Last year, I hated being here.  While some of the comments here are pretty scathing, I can relate and commiserate.  To be blunt, there are many students here who are just plain dumb (I had to explain what a “Democrat” is to a group of particularly dimwitted girls in my soc class), and are primarily here to copycat their MTV reality show role models.  With their popped pink polos and below average IQs, many have no desire to learn anything, genuinely be enlightened by what higher ed has to offer, and put the most emphasis on “going out” (a phrase I have come to loathe every time I hear it) nightly.  College is simply a social rite of passage to some.  How some of these people were even admitted is beyond me.

Mixed thoughts on the faculty.  Some are outstanding—genuinely interested in each student in a class of 500+—and others are apathetic so-and-so's who let their pompous grad student assistants do all the work.  The infamous saying “Those who can't do, teach,” sadly, seems to apply to a number of the profs here.  They seem to be knowledgeable, but could give a rat's tail as far as learning your name, let alone keeping track of your progress (or structuring their class to include more creative endeavors than mind-numbing busywork).  No challenge whatsoever as far as classwork is concerned.  And, to the typical party-going inebriate (which, again, makes up a fair amount of the student pop), that is fine.

However, complains aside, you will find many of these traits at any college... other than most small, liberal arts schools.  Incidentally, that is where most transfer students from IU seem to head.  But, after a semester of adjustment, I really have come to appreciate the diversity of such a large school (though it tends to be racially homogenous) and many of the benefits of going here.  The Kelley Business School is one of the top in the nation, and the School of Music is number one in the country (yes, even over Juliard).  Journalism and classics are also of strong repute.  Honestly, if they made it more selective, it would really be a premiere school.  Bottom line, it offers something for everyone, regardless of desired career path.  Sporting events are as exciting as any Big Ten event would be, and the traveling shows (with Broadway performers) that visit are unmatched, as are the numerous celebrities who appear to speak or perform each year.  And the scenery is stunning.

And, for every drunken numbskull that plagues campus, there is at least one cool person with whom you have more in common than you could believe.  Rest assured, you will find a close-knit group of friends relatively easily, just give it time and patience—the plethora of extracurricular activities IU offers will put you with like-minded people right off the bat.  Though Bloomington is pretty Podunk, you can still find stuff to do with your friends.  Whether that “stuff” includes watching movies or playing video games, seeing a show in IU's very own opera house, eating at one of the five-star downtown restaurants or, yes, even getting drunk at a frat.