Copyright 2023 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html Life at JMU - Comments en http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html I'm going to try and give as honest and thorough of a review as I can. I must say that I am very disappointed with my experience here. I have met some great people and I'm glad to have met them, but ... Mon, 01 Oct 2018 01:15:06 GMT StudentsReview 1408-183701 1408-183701 1408 41 History/Histories (art history/etc.) Male Undergraduate Class 1920 2nd Year Negative I'm going to try and give as honest and thorough of a review as I can. I must say that I am very disappointed with my experience here. I have met some great people and I'm glad to have met them, but overall, the college dream that I had coming here was absolutely crushed by the dynamics of the social life here.

Academically and as far as the professors go, I don't think JMU is too bad, however, you may find the social life so depressing that you struggle to find the motivation to do your work.

In high school this was my dream school. I write a negative review but trust me when I say, nobody wanted to like this place more than I did. I struggled to explain my depression and unsatisfactory experience for a long time and was even convinced that the problem was me for awhile. The reason I stopped believing this was because of the people I've met who don't go to this school. The propaganda surrounding this school is insane. Every alumni presents the place as a heaven on Earth and some of the students here continue trying to perpetuate that outside of the school. The truth is, this school and the people who go or used to go here are cult-like in their desire to present an excessively positive image of the school.

My first complaint about the social life here is that a lot of people here are really intolerant and closed minded towards people who are different from them. Its not just about race, most people here don't want to be around people they disagree with and the campus is very cliquey because most people hang out with people who are so similar to themselves its kind of creepy. Finding people who are interested in having an intellectually stimulating conversation with you is very difficult as most of the students aren't interested in that, and a lot of people just seem kind of empty. A lot of them act like walking stereotypes of college students with no depth to their personalities. They BS their way through everything including their classes and their appetite for boring fluffy conversations is endless.

Another thing, this campus will be an absolute hell for introverts. Even if you are mildly extroverted, you will be shocked at just how social people here are. Some people here legitimately do not seem to spend an hour alone where they aren't surrounded by a dozen people. At lunch, while studying, while hanging around their apartment/dorm, in class. How they've made so many friends I have no idea, if you find the secret, let me know.

Another frustrating part of this school is the area. There's absolutely nothing to do in Harrisonburg except drink, and oh my god, do people drink here. I'm saying this as a former high school wild child who never believed he could criticize people for drinking, sleeping around, or partying too much. I personally do like to party a bit, I like to drink in moderation, and I like sex quite a lot. I'm by no means a prude, but the behavior here is so extreme that even I couldn't condone what happens at this school. You have people literally blacking out at pregames, getting destroyed multiple times per week. For some people, even getting destroyed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday isn't enough and they have to get destroyed on one of the weekdays as well. What's even more disturbing is that the student body here seems to worship the bottle so much that there's no level at which people will tell someone they've gone too far. The message here is... The more you drink the cooler you are, so people intentionally build their tolerances to terrifying levels so they can drink 15, 16 or 18 drinks at parties. I've even heard of several people pushing their drink counts into the 20s.

As far as sex goes, the one night stand culture here completely and utterly dominates campus. People here are so noncommittal you can't even find a friend with benefits type arrangement. Any of the girls who want boyfriends are quickly snatched up because of how much of a diamond in the rough they are. Before you start thinking you might still get a lot of one night stands, keep in mind even those are reserved only for the jocks and preppy rich guys who are 80% of the dudes walking around here and are extremely condescending towards anybody who doesn't sleep with as many girls as they do. If you do not dress and act like every other student at this school, you will find yourself in a sexual desert that puts the Sahara to shame. Ok maybe that part was a tiny bit of an exaggeration for comedic effect. However, its worth noting that the one night only culture here is actually so extreme it makes it very difficult to have a fulfilling love/sex life whether you want a committed relationship or if you just want sex. It is also quite nauseating to spend time around so many guys who's ego is tied to how many girls they can sleep with per semester.

