<p>My 18 year old self would have been overwhelmed by MSU or Michigan. If I hadn’t been set on going into OT, I don’t know which school I would have chosen in the long run. I think that’s why I enjoyed my daughter’s college search so much. My options were so extremely limited but hers were wide open and she found the perfect fit for her. </p>
<p>I enjoyed my time at EMU and was definitely academically challenged once I was in my OT classes. EMU always felt like “home” to me from the first time I stepped foot on campus. The basic studies courses I had to take just weren’t very difficult, challenging or interesting. I didn’t have professors who challenged me to think critically. I just see a huge difference in the types of courses my daughter is taking at Barnard. My classes were primarily “listen to lecture, read the book, memorize it all and regurgitate it on a test.” Nobody wanted to hear different opinions on, say, the meaning of a poem. There was a right and wrong answer, which always bothered me. </p>
<p>Back in the 80s, I thought EMU was a party school until I visited friends at Central and State. Our parties were nothing compared to theirs. Administrations everywhere are trying to crack down on that kind of atmosphere though. I know kids at EMU and GVSU now who aren’t into the party scene at all and are having fun experiences and good social lives, even women who have joined sororities. </p>
<p>I agree, to some extent, that kids get out of college what they put into it. I’d say the same thing about the social aspects. All of these schools are big enough that kids will find their social niche if they look for it, whether partiers or not.</p>
<p>Let me first by saying that GVSU is NOT a party school, it is a school where some people party. The sentiment on this board is a lot different than I have ran into myself in public in Michigan. The 63% rate is the 6 year graduation rate, while Michigan Tech is at 65% 6 year graduation rate and MSU is at 77%. Really the numbers are kind of out of date so I would say GV will inch up to the high 60s in the next couple years. As for the acceptance rate, it is fairly high but I think it should go down in the next couple years. Grand Valley State University is looking to have an enrollment at about 25,000 and they are almost at that number at 24,654. Therefore, they should start capping enrollment for the freshmen classes in the next few years. Also, I think that GVSU will become a lot more like Miami of Ohio in the next 10-20 years. Miami of Ohio is a top undergraduate focused public university in the Midwest. Also, Miami gets a lot of students from out of state including the North Shore of Chicago (one of the wealthiest areas in the U.S.). GVSU has a similar mission and I think will have a similar in state/out of state ratio in the future. Currently Miami Ohio is around 65% - 70% in state/30-35% out of state. </p>
<p>One could make the argument that GVSU is more focused on undergraduate education and smaller class sizes while MSU is more focused on research and graduate education. Therefore, for undergraduate education you could make the argument that Grand Valley State University is #2 in the state.</p>
<p>Also, romani you might think I am a MSU hater or something. That is not true, since I applied and was accepted to MSU back in 2007. I really considered MSU and I think I would’ve enjoyed it had I attended MSU. However, MSU is huge and I didn’t want to have bunch of classes with 500-1000 people. I have some friends that attended MSU and they even had 500 person classes in their junior year!!! </p>
<p>As for me recommending GVSU to the kids on the MSU forum, I would say there is a good chance that both of those applicants will be deferred by MSU. Therefore, they should be looking at different schools and being realistic about applications. Also, I never said GVSU was really selective, but neither is Michigan State University. Really the only selective public university in Michigan is the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>I am a 2011 GVSU grad and I lived on campus each year. I grew up an hour northeast of Detroit. Currently, I am pursing a graduate dergee out of state. I do agree that there is alcohol on campus and there are some crazy parties off campus but it is not even close to what MSU is. I mean many people left the campus on the weekends to go find some good parties because there were none that were that good on property. I do agree that certain crowds did do a lot more drinking than others. I avoided the scene and had no issues doing so.I feel that a lot of people seem to have some idea that since the west side of the state is religious that no drinking takes place on campus. I know people that sent their kids to GVSU who thought that. </p>
<p>I feel that it is a good school and has risen a lot academically over the years, but it is still not in the league of MSU in the future maybe it will be. To be honest I feel that it is the number 4 university in the state. I feel that Michigan Tech does not get the recognition that it deserves and is truly the number 3 university in the state. </p>
<p>However I do agree that as far popularity goes GVSU is number 3 in the state.</p>
<p>I have to give some quick props to MSU as a good undergrad school. Both D & S have friends who have done amazing research at MSU … we know students at UM who were not able to have such great experiences as undergrads. Classes may be large, but the out-of-classroom opportunities are really good. Not sure how GVSU compares there - the students we know at GVSU aren’t interested in research.</p>
<p>Interesting insight, Brittni. That is along the lines of what I was thinking to be true, based on what I have read about the school over the years and my friends impressions, but I haven’t seen much of the school for myself. </p>
<p>My impression is that a lot of kids at GVSU party, but my impression is also that that is true everywhere, what I think makes it a party school is whether or not students feel there is anything else to do, and I find it difficult to imagine that kids at GVSU would feel there is nothing else to do. I think I also am inclined to think, right or wrong, that MSU, Central, and Western are really the “party” schools and if GVSU has moved into that group it’s news to me. I suppose it’s certainly possible. I was inclined not to believe BF, as of course he’d think it was a party school as his only exposure was attending the parties, but kids at GVSU would know better than I would. It just sounds funny to me to think of a kid looking for a party school to say he wants to go to GVSU of all places!</p>
