University of Kansas Top Questions

The best thing about KU is that sometimes you get teachers that are inspiring and passionate. For instance, Professor Brent Steele and Professor L. Keith Miller take you through adventures in academic learning. Their curriculum is set up in such a way, that makes is both challenging and interesting for students. I think we need to build electric wind generators to set an example to the United States and the world. School seems to be, population-wise, just right. People usually are neutral or positive about KU in their reactions. However, you can always find a negative view of KU. I spend most of my time on campus in Blake. 'Tis a college town - becomes more of a college town every year. My opinion of the KU administration is too specific to just target KU admin in general. There are several administrative bodies and administrative employees that put the University before the students, which I think is backwards and damges KU's good name. Lots of school pride. Sports helps the national pride, but it seems we lack a lot of local pride. KU Med Center is something to boast about, but its prices are too steep. Running for Student Senate and meeting some of the most important people of my life here.

I love that there is so much going on. I would change nothing. KU is great the way KU is. It's huge but you find your spot. You see people you know. You don't always feel like a speck. It does happen and that's when I wish I was involved in more not at a smaller place. Where I'm from ppl think you are stuck up when you say you go to KU. Like you are too good for them. I spend most of my time at the library where I work or just in class. Lawrence is a college town! I don't have any problems with the administation. I don't honestly know what the biggest issue was. We have loads of school pride. You can't walk anywhere with out seeing a Jayhawks! KU is a place you just have to experience it can't be explain fully otherwise. I will always remember every game from football season. Marching band, as much as I disliked it was memorable. The hills and the cold lol!

I love the pride of KU. Students are not afraid to tell the world of their love of Jayhawks. However, I think there is a communication barrier from Administration to students. We don't hear about shootings at E's unless it's by rumor, and important announcements don't make it to students. Many students don't know what the University has to offer because there is such a breach in communication. Lawrence is a great college town. There is so much to do every single night of the week. Social life is never a problem.

When I tell people I go to KU, they either say "Oh! okay!" and start telling me about their sibling/offspring/parent/second cousin once removed who goes/went here. If they're K-State fans, it's more of a sigh of resignation. If you ever question KU's overall school pride, go to a home football or men's basketball game. Even if you go to an away game, there's always huge turnout, lots of noise. Alumni come to visit and go to games all the time. There's no question of our school pride. When I got here I was kind of apathetic about it all, the cheers were weird, etc. But if you're surrounded by people who "get" the KU pride thing, then you really get into it quickly. Coolest experience? Seeing Sasha Kaun all over the engineering building. As an engineering student, I think it's awesome that he can maintain a tough schedule while playing basketball. And he's tall. Student complaints... well, the dining hall food does get a little old after a while. Mrs. E's is great, but sometimes, you just want something else... and then there are plenty of places to eat off campus that are cheap and cater to the poor, destitute college student. Still, Thanksgiving dinner at the dining hall is pretty good. If I could change a few things, I might make the engineering building a little prettier, not quite so brickish. KU is great size wise for me. It's huge, but it's really easy to make friends because of it. At the same time, once you get going in your major, you keep seeing the same people over and over again, especially if you're in a professional school. Those people are your support system, so be nice to them. I spend a ton of time in Anschutz library. My freshman year, I took a fairly heavy courseload, so I need that time and space to finish all my work. The strange thing is, more than half the people I know I met in Anschutz. We're all library junkies, so it work out for us. It's weird, but we take a certain amount of pride in it.

I would think that the best thing about KU is its diversity. I love walking around campus and hearing people converse in 5 different languages. You don't have to go far to see different cultures. I think the school's big, but there's definitely bigger schools than ours. It's about 25,000 students, 30,000 total including staff. There's absolutely no way that you'll get to know everyone. But what I love about KU is that once you meet someone, you'll see them all over the place all of a sudden, as if they were always there but you just failed to recognize them. KU's definitely known for its basketball, and Allen Fieldhouse where all the home games are played at. I'm not big on sports so I don' t know much, but definitely check it out! Lawrence is definitely a college town though. It's pretty small, about 27 miles across. We don't have any malls, but we have a main street called Massachusetts St that we abbreviate "mass st." which is where ALL of the shops are. And it's just like a downtown area, but it's only one street and the college hang out away from campus. The streets got food, clothing, and when it's nice outside people playing guitar or other instruments for tips on the corner. Everywhere you go you'll see college-aged employees, adding to the young atmosphere the town has. I'd say there's definitely a TON of school pride. KU's really good about giving away free shirts, so you'll end up having at least 5-7 KU shirts by the end of your first year without even buying any. There's also a ton to buy though. Going to the football and basketball games are a really big deal here. Pre-game partying for football is a must and people camp out for about two days before basketball tickets go on sale for the more major games. One issue that I've run into is that if you're living at the dorms it's hard to find parking for your car. You really don't need a car, because there's a bus system that takes you around campus and hits all the buildings that your classes are in. There's also busses that'll take you to mass street, but if not that then you can always walk, it's only 3 blocks away from the end of campus. But parking at the dorms is limited, which is a pain if you're coming home late.

