Loyola University - Chicago

In general, I liked Loyola enough not to give it a "bad" rating, but not so much that it deserves a "good" one either. Loyola is really a mixed bag, and I feel that most of what displeases about this university I could have avoided had I been more involved in my own college-search process four years ago. I really liked the academics and the Jesuit professors I had really were brilliant, but the student atmosphere was depressing both inside and outside the classroom.

First off, I chose Loyola pretty much by throwing a dart at a board. I thought that all colleges were more or less the same (wrong!). Well, I wish I would have looked into schools a bit more. I knew I wanted to go to school in a large city since I'm a huge sports fan, (and the idea of being away from professional sports all semester depressed me)so I applied to Loyola, DePaul, and UIC since Chicago has a nice sports scene. Loyola gave me a healthy amount of money and I'd heard good things about LUC from my Catholic community back home, so per my nature, I signed up for it without visiting.

I was in for a culture shock when I started here. Most of the students are quite nerdy, shy, very introspective, and somewhat unfriendly. For what its worth, I don't think the unfriendliness comes from a true mean-spiritedness so much as from social anxiety and awkwardness. Like I said, there aren't many extroverts at Loyola. If you enjoy large social gatherings, avoid not only Loyola, but avoid any school in any large city. Schools in the middle of nowhere tend to foster better community. Personally, I'm a big fan of community and the everybody-knowing-everybody way of life. You just won't get this in a big city.

What I found even stranger though, it's almost as if Loyola attracted the exact opposite of well-adjusted young adults. Most students here actually hated or completely ignored sports (much to my chagrin) and leaned to the nihilist/relativist/'dark side' view of life. For some reason, people who believe the world is a terrible place come here. Lots of feminists, communists, environmentalists, etc. come here. Why? I do not know. As you can imagine, this made for a bad in-class atmosphere. I'm not for blaming white European males for everything (maybe because I am one) but if you are, your views would be welcome here. And if you're like me, you'll walk around for several years wondering where the hell you went wrong.

But fear not, for all is not lost. I got involved in some student activities I was interested in and made some great friends. I don't know where else anyone would be able to meet friends if it weren't for a fairly sizable network of student organizations.

But my friends and I were bored a lot because there's not much to do nearby. I remember my RA freshman year telling me "It's Chicago. How can you be bored?"- but I was. Face it, if there's not much to do within walking distance, there's not much to do. Most students who stick around on the weekends have to take the shuttle downtown, take the red line to Wrigleyville, or take the purple line to Evanston to have fun. All of this requires planning, which, if you notice, is not a specialty of 18-21 year-old kids. College students generally like to meet up at an apartment, hang out, and then figure out something to do on the spot. This just doesn't happen at Loyola. Most students just wound up going home on the weekends anyway.

ON THE PLUS-SIDE, the administration has taken note of the depressing student atmosphere here and is building a new student union. This is badly needed and I am very happy to see that future students will get to use it. Also, Gentile arena just got a necessary upgrade and it makes Loyola look like a real D1 sports school. Porter Moser, the basketball coach, is a young, charismatic fellow and I'm happy to see him engage students so well. Two new fraternities, a new sorority, and a Catholic student community that is finally fostering a real Catholic atmosphere makes me think that there may be hope for Loyola social life after all.

Overall, Loyola wasn't that bad. I got done in 3 1/2 years to cut down on costs so I avoided that debt trap so many people fall into here. I wish I had a more typical college experience, but oh well.

I met good people at LUC. I have some good memories of this place. I found God here after a few years as an atheist/agnostic. What more can I really ask for? Maybe complaining online is just therapeutic. Maybe you should ignore all the negative aspects of these reviews since you'll have some kind of problem wherever you attend school. Maybe you should come to Loyola because it will change your life the way it changed mine.

3rd Year Female -- Class 2016

Campus Aesthetics: A+, Social Life: D

There are two aspects to be considered before going into Loyola: how sure you are about your major and how important is a social life to you.

Coming from a High School whose infamy was denoted from its academic failure and its acceptance of high school dropouts, not much information was given to the student body in regards to higher education, for their success went as far as flipping burgers at a Mc'Donalds. Luckily, I was not one of them, and luckily that was a Catholic High School in the city of Chicago. Thus, all I knew is that Loyola was the way to go (that was the only information given to those who had a chance of going to college anyways).

So I got in with a full scholarship, and 2 years in the university (regretting it), the best advice I can give academically is to be sure of what you want to major in. If you are into engineering and other technical sciences, the only possible things close enough in this University are Physics and Mathematics. The Physics department prides itself on proving how much of a genius the professors are, thus generating academic failures on a daily basis from a student's point of view. Over and over I've seen Physics kids ponder on going into engineering right after graduating. Why not go to U of I or Northwestern? The only thing that saves me from regrets is a full ride.

Conclusion: come here if you truly want to be a teacher or if you want to go pre-med.
Socially, this school can be characterized as a dormer university. If you are a commuter, you will not have a social life, and that's the way it is. The few friends that I made in this school already transferred, and that leaves the awkward and insecure student population that Loyola hopes to have any sort of school spirit. The girl to guy ratio is completely overrated, since most of the guys remain single, and 90% of the girls are taken while 99% are insecure and simply awkward. I would not say that half of the guys are gay, but more like 40%, so that kinda evens out.Conclusion: don't come to Loyola if you are looking for a girlfriend or if you want to make friends and have a social life.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2013

Individual Value: B+, Campus Aesthetics: F

This comment is not intended to bash LUC, but people really need to consider what kind of school this is before they go here.

As far as academic go, you will be challenged, and depending on your major, you might be challenged more than others. If you're looking into the school of communications, it's a pretty good department, but the 40K a year to go here isn't worth it compared to other affordable schools that have better communication department.

But college isn't really all about academics (unless you are one of those people that enjoy staying hidden away in the corner reading textbooks and never socializing). The majority of people here are very petty and highly based on aesthetics. There are no big parties, only the same two bars with the same drunk people doing the same drunk people things. If that kind of repetiveness gets you going, then congratulations. If not, I suggest finding a school that has more diversity and more action on campus.

Generally, people here lack diversity as well. It's not simply that majority of the demographics is white, but when everyone is trying to conform to, it's not really considered diversity amongst people on campus. There isn't really a sense of culture amongst everyone because no one has a real sense of identity. I'm not saying that a particular race or ethnicity needs to fit a stereotype that is politically incorrect, but I believe there is a problem when everyone walks dressing, speaking, acting, and looking the same exact way.

There is an escape from Loyola though. Fortunately, this institution is located in one of the best cities in the country, Chicago. But that' not really enough to save four years of your life here. If you truly love the Chi, come back after you've had an enjoyable college experience, or consider U of C.

I'm not saying that the epitome of an awesome college experience is to gorge on beer every weekend and rally at loud football games. If that is what you want, then why would you come to a place that doesn't even have a football team and then want to whine on student review "I hate Loyola!". It's not a bad school, but if you have a certain personality and you want something particular out of college, you will not find it here.

Unless you want to relive a private high school experience, don't go here.
I'm transferring because I thought I could easily get a degree here and enjoy Chicago. Clearly it was a silly fantasy. Just make sure that the school you pick fits you, and don't just pick it for the awesome city. Chicago will still be here.

1st Year Female -- Class 2009

Surrounding City: A+, University Resource Use/ spending: F