Middle Tennessee State University

Date: Dec 06 2011
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm here from out of state. I'm a transfer from a private school, one with a better reputation (if nothing else.) I came for the recording program, which is supposed to be excellent, but I'm also finishing an English degree that I started at the other school. For out-of-state students, MTSU is probably a bit of a ripoff, but a few of the programs (Recording and Aviation, mainly) are well worth it. English professors are very smart but unfortunately, virtually all English professors, resources, and classrooms are crammed into the stuffy third floor of an unattractive building that's probably over 30 years old. The same might be said of a lot of departments on campus, can't say for sure but for such a huge student population there sure aren't many academic buildings, and many of them are old.

The professors have been good, but other than that, I'd say it's the quintessential big state school experience in a lot of ways. Crappy dorm rooms, mediocre food, most buildings need renovation, tons of students, nowhere to park. I've heard some complaints about safety but I've never encountered any safety issues firsthand. Then again, I'm a male, it's probably different for females. I would say use common sense when walking around on campus, especially at night as there are a few seedy characters roaming around, but overall I think safety is good, considering how many students are here. I sure see an awful lot of cops roaming around campus and driving around the surrounding community.

I'm from a very, VERY white town and have probably never been around so many black people in my life, but I have had very few problems with any of them. I did notice that in my first year here, I lived in a dorm, and the black people next door liked to play basketball and yell into late hours of the night. There are some "gangsta" types here for sure, but most black people here are nice and not too terribly different from us whites. Most of them are just young and confused, probably grew up in a rough community and are still adjusting to a relatively stable environment in MTSU. I honestly think they're funny too and a lot of the black women are really attractive (I have red hair and I don't know what it is, but many black women are drawn to men with red hair.)

The financial aid office is a NIGHTMARE to work with. I have gotten a double-digit number of messages telling me that I need to set up a payment plan for my semester's tuition, even AFTER I had already set up said plan. Really, though, you shouldn't pick a college based on how competent their low-pay workers are.

I like to smoke weed on occasion, and if that's your thing you'll definitely fit right in here. Not that there's a huge "drug problem," but it's easy to find weed if you want it (I hear it's easy to find other drugs too, though I've never tried). Overall, people are pretty open-minded about what you choose to do with your free time. This goes not only for drugs/alcohol, but for anything you choose to do. It's a pretty diverse campus.

Lots of kids doing the "hipster" thing here too. Though they offend my sensibilities on occasion, most of them are actually pretty nice people.

I'm not a big fan of the city of Murfreesboro, but on a positive note, it's a big enough town that they have pretty much every chain store or chain restaurant you'd ever want. There are a few good local restaurants but surprisingly few options here, I expected more bars too. Also there is no local coffee house that I know of, definitely not one in the downtown square (which is unbelievably small for a city of 100,000 +.) You can find local music here quite often, though it really varies in quality. Not much originality either, I have to say (you'll find the cookie cutter "indie" bands, gangsta rappers, singer/songwriters, etc. for the most part.) There are lots of rednecks here and traffic actually gets pretty bad (the population has experienced a huge surge, so the roads are busier), and you can probably figure out what happens when you mix thicker traffic with rednecks. There is some pretty scenery, too, but lots of concrete and again, lots, I mean LOTS of chain businesses.

Nashville is not far but don't get tricked into thinking that Murfreesboro is right by Nashville and that you can go to Nashville every day. Although some students commute here from Nashville, the drive can take close to an hour on the freeway. (And honestly, aside from the occasional big concert or maybe a Predators or Titans game, there are surprisingly few reasons I've found to go to Nashville.)

As you can probably gauge from these comments, there are a lot of things wrong with MTSU, but I've having a good time so for me, the goods outweigh the bads. I advise ANYONE thinking about coming here to visit the campus first, figure out how much it's going to cost and decide if it's worth it.