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Louisiana State University System Office

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityB- Faculty AccessibilityA
Useful SchoolworkA Excess CompetitionB
Academic SuccessA Creativity/ InnovationB
Individual ValueA+ University Resource UseC
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyA- FriendlinessA
Campus MaintenanceA Social LifeA-
Surrounding CityC- Extra CurricularsA
SafetyC
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Approachable, Snooty, Closeminded

Describes the faculty as:
Friendly, Helpful

Female
ACT:31
id='quarter' class='snapshot' style='color: #977500; line-height:80px';float:left;
SAT1990
Quite Bright
Lowest Rating
Surrounding City
C-
Highest Rating
Individual Value
A+
She cares more about Surrounding City than the average student.
Date: Jan 09 2010
Major: History/Histories (art history/etc.) (This Major's Salary over time)
I came to LSU as a freshman for one reason, and one reason only- money. LSU gave me a GIANT scholarship that I couldn't turn down! I'm from Houston, and given that UT, A&M, and anything else in Texas wasn't willing to give an in-state student very much money, I figured LSU would be a great choice since it was relatively close to home (4.5 hours) and it would end up being cheap.

Now that I'm here, though, I have mixed emotions about my decision to attend.

Let's start with what I DON'T like about LSU. First and foremost, that the majority of people that attend here are from in-state is really, really frustrating for an out of state student. Everywhere you go, 90% of the people you meet already know everyone around you, and they've all been best friends since they were little kids, or they know someone who knows this person who knows this person, so there's an automatic connection. It leaves an out of state student feeling very isolated in most situations, even if you're outgoing and personable like me! Second, it's REALLY obnoxious to know that what little money I AM paying is going toward the athletic program. Right now, the school is undergoing a MASSIVE budget cut, and they're laying people off and eliminating core classes and cutting down on maintenance, but i GUARANTEE that the football program won't lose a damn cent of their money. This means that instead of my money going toward helping boost the academic programs that are now starting to lose money, my cash is headed toward the Tiger football team instead of being put to good use. It makes sense, given that football is the university's largest revenue generator, but STILL. Come on. When the academics are suffering, sports should realistically be the first things to go. But, this IS the South, I guess. Football takes precedence. Third, Greek life is SO OBNOXIOUS here. I've got nothing against sororities and fraternities. I think the idea of them is great. But down here I'm telling you man, this shit is just like what you see in the movies. The sorority girls tend to ALL dress alike. Like, when you're walking around campus, you can tell just by glancing at someone whether or not they're in a sorority. Got on pearls, tights, Uggs, and a big t-shirt? Sorority girl. And these girls man, this shit is crazy! Some of these girls have taken breeding classes since they were in middle school about how to get into a sorority! I didn't rush, but had a friend here who did, and she told me that rush is cutthroat and if you don't get into a sorority and your mom was in one, you might as well just be kicked out of the family. For whatever reason, it's a HUGE deal. They really tap into the whole "we pretend to be a Christian volunteer organization and we cite Bible verses everywhere we go and we wear pearls to make ourselves look proper, but every Thursday night we get shitfaced at Reggie's and shack up with the first guy that buys us a drink and we come to ever midterm hungover as fuck hehehehehe" thing. It's not even that these are slutty, bad people. They just play into the whole southern belle sorority girl stereotype way too much because that's the kind of culture they breed down here. And don't even get me started on the frat boys. The hazing is awful, and once a guy is in a fraternity, he tends to get a very elitist, asshole "my Sperry's are better than your Nike's" type of attitude that pisses a lot of people off. They want to sleep with everything that breathes, and their main goal is to throw a bigger kegger than the next frat and shack up with every girl they see so they can add them to the "Wall Of Whores." Yep, that exists- a wall in a certain frat's Chapter room where once a girl has slept with more than one guy in the fraternity, her picture is taken and placed on the wall and henceforth any guy in the frat that sleeps with her gets his name put on a name plate and it's placed under the picture. Keepin it classy.

All that being said, however, LSU really is a good place if the

real college experience
is what you're looking for. Everything on the campus is accessible, and the Union has a handful of good places to grab some grub (though the people who work at McDonald's are ASSHOLES. Avoid that place at all costs). The Student ID that you're given is an easy way to pay for everything, so no worries about carrying around cash. Though I will say that unless you eat like a pig every single day, the meal plan is a waste of money. The cafeteria has good food, but it's WAY too expensive. I ended the semester with $300 left in meals that didn't roll over! Speaking of the cafeterias, though, the servers are awesome. They're so warm and friendly, and if you come there enough they greet you by name and will give you anything you ask for. They're good, happy, fun people. Most of the faculty is. Granted, I'm in the Honors College so my advisors have less students to deal with, so they're always readily available to sit down with students. Nevertheless, however, I haven't yet had any poor experiences with advisors or professors. I wasn't really impressed with my Western Civ class per se, but the 3 professors that taught it always responded to my emails and always had time to sit down with me during office hours, or arrange for special meeting times if I had something going on that made it hard to come by during their free time. My Chem professor was awesome, too. An AWFUL professor (sorry, Russo), but really to no fault of his own. He was just too smart for us. However, he sent us emails weekly talking to us, a big lecture class!, about how to do well on his exams, what was on each exam, what was coming up on quizzes, and he even set up help sessions after office hours, and even on Sundays sometimes!, where he would volunteer his free time to sit down with kids who needed some help with the material. Still ended the semester with a C, but we e-mailed back and forth and he let me know why I made the grade that I made, and what to do in future classes in order to do better. Overall, faculty is accessible, willing to help you in any way possible, and less concerned with their own personal research than with with helping you (which is weird, since it's a research university!).

Nightlife in Baton Rouge sucks, but you can always find something to do. Thursday is the big party night where everyone goes to Tigerland, the strip with all the sketchy, way too crowded bars. Saturdays during football season revolve, obviously, around football, and the tailgating is SO much fun. it's the South!, so everyone is super welcoming and ready to hand you a full plate of food and beer if you happen to stop by their tent. Lots of great food, great drinks, and great music. There are always big "Animal House" type parties going on, and most people get away with them, though the cops have started cracking down lately on underage drinking. Sigh. Downtown Baton Rouge is dead, though, so unless you can find a party to go to, there isn't much to do on the weekends. Hence why (and you didn't hear this from me), a lot of people head to New Orleans on the weekends, where you can get into a lot of bars with no I.D. and drink your life away. Go to Bourbon street once, but after that, stay out of the Quarter. The best bars in New Orleans are by the universities.

Campus life has a lot to offer. Lots of random events, like Splatterbeat, where you go out onto the parade grounds and splash paint onto people… just for fun. They have movies on the lawn and concerts and lock-ins and guest speakers and all kinds of stuff. Get involved! I hate extracurriculars, but even I'M telling you, if you come here, join a club! They're fun, and are really the only way to meet people if you're from out of state.

The campus itself, too, is beautiful. Not much diversity.. either southern preppy or trying to be artsy, but even given my previous comments I'd say that on the whole, people are nice and welcoming. Like I keep saying, it IS the South. People are brought up to be nice, even if they sometimes are haughty and way too much Ralph Lauren. :)

Overall picture: Baton Rouge kind of sucks, but you can find stuff to do. Good food, good professors, parking sucks but you'll survive. I don't even have to pay it all, but I'd say it's worth the money. Be careful after dark, though. BR is pretty sketch. Take the bus after sunset. Trust me. :)

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