James Madison University

Cops love arresting students, even when they are on-campus not doing anything wrong. School is for ya-ya kids and not so much if you are more reserved. Gen-Eds are hard, time consuming, and boring as all hell. JMU wants to be a top school like UVA but they aren't. Virginia students who go here either failed to get into UVA or are borderline retarded. A lot of the northerners are rich douche bags who came to JMU to party.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2016

Collaboration/Competitive: A+, Surrounding City: D-

I went to this school expecting to leave-- so maybe that was my first problem. Yet, I expected to go to this school to challenge myself, enjoy myself, and then have the CHOICE whether to leave or not the next year. By the end of my first week I filled out my transfer application. This is because JMU felt like high school all over again except I was NOT challenged like I had been at my IB high school, I was not part of a diverse culture like I had been at my high school, other high school, middle schools, elementary schools. In fact, my first high school had 150 people from preschool to high school (albeit it was an international school) was one million percent more diverse than JMU. In my year there I encountered one international student, and that was because he was an athlete and everyone knew him. I was disgusted with how segregated the student body was, to be frank I was in shock how little I interacted with anyone who was non-white. The campus is pretty but it's a trap because other than the frat houses and the apartment complexes Harrisonburg felt dead to me. I encountered people everyday who made me feel ashamed to go to this school, people could not write to save their lives, people never studied, drinking, drugs and sex were everyone's top priority. And, after all of this, residence life was the icing on the cake of incompetence. Whatever you do, never live in Eagle hall, and as soon as you get out of the dorms never look back. They are not helpful, and bureaucracy runs you in circles. I could point out all of the things that were written BY THEM on paper that they promised to do etc and they would shrug and say "sorry, we can't do anything". I also won't go into too much detail, but more than once I felt scared for my life in my dorm and they did little to change the situation until it threatened their reputation. My advisers did little to help me when I chose to go abroad, when I tried to transfer, and even when I had questions about my major; they love to refer you to someone else because they are not well versed in the things their advisees may need and it is more than obvious. You have to research, call, email, find, do and learn everything about this place on your own and people will get in your way about it. I may be the exception to a very enthusiastic student body, but if you want to go to a university that cares about student safety and happiness, and be surrounded by people who are there to learn and get out into the real world, not just drink and go to sorority formals all the time then please, please look elsewhere.

1st Year Female -- Class 2016

Campus Aesthetics: B+, Collaboration/Competitive: D-