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The best thing about Loyola is definitely the location. It's right in the heart of Chicago and there are tons of things to do. Also it is right by the lake and in the spring and summer, it is beautiful! The best place to be on campus when you want a quiet place to study is to sit on the grass by the lake. The worst thing about Loyola is that it is 60% girls so there aren't that many guys around and the guys that are here are mostly gay, so it's difficult to meet guys to date.
Emily Senior
The best thing about Loyola is that they host many events; there are so many clubs and activities for all various kinds of students. I rarely find myself asking what I should do. I would change the way they spend our tuition money. Our school size is just right. When I tell people I go to Loyola, their face lights up as if I have offered them a piece of chocolate. Most of my time is FOR SURE spent at the library-it easily takes up most of my day. It's not really a college town, i mean it's in Chicago! I do not envy the administration at the lake shore campus as much as I do at the water tower campus. They are very nice over there, but at the lake shore campus, they can be very rude, and not just sometimes. The biggest recent controversy was about how campus security was acting racist, and so there was a big student body movement, with a demand for rights on campus to the President-everyone in support of it wears green ribbons. Going to Loyola is something that you can say with a huge amount of pride. You have to go there to experience it. I mean, even the name itself is powerful! Something unusual about Loyola is that they always seem as though they are trying to make money off of you-sure there's a certain line of yes you should pay for being irresponsible, but Loyola crosses that line-then with that extra money that they make, like perhaps from an increase in tuition, they make a huge building with 330 or so computers and a bunch of group study rooms. The computers are great (This new building is called the information commons-it's attached to the cudahy library). But I mean come on Loyola, all the group study rooms have a huge gap in the window wall at the top, so that basically everything you say is heard by others outside the room, and you hear any noise outside the room. I'll always remember being waken up at random times like 2 AM in the morning during school days because someone set off the fire alarm my freshman year at the dorm Mertz. This happened a LOT during the first few weeks of school. That was great-everyone from Mertz would gather outside and it would be like a social event. Some complaints made by students are that Loyola doesn't know how to spend our money right, the 8-ride service is not a good service, the shuttle service takes too long, dorming is expensive and the teachers are not always great...but i guess that depends on the student's grade now, doesn't it?
Karun Sophomore
One of the best things about Loyola is the opportunity to live on two different campuses. Loyola has this really nice shuttle bus service that usually runs every fifteen minutes taking you from the Lakeshore Campus in Rogers Park to a few blocks off Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago. One of the greatest ezperiences I have had and probably will ever have is the opportunity to live Downtown as a sophomore. The dorm rooms are apartment style and just amazing. Whether you live on Lakeshore Campus or Downtown, it is so easy to commute between the two and there will always be something to do. Loyola's campus is also beautiful. We are literally right on Lake Michigan. In my freshmen year dorm room, my view was from the Penthouse floor of my building overlooking the lake. The sunsets could not be more pretty. It was great. We also have a brand new building called the Information Commons that is eco-friendly and literally feet away from the lake. It is almost entirely made of glass and you can sit on sofas, use the computers, and relax while looking at the lake. You can even nap..I've done it a few times. Loyola also has its own train stop on the CTA redline, virtually making anything around you accesible. Loyola encourages exploring the city by including a CTA Upass in the tuition. It really comes in handly whether you want to travel north to Evanston for some great food, or go to Belmont for some new posters. Pretty much all of Chicago is your playground. Usually when I tell people I go to Loyola, I get the "Oh, that's so nice! Loyola is a great school." And it ends just about there. I think it has to do with people know it is a private school, assume it is extremely expensive and must be worth something. I think one thing I would change is Loyola's scholarships. In the past, scholarships were merit-based, and if you didn't get the highest one right away, with a good GPA in college, you were eligible for an upgrade. They changed it my freshman year that in order to be eligible for an upgrade, it needed to be need-based. For those people that may have counted on upgrading their scholarship, it kind of sucks their policy changed in the middle of their academic career. Also, we don't have the biggest school pride on campus. We have basketball games which can be fun, but I definitely miss football games like the ones in high school. The biggest recent controvery on campus was the Anti-Racist Movement. Apparently the security guards were racial profiling and a group of students got together to speak against it and protest in a march across campus. As far as I know, our President handled it very well, wanted to hear everything anyone had to say, and was working on resolving the issue.
Angelika Sophomore
The best thing about Loyola is its location. There are two main campuses within a short distance from one another, one located next to Lake Michigan, and the other a block away from Michigan Avenue (the Magnificent Mile) in the middle of downtown Chicago. Basically, you get the best of both worlds Ð a beautiful college campus environment next to the gorgeous lake, and the city life! Loyola is definitely not in a college town. Right outside the gates of Loyola, you either have RogerÕs Park (a fairly dangerous neighborhood) or downtown Chicago, which is pretty amazing. However, there is one thing I would change Ð the weather. First of all, the weather is absolutely unpredictable, sometimes changing every five minutes. It might be raining, then snowing, then beautiful outside, and then some hail too Ð all in one day. One fall morning, the weather was so nice I went to class in flip flops. When class ended, I literally had to walk across campus in a blizzard. The school is a perfect size, there are about 9600 undergrads. ItÕs small enough that you will recognize many people around campus, but big enough that you do not know everybody. I love the medium size compared to the size of a huge university because I feel more like an individual instead of a statistic. The staff is very helpful, and Loyola truly makes an effort to help students discover their passions. I came to college completely confused and scared about my future, but there were so many welcoming organizations and people who specifically wanted to help students like me find their niche. Also, I love that I can walk to class in under ten minutes on LoyolaÕs main campus. Definitely gives me more sleep in the mornings! When I tell people from out of state that I attend Loyola, they usually have never heard of the university. However, people from Illinois and surrounding states always recognize Loyola for its academic reputation, and I always hear good things. Recently, IÕve spend most of my time at the Richard Klarchek Information Commons, which we like to call the IC. It is a brand new all-glass building on the edge of Lake Michigan where students have access to a coffee shop, computers, and huge, comfy leather chairs overlooking the lake. Students seem to love the IC, itÕs the perfect place to get work done. Other than that, I like to hang out in my dorm downtown. ItÕs a new, apartment-style residence hall located a block away from the John Han*** building and amazing Chicago restaurants and stores. Recently, there have been strong student complaints about racial profiling on campus. The other day, an anti-racist group at Loyola marched against administration for their lack of concern for these problems. As a minority, I have never had a specific encounter with racial profiling, nor do I know anybody who has, but there have been several severe instances that need to be addressed. Other than these issues, students seem happy with their experiences at Loyola.
Ashley Sophomore
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