James Madison University Top Questions

Football games have the biggest student attendance that I know of.

The most popular student activities/groups on campus are club sports teams, as well as SafeRides, UPB and a number of other ecclectic clubs available to students! I am very involved in my major with a location known as the Morrison Bruce Center- the MBC promotes physical activity to toddlers, young girls and older women. The Center is very active and engaged in community exercise program planning. Football is the most popular sport, the other varsity sports have their fans but never have the same turnout. Guest speakers are popular if it is a major keynote speaker of the year (such as when President Obama came one week before the election in 2008). The dating scene is non-existent: JMU is 70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} girls and the boys here are either homosexual or very immature and not worth dating. I met my closest friends freshman year, as we all lived in an Honors living community together. If I am awake on a Tuesday night at 2 AM I would likely be finishing up an assignment- I am not one to go out on the weekdays. For the most part, people here party as often as they can. Fraternities and sororities do not make up a large percentage of the student body, but these individuals are extremely noticeable and it feels as though they have a larger presence on campus. Last weekend I went to a couple of bars downtown with my girlfriends and had a couple of drinks. If you do not want to drink on a Saturday night, there are typically comedians who will come to JMU, and JMU also has a movie theater that operates Wednesday through Saturday. There are also coffee shops that are open later for kids who want to hang out. When I am off campus I am usually sleeping or doing more school work.

Although we have established a reputation for being a pretty big party school that many people still haven't heard about, I believe there is so much more to offer to prospective students. People are very involved in the community and student run organizations. I have been lucky enough to participate in some really great clubs while I was here. I was the President of STAND, an anti-genocide coalition, that lobbied to Congress and raised awareness of the happenings in Sudan. Through this I met a lot of other students who felt it was important to voice our opinion. I also have taken part as a community service representative for my dorm room, an opportunity all students have to get a little more involved in helping out at JMU. There are also many honor societies that give students a chance to excel. I am part of NSCS (National Society of Collegiate Scholars) that also is a great networking opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals while working together to better the community. Most students get involved in something. Usually in dorms, everyone keeps their door open so that people can wander in and out. This is where I met my current roommates because we were all shown a really open environment when first moving in. Besides getting involved in the thriving community, there is always partying going on in the off campus housing apartments. People party during the week, and are always partying during the weekend. This is something that you will always see at JMU, but as you get older you realize its not the only thing to do to occupy yourself. It is not necessary to drink to have a social life here, and even though it helps socialize, most students would respect you for choosing not to drink or do any drugs.

There are so many groups and organizations on campus. I'm in NSNA which is a nursing group that does a lot of community service activites. I'm also involved in NSCS which is an honor society that I got inducted into that also participates in community service activities. There is also something called duke club which is pretty popular because you get the first opportunity to reserve tickets for football games and you get a lot of deals and stuff related to the sporting events on campus. There are also a lot of club and inter-mural sports teams you can be involved with. One of my friends is on the club frisbee team and she does inter-mural soccer. I was in a suite style dorm and I loved it. We had a big door with a code that we would type it to bring us to the suite where there would be four bedrooms. The people in our suite would leave their doors open most of the time and we would sometimes when someone was in the suite leave that door open as well. Athletic events are very popular especially the football games. I've been to football, basketball and softball games and they are all free for students. JMU just expanded their football stadium so it is a lot bigger now and has a TV screen and a bunch of concessions. My closest friends are two girls that were in my suite who I live with off campus now and two other girls I met in my anatomy class. If I'm awake in the middle of the night during the week I'm probably talking to one of my friends or watching TV. Sometimes on a very busy week I'll be studying but I normally dont like to study late at night if I don't have too. There are people who party every single weekend. There are parties that you could go to if you wanted to every weekend starting on thursdays sometimes but most people dont go out until friday or saturday night. I'm not involved in a sorority but I know a few people who are. I also know someone who is in a christian sorority. There are many options for anyone who wants to get involved in that. On the weekends there are other things to do that dont involve drinking. There is a mall and movie theather close to campus that the buses go to. There is also a club on campus called club guilty that people can go to who aren't drinking. The university recreation center also has activities that they do over the weekends and during the week. The have dive in movies where you go in the pool and watch a movie. There is also a movie theather on campus that shows movies that are out of theaters but not yet out for rent and it only cost 50 cents to go. Off campus you can go downtown to some of the restaurants or shops you could also go to one of the caverns close by like Luray caverns. UREC which is the rec center has a lot of weekend trips to go hiking or camping or kayaking on the Shenandoah river. There are so many outdoor activities that you can get involved in. There is also a trail that leads up into the mountains which you can drive on and I'm told it has an amazing view. I have yet to go there.

There are so many organizations on campus its almost impossible to narrow it down. We have a decent sized greek life, but even those I know that are a part of sororities or frats, that is only one of their extracurriculars. Usually they're also involved in many other campus wide activities. My personal favorite org is MYMOM (Make Your Mark On Madison). Its a leadership club and is only one semester, but is so incredibly inspiring! Ther also is a pretty big night life in appartments off campus. Its never hard to just hop on the "night bus" and find your way into a party. Most people are very welcoming, and I've been here 2 years, go out atleast 2 nights a week, and have never payed for a drink, which is nice :) I'm sure plenty of people have heard of all the bad things about JMU's party rep, but for the most part, it's really not like that here. And Springfest was a once and never again mistake, involving mostly people from other schools.

