Western Illinois University

Date: Jul 14 2012
Major: Finance (This Major's Salary over time)
I started here as a freshman straight out of high school when i attended. Most of the student body in Western Illinois University was either from Rural Illinois or from the Chicagoland area.

The good

Classes/professors: Most of the professors actually teach compared to other bigger universities all my classes were taught by professors basically. I cant say about the quality of the professors because there are good and bad professors at every university you go to but all of mine has been excellent. The class sizes were small 15-40 people that allows for individual interaction.

Safety: The campus is pretty safe with the blue boxes around campus and there is usually little or no crime as compared to other Universities.

Parking: If you live in Tanner,Bayless and Henninger you get pretty lucky because of the Q-Lot which is never full all year day and night. The cost is pretty low which it is 36 dollars for parking.

Nightlife: The town has around 2-3 bars there's something always going on (concerts etc) on the weekends. The school is also known for its infamous Adams st which holds many house parties usually every weekend usually in the warmer months.

Cost: One of the cheapest universities in terms of tuition and fees in Illinois this also applies to dorms as the university locks in both rates for 4 years.

The bad

The town: Western Illinois University is located in Macomb a rural town setting with a 20k population that's surrounded around smaller towns so its pretty isolated outside the obvious bars its just a rural community with a few chain restaurants. The town doesn't have much to offer in terms of shopping besides Walmart and Kmart.

Dorms: I lived in tanner my freshman year which most of the building was average. Most of the buildings were rundown and falling apart but WIU is trying to improve on this by renovating current buildings (Corbin/Olson).

Buildings: Many buildings are in need of repair such as the Student union which inside actually feels like the 80's. There are some academic buildings that are in need of repair and renovations such as Waggoner and Western Hall.

Prestige: This is one of my biggest complaints about the school is that most of the people/employers in the same state doesn't even know this school even exists in Illinois so there is very little prestige.

Most of the people that attend this school are law enforcement majors and it usually overshadows the other majors.