James Madison University

This place is way over rated and has recently taken a somewhat elitist stand. As time goes by, JMU is doing nothing but eating up the local land/resources for its own aesthetic interests. The long and useless gen. eds are garbage, and actually getting a class schedule YOU want is near impossible. There are decent & bad (no a/c) freshman dorms, only a select lucky few will get the good ones. Food on campus is good, but is EXPENSIVE, overcrowded, & the "punch" meal plans are designed to take advantage of you (you lose em if you don't use em in a certain period of time). Parking is HORRIBLE (permits are expensive) & yes, they do ENFORCE parking tickets 24/7 so watch out-even visitors. Yes, there is quiet a "house & apt./off campus" party scene on weekends & some school spirit. (the biggest Uni. party scene in the conservative state of VA) here-but thats because there isn't much to do in Harrisonburg. FEW bars for those 21+. ATTENTION: This "party scene" is a $$$ maker for JMU police & HPD. They are on full force i.e undercover units/officers on bicycles/constant weekend patrols...if you are caught-you will be CHARGED- no warnings no and ifs or butts. ie. open container, underage possession of alcohol, noise violations, drunk in public, pissing in public, etc. The ramifications of getting a ticket are ENORMOUS-both in the financial & time frame terms. FREE beer & liquor can be obtained off campus, but this obviously poses a variety of risks. And after some time, the party scene gets boring/repetitive. Unfortunately, many- especially lower classes tend to OVERINDULGE. Many fry their useless brains, thus the occasional sense of "low intelligence" peers. The use of cognitive enhancing drugs (aderall/ritalin) is widely increasing amongst the student body-to catch up after too much partying. Which in itself, is negative. There is a drunk bus, which is fun if experienced NO more than a 2-3 times. I-81 (major trucking Highway) passes right through the middle of campus. Plenty of snobbish, "cliqueish", rich-kids from NoVa, plenty of homosexual bible thumpers, plenty of narrow minded whores. Yes, there is a 65/35 student female to male ratio. Eye candy, YES. Worth getting to know?? Hell no! These females can push YOU to the edge of suicide, whether you're a guy or girl, if you choose to come here- BE forewarned. (Been there done that) Plenty of promiscuous, "snooki" like girls, but these are reserved for the jock/prep/frat types. Some of the teachers (especially gen. eds) are just WEIRD as balls and don't give two shits about you. It is possible to carve out a decent education here, if you come here with the RIGHT ATTITUDE. HOWEVER, VA has better schools to offer. ONE thing that is a + here, is the UREC (sport facility & extra curriculars) and currently expanding off campus facilities. you can get a better value elsewhere in this state ex. VT, UVA, W&M, etc. Don't get me wrong, for SOME people this place is the place to be, for others-who actually want to be successful..think twice about coming here.

1st Year Male -- Class 2012

Social Life: A-, Surrounding City: D-