Off-campus parties at JMU are there, and a big part of many JMU student's college experience. Fortunately, there are so many other opportunities for everyone. Clubs and organizations can be seen throughout campus putting on Late Night Breakfasts, concerts, Open Mic Nights, and intermurals.

Only a small percentage is greek, so you can have fun no matter who you decide to hang out with.

That's right. That's a rock climbing wall.

JMads has a Wii.

This is the front of the sports lounge. We have pool, foosball, Dance Dance Revolution, computers, and awesome food.

One of the student lounges. I think those guys you hear are talking about video games.

Video I took of the campus lounge. It's a good place to hang out.

parties are free, open, and friendly, ive met my friends in classes and at work and at parties

My dorm expersince has nto been the best. In my dorm on my hall none of us really talk to each other. But in other dorms, i have found the exact opposite. There are many organizations to get involved. PARTYING happens often as possible. its the main way to be social.

Harrisonburg is pretty much a college town, but still has plenty of things to do any night of the week. Most of those fun things to do are also either within walking distance of campus or within a short bus ride. There are several apartment complexes of various rent-rates that catered exclusively to students. Every week, there's at least two or three different things going on within campus. We get speakers at least once or twice a month for different organizations. We have two major concerts each year (one Winter and one Spring) where our school brings in major bands or singers that are choosen by the students themselves. We've had Desmond Tutu, Tim Kaine, Sue Johanson speak at JMU. Professors bring in people to speak during classes. We have concerts put on by student bands and by the School of Music seperately at least monthly. Students get into athletic events for free just by showing their JACards at the door. People meet each other through their dorms, through classes, clubs, other groups, through other friends. Pizza delivery runs until 2-3am each night, you can actually have cookies and milk delivered to your dorm at any hour, Jimmy Jones is 24/7. There is always a party somewhere each night of the week. We've actually been rated one of the top 5 party schools in the nation by Playboy. It is possible to also have fun without drinking. There's a ski/snowboarding resort only a half hour down the road, a paintball range closer than that, movie theaters, bowling lanes, downtown Harrisonburg, endless possibilities for fun within JMU and Harrisonburg. JMU will also throw parties on campus or host events that run into the early morning hours that include food.

Most popular would be the sorority/fraternity organizations. Im not really involved with a social group besides my own friends. Yes, students leave their dorms open. Athletic events are very popular especially basketball and football. Guest speakers are fairly popular with theater being the least popular. The dating scene is very complicated with friends and romantic partners often intermixing. If I'm awake at 2am on Tuesday I'm at the Pub. Traditions that happen each year are parents weekend/homecoming. people party every weekend and for those who are 21 at least two times a week. fraternities and sororities are only perceived as being important. Last weekend I went to a birthday party and a bar. Saturday night = theater, sporting events, movies, hiking/camping. Hang out with friends off campus.

Football is a very popular athletic event but the students don't seem to come out for many other sports. Especially sports like swimming and track. I met my closest friends through some mutual friends. I've known most of them since I was a freshman and we've built such great relationships. We love to party but we also love to do other things like camping trips, movie night or lunch every m/w at dhall. Oh dhall! People tend to party Tuesday, Thursday and Friday-Saturday sometimes Sunday during football season. The pub is the tuesday night tradition probably after Happy Hour at Dave's. Thursday is Highlawn and weekends are for house parties. Bars aren't the hoppin thing on the weekend around here. I think JMU does a good job of trying to plan events for students that don't involve partying or drinking. I was involved in the Program Board and we tried to hold some of our events on the weekend so that students who did not want to drink could have an alternative. They also educate the students on responsible drinking.

FRats and sororities are not that important I still have a great social life with my friends without being in one.

Greek life is big here along with SGA, CHOICES and many others. Students do leave their doors open becuase they try to socialize and make friends, especially at first. Basketball is not very popular becuase we really arn't that good, but football games definatley get packed. The dating scene is horrible here, since there is almost a 2 to 1 ratio of girls to guys, it is very hard to find someone. I met my closest friends through my dorm and their friends. If I am awake at 2am I am either stalking facebook or studying. People party thursday, friday and sat. usually. Greek life isn't that important but its definatley evident that many are involed. Last weekend I went to visit my best friend at WVU.

JMU has a great social life. People at JMU love to party, and they party often. The big party nights are Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Tuesdays and Thursdays for bars. Sororities and fraternities are decent on campus - you don't have to be in one to have a great social life/group, but you do tend to see a lot of people wearing their letters around campus. There are clubs for EVERY type of group you can think of and most love getting new memebers (and don't have any requirements). Sports, especially football, are huge around campus and provide the most fun times. Tailgates before football games begin hours before and are just a slew of purple and gold students drinking hours and hours before the game begins .. if they even make it there. While basketball and other sports aren't as popular, they're also a lot of fun to go to and attend.