<p>Hmm… I was just thinking that myself, actually, lol. I need to reword my thought on that in a way that is more specific… I guess when I invision a “party school,” I think of a school where the drinking culture is so big that not only do you feel like there’s nothing else to do, but you feel left out of campus life if you don’t participate. I don’t think THAT is applicable to MSU either, which personally I think means perhaps I don’t consider MSU as much of a party school as the general population does. Of course there is major partying going on there, but anybody with half a brain knows that’s not all MSU has to offer and it shouldn’t define their reputation. :P</p>
<p>At least in my personal experience, the partying does define much of the reputation of Western and Central. Even though MSU’s reputation as a party school is huge, as a non-drinker I would be more likely to attend there than Western or Central. That could be ignorant of me but I am talking about *impressions *of various schools, after all, so I can’t help that!</p>
<p>I’ve never heard “party school” and GVSU in the same breath. Ottawa County is pretty intolerant of underage drinking…perhaps the kids go to Grand Rapids? I’ve heard from friends of my kids that campus police hand out underage drinking tickets at the drop of a hat and tend not to look the other way.</p>
<p>I agree it is not a party school because its parties do not come close to that of MSU, Central or Western. Some GVSU students probably wished they did though. I know many students who left GVSU to find a school that had more of a party atmosphere. I do agree every school has drinking and parties. No GVSU has not moved into the group it is still as I would call it a calm campus. I know it was mentioned ealier that there are a lot of alcohol incidients that is probably because they are not tolerant to underage drinking on property at all and a lot of freshman hate this. Yes, campus police were very strict when it comes to underage drinking and if you were caught they were more than happy to issue the student an MIP.</p>
<p>Except the statistics don’t entirely bear this out. GVSU is more “undergraduate focused” only in the sense that it doesn’t have many graduate students (only about 3,000, compared to MSU’s 11,000). But GVSU’s student:faculty ratio of 17:1 is actually a bit less favorable than MSU’s 16:1, and GVSU doesn’t have very many small classes–only 25.7% of its undergrad classes have fewer than 20 students, about the same as MSU’s 23.6% and well below Michigan Tech’s 41.0% and the University of Michigan’s 48.0%. </p>
<p>Also, GVSU relies pretty heavily on part-time faculty members: 34.6% of its faculty are part-time, compared to only 13.8% at MSU. I think that makes a big difference in terms of faculty accessibility to students, continuity of interaction, and so on. </p>
<p>Finally, when you look at outcomes, GVSU has a long way to go. Its freshman retention rate of 84% is well below MSU’s 91% (not to mention Michigan’s 96%), and GVSU’s 4-year graduation rate is a dismal 30%, again well below MSU’s 48% (and Michigan’s 73%). </p>
<p>I applaud GVSU for having elevated itself to a level above that of Michigan’s “directional” public universities, and for its ambition to become even better. But all things considered, it still lags Michigan State and even Michigan Tech by most measures. That’s why I’d rate it at present the fourth-best public university in the state of Michigan.</p>
<p>An interesting fact about Michigan Tech is that their enrollment went down 1.5% from Fall 2011 to Fall 2012 while GVSU’s enrollment stayed the same (well it was down 8 students, but pretty much the same).
As for GVSU it has been a while since I have posted on this thread but they have just graduated over 2,000 students total for the fall semester. It was one of the larger fall semester graduations and GVSU should have their graduation rate increase for next year. Winter 2013 semester is another time of change at Grand Valley State University as the $70 million Mary Idema Pew Library will open on the Allendale campus while the new $40 million Seidman Business School building will open in downtown Grand Rapids at the Pew Campus.</p>
<p>Well its a new semester at many colleges in the U.S. including Grand Valley State University. There were some interesting changes to GVSU and its website, including adaptation to Michigan Public Act 201. These changes require GVSU and other Michigan public universities to publish reports for public access on their website. One of the most interesting reports is the GVSU General Fund Salary Report. Also, the performance report shows increasing graduation rates and better student to faculty ratios (good for the U.S. News rankings). </p>
<p>On another note the Lanthorn (the Grand Valley student newspaper) reported incoming freshmen applications have been increasing along with students touring the campus. On large tour days there are 400 to 500 students who visit campus…</p>
<p>It’s been a while since I posted here on CC for this Grand Valley State University thread. GVSU just finished constructing the new $45 million business school building in downtown Grand Rapids, the L. William Seidman Center. Also, they are about to finish the $70 million Mary Idema Pew Library this summer. They also are building a new $55 million science building this summer. </p>
<p>On another note Grand Valley State just graduated 4000 students for the Winter semester graduation which is a record for the university (I think). Over 3000 students were at the graduation at Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids. I will post another update when I found out how many students applied for the Fall 2013 Freshmen class.</p>
<p>I appreciate the updates. As a parent whose son is interested in GVSU, it’s nice to keep a connection here on CC, especially since the school does not have it’s own forum.</p>