<p>This is a school that I've been interested in for a while, but am iffy on some points. First, the Internet tells me that IU has a reputation for being a party school. Is that true? I like to stay away from alcohol.</p>
<p>Secondly, I'm thinking I want to major in Arts Administration. Does anyone know how good their program is? What about the SPEA in general? I was confused about why this wasn't in the school of business or arts.</p>
<p>Lastly, it's important for me to have a good looking campus. Makes me feel relaxed and it's a lot easier for me to work. I haven't visited yet, and from lists online I've seen it described as one of the best to completely unranked. Can anyone give me your personal opinion on the beauty of the campus and architecture?</p>
<p>Campus is beautiful (as in probably the best of the Big 10, and the best in Indiana or possibly midwest) and I’ve heard the parties are easily aviodable.</p>
<p>son and i went to visit at the end of may. absolutely beautiful campus!! very big so be prepared for alot of walking. all grounds immaculately maintained. beautiful buildings (however dorms were typical not anything special) and loved the art museum…no right angles in the entire building, the stairs were a challenge LOL</p>
<p>You really must visit to appreciate the beauty of the campus and the vibrant town. As far as avoiding parties , there are numerous musical and theatrical performances going on all the time which offer an alternative to parties. I highly recommend a visit!</p>
<p>Parties are absolutely there if you want to go to them, and it’s also really really easy to stay away from them. Definitely not a lot of pressure to go out every night or anything. And the campus is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I feel so lucky walking around every day that I get to go to school at such a beautiful place!</p>
<p>The reputation IU has for a party school is definitely true, but there are TONS of other things to do besides partying on the weekend. I’m a freshman, so I’ll tell you a little about me first weekend (at least the first one after classes). On Thursday there was the first football game, which was a lot of fun even though IU almost lost to EKU. The student section is a lot of fun; there were plenty of people who were drunk and plenty of people who weren’t. On friday I watched a movie with a friend, and on saturday we had a “girl’s night” with some of the girls from my floor.</p>
<p>The campus is probably the nicest looking one I’ve been to; the only one that came close was Vanderbilt. I don’t know much about SPEA, but it is a relatively small school, so if you’re looking for more individual attention SPEA would be a good choice.</p>
<p>The SPEA program (public administration) is ranked as tied for the second best undergraduate one in the country (tied with Harvard’s) and ranked only behind the one at Syracuse University.</p>
<p>As far as the school’s beauty, the school was listed in a book entitled “The Campus as a Work of Art” years ago, when it was ranked as the #1 most beautiful campus in the country. There have been many other universities built since then, and many others have been improved, but IU-B still ranks in the top 10 for beautiful campuses in my opinion–although Pepperdine, Stanford, and a few other schools are ranked highly also.</p>
<p>There have been quite a few threads on this each year in CC–so check those out if you want to know what others think. Be aware, however, that many people rank their campus highly even though they have visited few, if any, other colleges. As someone who has visited over 250 campuses across the country, let me assure you that IU-B deserves its top 10 ranking.</p>
<p>Also, there are schools that have beautiful campuses, but are surrounded by terrible areas (the University of Pennsylvania and USC come to mind here). IU, however, is located in a very nice middle-sized midwestern town that is focused on the school as its central point, while still having a city center and nice community of its own. You will only find this in a few other places (like Madison, Wisconsin; Santa Cruz, California; Athens, Georgia; and both Austin and College Station, Texas)–so this is a real plus in considering where to go to school.</p>
<p>So you say there’s more to do than partying. I watched TheU series on IU about an hour ago and it really left a bad taste in my mouth. Do people actually take part in these non-party things? I want to do non-party things with people who aren’t socially awkward, but that series really made it look like that isn’t possible.</p>
<p>Personally, my son found that the thing to do is to attend the non-party things that are geared more towards couples–and find a mixed group of people (some guys, some girls) to go to them with him just as friends. </p>
<p>He soon found that discussing his interest in these things (things like book readings, special music events or concerts, or special food events with celebrity chefs at the Art Museum) actually made him more attractive to a large amount of women at the school who were also not that interested in just getting hammered on a nightly basis, and now he attends these events regularly with his girlfriend (who looks quite a bit like Lindsay Lohan).</p>
<p>P.S. I don’t know if you’re a male or female, but I will say that the student body at IU-B, both male and female, tends to be quite a bit better-looking (on average) that the general population. Don’t know why, but it just is. Maybe all the nerds are at the Ivy-league schools plus Caltech and MIT.</p>
<p>PLEASE do not assume that the U series reflects what all 40,000 students are doing. That series glorifies the hard drinking, hard partying experience that many students have grown up watching on TV. Does it happen at IU? Sure, but there are plenty of students that don’t desire that sort of experience and find lots of other ways to entertain themselves.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore at IU and avoids the party scene like the plague. He’s still having a terrific time and is never short on entertainment–and not the socially awkward stuff you mention. I understand your fears, but there are a lot more kids like you than you might think–kids who want to have fun and are interested in lots of other things, but prefer not to pee their pants in public or vomit in their own beds. </p>
<p>I’m sending you a private message with a few tips.</p>
<p>Campus is spectacular, and Bloomington is wonderful.</p>
<p>You may want to investigate what is referred to as the L.A.M.P. certificate program. I believe LAMP stands for Liberal Arts Management Program. My D is a Theatre major and is participating in this. Course load includes economics and accounting within business school and others. There is a field trip coming up to Chicago where they will visit Sotheby’s about Art auctions.</p>
<p>Definitely agree with the poster who recommended LAMP. It’s a totally cool program that gives you not only a great education, but lots of opportunities for leadership, service, and internships. </p>
<p>As for IU being a party school… with 37,000 people, you can pretty much avoid any scene you don’t want to be a part of. IU is what you make of it. Pretty much any experience you want to get, it’s there for you, and if it’s not, there’s opportunities to create it.</p>
<p>Posts: 707 There are a few basic courses most students need to take: an intro writing course (some test out of this via SATs or APs), and an intro math course (again, it’s possible to test out). In the COAS one is required to complete 4 courses in 3 areas: Social Sciences and History, Arts and Humanities, and Natural and Math. Sciences. The neat thing about the math and science is that one could complete that requirement without taking an actual math or science class. There are Geography, Psychology, Language, and Anthropology courses that meet that distribution requirement. For the other areas there are literally hundreds of options. You’re certain to find some that interest you. For more info you should search for the appropriate Bulletin on the IUB website</p>
<p>Every school has Parties. IU is no different, but there are may other things to do at IU. The Arts are amazing with plenty to get involved in. There are so many clubs and sports to get involved in.
You can easily avoid the parties.</p>
<p>The U network is a nationwide TV network–but is only broadcast on university campuses (thus the name). It focuses on university life and describes what is going on at various universities.</p>