All in all, here are the people who will absolutely love this place until their blood turns into unnatural shades of purple and gold: Jocks or preppy rich guys with no appetite for intelligent conversation looking to sleep with obscene numbers of girls and consider the label of alcoholism to be a badge of honor. And stereotypical white girl sorority types who all dress exactly the same, can't get enough of inappropriately aggressive guys, and like to engage in weird cultlike rituals with their "sisters" that apparently involve screaming or reciting creepy chants for hours on end. If you don't fall into these categories, you will probably hate it here and possibly contemplate suicide until you finally find a way to cope with the situation you've found yourself in. Mon, 01 Oct 2018 01:15:06 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html Please stay away from the Architectural Design for your own future, it is not state or interior design/architecture accredited. It is setting students up for failure and a worthless degree.... Tue, 24 Apr 2018 06:16:05 GMT StudentsReview 1408-183114 1408-183114 1408 3 Architecture Female Undergraduate Class 2017 4th Year Negative Please stay away from the Architectural Design for your own future, it is not state or interior design/architecture accredited. It is setting students up for failure and a worthless degree. Tue, 24 Apr 2018 06:16:05 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html DO NOT come to JMU for General Engineering if you don't like group projects and you don't care about whether you can get a real engineering job with this degree. I wasted 2 years here and I transferr... Fri, 22 Dec 2017 07:43:19 GMT StudentsReview 1408-182285 1408-182285 1408 61 Engineering Department Male Undergraduate Class 2000 Negative DO NOT come to JMU for General Engineering if you don't like group projects and you don't care about whether you can get a real engineering job with this degree. I wasted 2 years here and I transferred. It was the worst decision I ever made!!! Fri, 22 Dec 2017 07:43:19 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html Let me just say, coming to JMU was the worst mistake I've ever made. The only good thing about JMU is the opportunity to build resume in the city of Harrisonburg because there was no competition at al... Fri, 22 Apr 2016 05:01:54 GMT StudentsReview 1408-173352 1408-173352 1408 53 Other Female Undergraduate Class 2015 3rd Year Negative Let me just say, coming to JMU was the worst mistake I've ever made. The only good thing about JMU is the opportunity to build resume in the city of Harrisonburg because there was no competition at all. Thanks to that, I am now attending one of the top graduate programs for my field of study - so maybe it was meant to be.

Before I go on about why JMU was a terrible choice for me, let me say the good things: people are usually nice, campus is pretty safe, beautiful & clean campus, and cheap tuition.

I can't speak for students in the other departments, but I am embarrassed that I am a graduate of this dept. Majority of my classes were worthless and I couldn't believe I had to pay to take such basic and high-school level courses. Quality of students in my major classes were poor and I really worried about them. I couldn't have a decent conversation with most of the students. It blew my mind how many of them lacked basic knowledge. Quality of my professors were pretty disappointing (boring cv's, poor connections, lack professionalism, questionable teaching...etc). Also their expectations from students are pretty low (no surprise). BUT there are few quality professors that are simply just amazing and made me wonder why they teach at JMU.

Nothing at JMU was interesting, and I did complain. People at JMU are very proud of themselves and believe that JMU is the best university in the world. By complaining, I made lots of enemies. I didn't care. My expectations for JMU helping me with my future was zero.

If you are a bright student, and want to surround yourself with people who are academically driven and care about their future - I don't recommend this school. I learned that school names and rankings matter - they exist for a reason, my friend.

Also, if you are all about diversity, don't come here. The international population is slowly growing, but the majority ignores them. I personally grew up in a pretty diverse community, and have pretty diverse group of friends; but I've never been around people who were that racist and closed minded.

In conclusion, if you bs-ed high school and want to bs college, JMU is a great choice! Go Dukes! Fri, 22 Apr 2016 05:01:54 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html People at JMU make it seem like Disneyland, good on the outside, bad on the inside. The biggest negative about JMU is the social scene, most students here are close-minded, condescending, arrogant jer... Thu, 14 Apr 2016 10:48:45 GMT StudentsReview 1408-173291 1408-173291 1408 0 Unknown Male Undergraduate Class 2019 1st Year Negative People at JMU make it seem like Disneyland, good on the outside, bad on the inside. The biggest negative about JMU is the social scene, most students here are close-minded, condescending, arrogant jerks whether they're hallmates, people in clubs, or just people you see on campus. Students will treat you like garbage whether you party or not by the way. Students don't hold doors open for eachother, I don't know how that was even made up. The professors are overall okay, they are accessible a decent amount and respond to emails relatively quick, but some talk down on you and don't really help with whatever you need help with. If you want college to be the best four years of your life, I would highly recommend going to a different college, I'm still in my first year and I highly doubt I'm returning after this year. Thu, 14 Apr 2016 10:48:45 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/VA/JMU_comments.html