Southern Methodist University

Date: Aug 25 2005
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
I was at SMU from 1993 - 1997 and it was an okay experience.

It is very true that there is a certain segment of the student body that are pretentious and superficial but I would say it's more like 50/50 thatn 80/20 or more.

Although you see the stupid, superficial, Louis Vitton carrying freakettes and the dumb drunk closeminded jock boys (secretly sleeping with each other) everywhere, there are also lots of kind hearted, grounded, intelligent students who are there for both an education and social exposure. I was by no means the "typical" SMU student being a minority and not coming from a wealthy family. However, I was born and raised in Dallas and perhaps I knew what I was getting myself into when I went there whereas other students may not.

SMU is located in Highland Park/University Park which is often referred to by Dallasites as "The BUbble" and for very good reason.

The school IS a good school if you go for the right reasons and are talking academics in many fields- SMU is VERY well-respected internationally in several departments (ie. ART, Business, and Engineering) so on a purely academic level SMU will give you a good education in my opinion.

In terms of the social aspects, if you're like me and not 100% Caucasian with a wealthy family to support you you can fit in just fine if you find the right people to hang out with. No, it's unlikely you would be Student Body President but who's to say you wouldn't be. Dallas IS a VERY VERY VERY VERY Superficial city - i've always called it the LA of the South because it wants so much to be that and IS that in many ways. It's about what you drive, where you're from, where you live, what you do, etc. Dallas is also a quietly racist city meaning that the racism isn't loud and in your face as much as it's subtle.

SO, hope this helps some people to understand what life is like at SMU. The dorm life was awful but that was 8 years ago and they've been remodeled since then so can't comment on them now but the food was great!