Grand Valley State University

GVSU is a 20,000+ student university, yet it still feels in many ways like a mom and pop operation. This is good and bad. The faculty and students are quite conservative, reflecting the larger west Michigan area. If you're from Lansing or Detroit you might be in for a shock. I grew up around this university and watched it grow from 5,000 to 20,000 students.

It is absolutely THE best in terms of efficient use of resources and keeping tuition down. Many of the buildings are older but they are well maintained and the administration is very reluctant to spend money on anything unless absolutely necessary- awesome! Despite being a low budget operation they put the money into things that actually help students- they beat many of the state's larger and richer universities to the punch with installing wireless campuswide internet access. They offer a lot of programs and degrees that schools twice the size don't have.

The social scene is very weak compared to many other schools- drive to other schools on the weekends if you want to party. Allendale and Ottawa county as a whole are so conservative they actually have a dedicated police unit that does nothing but patrol for parties and try to bust underage drinkers. Allendale is NOT a college town at all, and neither is Grand Rapids- I wouldn't recommend GVSU if you're looking to have a "well-rounded" college experience due to its lack of diversity(something like 95% white) and the conservative attitude of many professors.That being said, in terms of academics GVSU rules! Small class size even for popular 100 level classes- they just offer 50+ different sections of the class! Profs are very accessible and willing to talk to you and help you, many of them are very fired up about what they do and actually make you want to attend class every day. So GVSU is awesome in many ways- but don't even think about coming here if you don't have a car- you DON'T want to be stuck in Allendale all the time. Live in Grand Rapids and commute if you can.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2004

Perceived Campus Safety: A+, Social Life: D-