Indiana University-Bloomington Top Questions

It's very diverse.

very diverse school groups for all religions and ethicities, financial backgrounds vary, lots of students from midwest but the number of nation wide students increase each year

IUB is a fairly diverse campus. In most of my classes, there is a group from every racial and religious background. This makes discussion more interesting and allows for students to learn about all types of culture. However, some of my classes are not diverse at all and consist mainly of white middle class males and females.

IUB is proud to be the school, and home, of thousands of transfer students from all over the world. It's really great to have that kind of diversity at a not-so-well-known school. For classes, there are a variety of people in different types of wear. You usually see business students dressed in suits, althetic pants and t-shirts are worn to those 8 A.M. classes, and some inbetween. Dependent on ones mood and personality, there is never a time when you should think you've seen it all.

I have met so many diverse people here. Thats one of the reasons I love it so much.

The average IU student...well there is no average IU student. There are a great number of wealthy Chicagoans, every-day Joes from Indiana, many internationals especially from South Korea, and everything in between. The vast majority of students are wealthy and it takes some getting used to but it is not a problem and won't hinder your social abilities if you don't have the latest Coach purse. Just don't get in the mindset that you have to keep up with the Joneses while at IU! Most students are liberal with a vocal minority that is very active, but on the whole, IU students are not overly politically active.

As far as what kind of student would feel uncomfortable on campus I would have to say a hispanic person would probably feel a bit out of place. I have seen very few. A person who grew up in a more rural setting would also feel slightly out of place, as most students come from larger cities. Everyone wears their own style to class, but you definitely do have to have some kind of style. There are a lot of girls who look like they take an hour and a half to get ready every morning, but most of them are ironically wearing sweats. The guys are pretty clean cut for the most part and most of them wear jeans and a polo to class.

IUB is the most diverse place I've ever been to. I've never met so many LGBT people in my entire life. While I thought diversity was accepted, I've been walking down the street and heard someone yell "faggot" out their car window to an unsuspecting student walking in front of me with his headphones. Those students are simply ignorant, and I think the accepting students greatly outnumber the bigoted ones. The frat guys and sorority girls all dress the same (guys with sweat pants and ugly slipper-type shoes, while girls wear booty shorts/skirts with UGGly Boots). While I sound like I'm stereotyping, the gay people hang out with each other, the frat guys and girls hang out, the asians keep to themselves, etc. It's like high school cliques only now there are thousands of more people. I can only assume most of the people who go here are wealthy, because I see 18-19 year old kids driving around in brand new BMW's and Mercedez. I spoke about that in a speech recently, actually.

I have not have any experiences wiht racial, religious, LGBT, socio-economic or other groups on campus. I think that students that are not willing to accept other would feel out of place here. Most students were jeans or sweatpants to classes. Most people don't care if they look nice during the day when they are in classes. I do believe that different types of students interact, so it is less like highschool in that sense, but I still think that people stick to where they feel most comfortable. Most IUB students are from Indiana. I think most of the people that came to IU are well off financially. I also believe that most students are politcally aware and active, and those who aren't will be the ones that never are. I think most college campus's are fairly liberal, but since Indiana is such a conservative state the campus is more towards the center. Money are earnings are not exactly a prodominant subject on campus, for me anyways.

I am Jewish and I spend quite a bit of time at Hillel. I feel at home there with the other Jewish students and staff. It is a great way for me to get involved on campus. I don't know much about other religious student groups. IU says it is a diverse campus, but I have yet to see much diversity. I enjoy being around people of all different races and religions, but I don't feel that I can really find that here.

What astonishes me about students at IUB is their diversity. The percentage of out-of-state students is very surprising, and their is plenty of ethnic and religious diversity on campus as well. Students are friendly and open to interacting with others of different backgrounds, and the various cultural groups on campus work hard educating others about what it means to be a part of that culture by providing free events (such as performances, festivals, food tastings, and other activities) for the public.

