James Madison University

This place is way over rated and has recently taken a somewhat elitist stand. As time goes by, JMU is doing nothing but eating up the local land/resources for its own aesthetic interests. The long and useless gen. eds are garbage, and actually getting a class schedule YOU want is near impossible. There are decent & bad (no a/c) freshman dorms, only a select lucky few will get the good ones. Food on campus is good, but is EXPENSIVE, overcrowded, & the "punch" meal plans are designed to take advantage of you (you lose em if you don't use em in a certain period of time). Parking is HORRIBLE (permits are expensive) & yes, they do ENFORCE parking tickets 24/7 so watch out-even visitors. Yes, there is quiet a "house & apt./off campus" party scene on weekends & some school spirit. (the biggest Uni. party scene in the conservative state of VA) here-but thats because there isn't much to do in Harrisonburg. FEW bars for those 21+. ATTENTION: This "party scene" is a $$$ maker for JMU police & HPD. They are on full force i.e undercover units/officers on bicycles/constant weekend patrols...if you are caught-you will be CHARGED- no warnings no and ifs or butts. ie. open container, underage possession of alcohol, noise violations, drunk in public, pissing in public, etc. The ramifications of getting a ticket are ENORMOUS-both in the financial & time frame terms. FREE beer & liquor can be obtained off campus, but this obviously poses a variety of risks. And after some time, the party scene gets boring/repetitive. Unfortunately, many- especially lower classes tend to OVERINDULGE. Many fry their useless brains, thus the occasional sense of "low intelligence" peers. The use of cognitive enhancing drugs (aderall/ritalin) is widely increasing amongst the student body-to catch up after too much partying. Which in itself, is negative. There is a drunk bus, which is fun if experienced NO more than a 2-3 times. I-81 (major trucking Highway) passes right through the middle of campus. Plenty of snobbish, "cliqueish", rich-kids from NoVa, plenty of homosexual bible thumpers, plenty of narrow minded whores. Yes, there is a 65/35 student female to male ratio. Eye candy, YES. Worth getting to know?? Hell no! These females can push YOU to the edge of suicide, whether you're a guy or girl, if you choose to come here- BE forewarned. (Been there done that) Plenty of promiscuous, "snooki" like girls, but these are reserved for the jock/prep/frat types. Some of the teachers (especially gen. eds) are just WEIRD as balls and don't give two shits about you. It is possible to carve out a decent education here, if you come here with the RIGHT ATTITUDE. HOWEVER, VA has better schools to offer. ONE thing that is a + here, is the UREC (sport facility & extra curriculars) and currently expanding off campus facilities. you can get a better value elsewhere in this state ex. VT, UVA, W&M, etc. Don't get me wrong, for SOME people this place is the place to be, for others-who actually want to be successful..think twice about coming here.

1st Year Male -- Class 2012

Social Life: A-, Surrounding City: D-

JMU is a third tier university. Most students are here because they didn't get into the better Virginia schools. Academically, the school has so many teachers who cannot speak English that it makes learning difficult at best. Having a major highway running through the middle of the campus doesn't help the aesthetics either.

1st Year Female -- Class 2013

University Resource Use/ spending: D-, Education Quality: F