Indiana State University

Date: May 01 2009
Major: Music - Performance (This Major's Salary over time)
ISU is a very interesting school, and not in the good way. First and foremost it is in Terre Haute, Indiana which, although it is within an hour of Indianapolis, has nothing going on within its boundaries. Ever. The school itself is situated right downtown, which is kind of nice, but then you have the crime. Cars are broken into and stolen on a regular basis as well as assault reports filed. However, if you have even the slightest bit of street smarts, you'll be fine. My biggest problem with this school is its close-mindedness. The students are very conservative and many are very religious. This is a public school, but be sure that if you do not practice Christianity you WILL hear about it, from everyone. Also, democrats are looked down upon, and you will see NO acts of political activism on campus. I recently experienced one of these hillbillies running around the basement of one of the music buildings shouting about, in his words,

all of the N****** around campus

however, when some people tried to get him to stop, WE were asked to stop. That's ISU. You can get a great education here if YOU go for it. You can also get a degree here and not learn ONE thing, which is what most of these apathetic students do. If you know what you want and (excuse the colloquialism) have the balls to go and take it, then this is a good low-priced option. However, if you want a progressive school where new-thinking is encouraged, then please heed my advice and look elsewhere.

A little about the music department, as that is my department. The staff is generally easy to work with and there is a phenomenal music ed and band program. If that is what you want you will have opportunities continually. Outside of that, performance is sketchy unless you are a pianist, cellist, guitarist, bassist, or saxophonist. Anything else, and you might look elsewhere, but it is a matter of preferene.