There are a lot of great things about KU. Basketball games definitely rank pretty high on the list. Allen Fieldhouse is amazing and the atmosphere is unbelieveable during a game. There are also people from all walks of life here, so its very easy to find someone you have something in common with and make friends. Being an engineering student, the majority of my friends are in my major or another engineering discipline and they understand exactly what you are going through, so its great to have people you can interact who have similar interests. If I could change anything about KU, it would be the advising system. I don't believe that my adviser has played much of a role in my education, and I know many other students (even outside of engineering) who feel the same way. I don't really notice the size of KU much anymore. It is a fairly large school (around 28,000 students), but one you get over the freshman shock of being in college, you really don't notice it anymore. Some classes are large, especially as a freshman and some upper level science classes (I'm afraid I can't speak much for anything outside of science/engineering), so that takes some getting used to. But once you get into the swing of things, the size isn't noticeable. Usually when I tell people I go to KU they ask how the basketball games are or if I know a basketball player, but not always. The reaction isn't usually much, they just ask the usual question of what year, what major are you. Most of my time on campus is spent in the engineering library studying, somewhere in the engineering building studying or in my dorm room studying. Most of my classes are concentrated within the engineering complex, so I don't see the rest of campus too much except for a few classes. There's a great spot to eat lunch at in the middle of campus that my friends and I will go to a few times a week (its busy though!). Lawrence is definitely a college town. There are lots of bars, some clubs, and its fairly easy to get around the being under 21 thing. There's also stuff to do on campus, such as bowling at the union. There's a big local music scene here. And you can always find a party if that's your thing. Students at KU have a lot of school pride. The past year in athletics has definitely helped that with football. The basketball team is always good, and students generally take pride in that.

The best thing about KU is the variety of majors KU has and the quality of those majors. Because KU has so many great programs, a student who isn't sure about what they want to major in can experience many different quality programs. The biggest thing I would change about KU would have to be the cost of meal plans in the dorms. Students are really being screwed in the long run. The food is over priced and, in some places, low quality. That isn't to say that all of the food on campus is bad. For the most part the bad food is only related to student housing. The University of Kansas has a huge campus. If a student wants a small atmosphere, KU may not be for them. The city where KU is located, Lawrence, does have a friendly atmosphere. The University can be intimidating as far as size goes, but the fraternal feeling KU has more than makes up for it. When people hear that I go to KU they are generally very pleased. KU has the reputation of being one of the best public universities in the country. Because I am a journalism major and a member of the newspaper staff, I spend most of my time on campus in the William Allen White School of Journalism. The University's administration works well to meet the needs of its students. The student senate holds open forum meetings to hear the concerns of students. Changes usually happen in a timely manner. The biggest recent controversy on campus involved the manner in which certain departments were disposing of student records. The University newspaper ran a story and the following week measures were taken to reform the record disposal process. School pride isn't a problem at KU. Our Basketball and football teams are recognized as championship contenders. Sporting events bring the student body together on a weekly basis. Being that this is my first year at KU I can't really comment on the unusual aspects of the campus. The one experience I will always remember is my first basketball game. KU basketball games are a circus that everyone should experience. The most frequent student complaint is dorm food, hands down.

The best thing about KU is diversity; I meet a new person almost everyday and they always have something different to say. One thing I would change is having the dorms on either end of campus; they need to be all in one place. The size of the school is just right for me. Some people have the reaction of ohh, do you get ANY studying done? Then there are others that tell me about opportunities that lie in KU that I should explore. [A lot of the extracurriculars that you find at KU should be things you go out and look for or else they wont be fun.] The engineering campus: Eaton, Learned, and Spahr. I love the engineering campus; it is one of my favorite places on campus. Also, the resources available there are AMAZING. Lawrence is most certainly a college town. There are so many things to do here and there is simply a different feel as soon as you step into Lawrence when compared to what it feels like at home. KU's administration needs to be able to communicate more with the students. There have been a few shootings in Lewis and Mrs. E's. There is a LOT of school pride. Everyday, you see someone wearing a KU t-shirt and at games, it's insane! What is really unusual about KU is that even though its a HUGE campus, it's possible to bring us all together at a basketball game or at a football game. Tailgating before the KU football games this year! Students complain a lot about the bus system, but its just a matter of being able to read it correctly.

The location, Lawrence is great. I would make the dorms wireless. It's just right. They think it's cool. In the dorms. College town. It's okay; the athletics people are jerks. No big controversies. There are lots of little ones if you pay attention. Yes. We have an awesome Mascot. We're really good at basketball. Going in the tunnels under the school. Buses running late.

I would have to say that the very best thing about KU is the feeling of community that exists here. We are all united by our love for our school. This stems from the success of athletic programs like basketball and, recently, football; it also comes from the cooperation and collaboration that occurs in the academic fields, as well. We're all rooting for and helping each other. Lawrence is a fantastic college town, too. There are so many different environments to be a part of here. There's great dining and shopping downtown, excellent residential areas full of growing families, and you never have to look far to find a beautiful natural landscape.