As a part of the LGBT community here at IU, I have realized how diverse the students are and how many actually involved in their community. As a leader of two LGBT events, experience has revealed just how much students actually care. Students who are not verse in experiencing new cultures and are not willing to do so, will feel extremely out of place at Indiana University. Most students wear casual clothing/sweats to class and interact with many different people. The majority of students are from Indiana, however, the East Coast has a dominate presence on campus as well. The politics of IU differs vastly, about half are politically aware and active and there is no prevalent political affiliation, as most students are center.

I think that IUB is a great microcosm of diversity, but I also think that at times it can be a harsh reality of life outside of the campus. However, I think on our campus we have much higher rate of acceptance. There is very little that bothers us or causes tension and problems which always makes me proud. It's wonderful to be part of a place that accepts others. I feel that anybody from any walk of life could fit in at IUB. We have so many students from so many areas that it's hard to believe someone wouldn't find a place to fit. Students vary from jeans and t-shirts to sweatpants to khakis and button down shirts to even suits and skirts and heels. There is no one way we all dress. If there were 4 tables in the dining hall, they would be separated as Greek, Business, Jocks, and Other. I think a lot of students stick in their own group, but they still interact in a decent manner with other students not like them. Most of IUB students are from all over the state of Indiana, but we do have many of the east coast like New Jersey and New York. I think there are all kinds of financial backgrounds incoporated on campus. There are some students who work to make money to pay for their own degree and there are others whose parents can pay for it.

While there are people of every race, religion, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background on campus, there is a lack of diversity. The majority of students are caucasians, which may make some people feel out of place. Most people at IU are from Indiana, but there are a lot of kids from the East Coast, as well as a large pool of international students. Student are politically aware, and are pretty split evenly between conservatives and liberals. The city of Bloomington is very liberal compared to the state of Indiana as a whole which is very conservative.

As a resident assistant in the dorms, I typically had to host one program a month on cultural awareness. At IU there are lots of diverse socio-economic groups. I would think that a student that comes here without an open mind might be uncomfortable. Most of the dorms and and academic buildings on campus play host to these every group imaginable. Last year I hosted a program on my floor for the "Free Tibet Now" group on campus. Most IU students are from Indiana, but there are large portions of the population from Illinois, Ohio, and New York. You have financial backgrounds that are just as diverse. Most of the students are politically aware, if not active. In the greek system, they are mostly conservative, but outside of that, most people are pretty liberal.

Everyone is very open. There are groups dedicated to different racial and religious groups. Most people probably are not from low socio-economic backgrounds. No student would feel out of place at IU, we represent absolutely every type of person imaginable. Students wear anything from pjs to dresses and heels to class. Different types of students don't interact outside of classes. Four tables: Frat guys at one, Sorority girls at another, smart people at another. Most IUB students are from Indiana or Ohio. Most people come either from high-middle income families, or get scholarships so you can't tell the difference. Students are not as politically active as they should be. Half the people are on the left, the other half are on the right, which is strange for the heavily Republican Indiana. The Students for Barack Obama group is the largest political group on campus, and the Students for Ron Paul is the second largest. Only kids from the Business school talk about how much they'll earn one day.

The community that I've felt best about participating in has been my church's campus ministry--I'm a part of the Unitarian-Universalist Church. They're a very inclusive spiritual community. My freshman year I was pretty active in both the GLBT community and in women's/feminist groups but I've actually kind of fallen out of that, which is unfortunate. Even though I identify very strongly with both of those communities I guess I didn't ever connect that well. I don't think I have all that much in common with most of the GLBT community, I guess, although I have made a few friends there. People do associate with people outside their groups but because the campus is so huge it can be really tough to branch out and meet new people. Socioeconomically people definitely run the gamut but it seems like everyone is in the middle. Politically I can't really tell. Most of the people I see daily are definitely left-leaning (like in Collins) but there are also definitely republicans prevalent in the political science department. Even within poli sci I'm not sure people care about politics; like I've said earlier people tend to be more focused with becoming rich lawyers someday.