Question about MSU students...

<p>Kind of a weird question:
I was reading random posts about MSU vs U of M (I will admit some of them were bias). I saw someone mention that most MSU students mostly hang out with people they know from High School. I also read somewhere that they are more conservative in general compared to students at U of M. Does anyone know if this is true..?</p>

<p>I do not know about comparisons because I’ve never been to UM but I can tell you that students at MSU are generally friendly. This is coming from an international, transfer student who knew absolutely no one and I already have a really good group of friends. Bottom line is most people here are willing to meet new people.</p>

<p>Sweet. I was hoping to get an OOS or international response. thanks</p>

<p>I have one friend from high school that I hang out with (there’s probably at least 400 students from my graduating class here). Actually, the people I know at U of M hang out with their high school friends MUCH more than the people I know at MSU. That’s just personal experience though. </p>

<p>As for being more conservative, I would say they’re more moderate. U of M is FAR left though so it’s not really a fair comparison. MSU is about as liberal as most other university. My residential college at MSU is VERY far left, more far left than most of U of M. </p>

<p>PS: Generally, don’t listen to anything people on the U of M forum have to say about MSU students :p</p>

<p>thanks, what residential college are you in?</p>

<p>Residential College in the Arts and Humanities.</p>

<p>I am an out-of-state student. The idea that most MSU students only hang out with kids from high school is NOT true at all…they are definitely in the minority. Of my friends, only 2 of them still hang out with their high school friends at MSU on a regular basis (but still have many college friends not from their high school). A lot of MSU students don’t hang out with any high school friends in college. Seriously, as a freshman practically everyone hangs out with new people/wants to make friends. </p>

<p>I am also in a residential college (James Madison). Students do tend to be more conservative at MSU in comparison to the University of Michigan, but MSU is definitely still a liberal-leaning university. Within James Madison especially there is a rather vocal minority of conservatives (most who are a part of the MSU College Republicans).</p>

<p>ty fa-la-la, you have a lot of helpful posts here.
if i could ask 1 more vague question:
my only main concern about going to MSU is its party rep. I have no issue with that specifically, but do students (not enrolled an honors/residential college) generally tend to blow off their studies and just mess around?</p>

<p>I’m in a residential college, but I think I still can say with a fair amount of confidence that while there is quite a bit of partying here, not everyone does it. If you don’t party, there are plenty of other fun things to do on campus (for example, free movies on campus every weekend–I went to watch Easy A last night), and you will certainly find others who don’t party either, so it’s not like you’d be the only one. :)</p>

<p>No, they (for the most part) don’t tend to blow off their studies. The party hard rep is well deserved, but it is very much a WORK hard, party hard attitude. </p>

<p>I second trombones. I don’t party or drink or anything and I’ve never had a hard time finding things to do.</p>

<p>@Zebra,
To show the school from my perspective, I have not seen the party school mentality at all. The only big party I’ve been to was on Halloweekend. I have not seen that many other parties overall. What I’m trying to say is that if you want to party hard, you can find people to party hard with; If you want nothing to do with partying you can avoid the scence entirely; if you want something in the middle you can find that too.</p>

<p>I think MSU’s party school rep was a lot more accurate 10-20 years ago. Especially in the last decade, MSU’s academic reputation has improved quite a bit along with its standards (with the approx. avg incoming freshman stats a 3.6 GPA and a 25 ACT). This means the students enrolled today care a lot more about their grades and academics than in years prior. That being said, I echo what others have said about MSU being a party school - we are a work hard, party hard atmosphere. While we still have some partying traditions (welcome week, halloween, st. patty’s day, and Cedarfest during bball final four) students know how to crackdown and study. Those students that don’t know how to study and party ALL the time (and don’t ever learn) flunk out of college in their first year…college is not as forgiving for failure as high school was (especially since you have to pay for it).</p>