George Mason University

Mason is a commuter school and is trying extremely hard to shed that label. Its steadily and annually increasing tuition is an indicator of the major building projects being put into place in this school. As of now, however, the construction on this campus is an eyesore and makes walking around difficult. The main campus quad and Johnson Center (student center with fast food) are the nicest parts of campus and most populated during the weekday. The academic area and Fenwick library are attractive buildings as well. In 5 years this will be a great university that will offer a pretty comprehensive college experience to bright and motivated students, but is not able to provide that experience now.

The social life at Mason is relatively dismal. The school has some insane commuter population, I've seen on-campus student numbers as low as 11% from some sources. The campus becomes a ghost town on weekends and Fairfax is a suburban community that does not condone the average lifestyle desired by 18 to 24 year old people. Nothing interesting is within walking distance of campus besides the McDonalds at University Mall. If you want to walk off campus you will have to cross a number of busy parkways anyways.

The only parties held at Mason are by fraternities and you need to be affiliated if you are a male to get in. The fraternities also have to provide rides from campus to their parties because many fraternities rent houses as far as 7 miles away. The houses are dispersed throughout residential neighborhoods surrounding the campus and are often busted by the city police.

This brings me to another issue, the George Mason campus police. I have never been in trouble with the police on this campus, so please keep that in mind while reading this and know that it is not out of personal spite. Well, maybe a little spite, only because they are ruthless. If you are intoxicated on Mason's campus, chances are you will be arrested and taken to the Fairfax county jail. It is completely ridiculous, but the police are not there to protect students, like most campuses' police are supposed to do, they are there to issue fines, arrest, and generally make the student population that wants a social life miserable.

If you envision yourself at a college where you can take a 5 minute walk over to a friend's apartment or house, meet interesting new people and be with friends, and walk back to your dorm plastered at 3 in the morning, do not apply to Mason. If you do not join a fraternity as a male, you will have 3 weeks at the beginning of each semester to party at fraternity rush parties, then get ready to spend the next few months holed up in a townhouse with a case of Natural Ice and a video game console and 3 other dudes. Don't be too loud though, the police are idling in their cruiser outside and will probably enjoy every second of arresting you.

My section on academics will be short compared to my evaluation of social life. And this is not because I am not a good student, merely because I am not transferring because I am disappointed in the academics.Anyway, you will probably sleep through your Gen Eds. Just read the textbook.

The Mason administration is a group of people who probably have extreme inferiority complexes and cannot lead their peers because it seems that they enjoy making young peoples' lives harder, not unlike the campus police. The housing department will fine you for just about anything and everything, not to mention they will ignore your attempts to contact them. The judicial system will give you community service and probation for just about anything as well.This school has aged an depressed me in 8 months. And I went into my first semester with the most positive and excited attitude possible.