<p>What is the social scene like at this school? Is there much to do on campus? I want to have a great college experience but I'm worried GMU is still too much of a commuter school</p>
<p>Hi Jessica, I was waiting to see if a student would reply since I am sure you’d rather have an opinion from a current student than a parent, but since no one has replied yet I can say as a parent that my son has had a great experience living on campus at GMU. There are about 2,000 freshmen and 8,000 students total living on campus so there is a big community of students. He has lots of friends and is actually involved in so many clubs and activities that he is having to cut back to make more time for his classes. He’s involved in Mason’s cable tv station, a political group and some computer science /tech groups. He and his friends from the dorm often go to movies or the mall or downtown to sports events or just have get-togethers on campus. There are also sports where one dorm floor plays co-ed against another floor and they have tournaments. They go to Patriot Center events like basketball games. I’m sure as a parent I don’t know everything that goes on, but my son tells me is very happy there and has a great group of friends. Good luck with your college choices!</p>
<p>Again as a parent -There’s a growing core of residential students–I think the perception of the school as a commuter is no longer true. There are over 8000 students living on campus, and right now this is only limited by how fast they can build new residences (Two major new ones are in progress now). Also GMU is planning to have a large influx of international students coming in, which will increase the number of students. While in a large school like this you have all types of students–but overall I would say the vibe of GMU is more serious and mature than a place that is completely dominated by undergrads who are living away from home the first time. (I say this as a professor who has seen multiple university types).<br>
I think the commuter aspect is a perception from the large graduate student commuter population so in the afternoon/evenings there is a huge influx of graduate students in cars but that really doesn’t impact undergraduate student residential life.</p>