Illinois State University Top Questions

Often times, the students at our school are stereotyped at being party people. While it is a large university, it is easy to see how someone could think that. However, Illinois State is a university with a large, diverse population of students. Not everyone goes out to parties, and there are many events for those who want something other than the party scene.

Stereotype: Most of the students are white and came here because they didn't get in to other schools such as U of I or Marquette. This is partially true; the school does seem to be predominately white, but there are all types of people here. Also, some people did not make it into those schools that are viewed with higher status, so they chose ISU, but there are others who chose ISU for their programs or simply because they really like it here. There are a lot of people here who are extremely smart and dedicated.

A stereotype of Illinois State University is that it is for kids who didn't get accepted into U of I. While this may be true in some cases, it isn't in mine. ISU has several highly recognized programs including Speech-Language Pathology, Business, Education, etc. And just putting it out there, you can get a great education at both U of I Champaign-Urbana and Illinois State University, however, ISU is cheaper.

A huge stereotype is that a lot of the students a ISU are here because they didn't have a high enough ACT score to get into U of I, or they didn't get accepted. That is false for many students including myself, who only wanted to go to ISU because it is a great school. Another stereotype is that the athletes stick to themselves. The rest of the stereotypes are pretty standard. Like high school you have the jocks, the smokers, the nerds, however in college everyone is a lot more mixed in. You can tell who each person is, but there aren't really clicks. Everyone is pretty friendly and you can make friends with just about anyone!

Illinois State University has a extremely diverse student body. In my four years at this school I have been able to meet a great number of friends with completely different backgrounds, personalities, and stereotypes. There is a greek life at Illinois State, however it does not dominate the university like you may see at other schools.

A general stereotype of students at Illinois State is that they are not the smartest. There is an acronym "ISU=I screwed up" implying this stereotype. It is most definitely not an accurate stereotype, and is in fact very untrue.

A general stereotype of students at Illinois State is that they are not the smartest. There is an acronym "ISU=I screwed up" implying this stereotype. It is most definitely not an accurate stereotype, and is in fact very untrue.

A general stereotype of students at Illinois State is that they are not the smartest. There is an acronym "ISU=I screwed up" implying this stereotype. It is most definitely not an accurate stereotype, and is in fact very untrue.

One of the more disparaging nicknames for Illinois State is I Screwed Up -- ISU is often seen as not being a "first choice" school, but rather a backup, which is likely true to some degree. Being that it is a large state school, there are quite a number of frat guys and sorority girls, and each frat or sorority has its own stereotypes (for example, the Delta Zeta sorority is known by some as the "DZ Easies") to contend with. Since Illinois State is in Central Illinois, it can be stereotyped as being in a "farm town" -- which is largely true. There is a corn festival held every year and the local baseball team is the Cornbelters, which serves as a point of embarrassment for some Illinois State students who grew up farther north. Illinois State maintains its own farm and there are a number of agricultural students. However, the large student body (20,000+) offsets the "small town" feel of Normal.

The stereotype of the students that go to Illinois State University is that we are a party school. First of all, in any college or university that you attend there will always be parties going on we're all young and like to enjoy ourselves. However, not everyone at ISU likes to party on the weekends. Second of all, for those who don't like to party ISU has a lot of events that happen throughout the week and the weekend. Getting involved in an organization here on campus is a great way to meet students who may share the same interest as you.