mind the large lecture classes- it means less busywork. However, there is a downside. Many students here are overly absorbed in the party scene, and it isn't even a particularly good party scene. If you don't like going to frat parties, waiting in line for half an hour to get a watery beer and watching moronic youth vomit in the halls and urinate on walls, then be wary; for in terms of a social life, Indiana University has little else to offer. What I find shocking is the fact that the majority of students here were even admitted at all. IU is a relatively selective school for its size, so I expected most students to be slightly more intelligent than a rock. Not the case. I was riding a bus the other day and heard a girl ask another student where she was from. The girl replied that she was from Louisiana. "Is that northern or southern Kentucky?" was the inquirer's response. And the sad thing is, this is not out of the ordinary. I hear similiar idiotic discourse on a daily basis. I am going crazy. I plan on transferring next semester. :) | Useful Schoolwork: A, Innovation: D- | | | |
| | Nov 30 2004 | 1st Year Female --
Class 2008 | | Blog it!Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account:
Just copy and paste!
<script src='http://www.studentsreview.com/active/shared/sr_comment.js?sckey=13596&uid=465'></script>
<a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a>
|
|
|
|
 |
Articles
