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The best thing about KU would have to be the atmosphere. Everyone comes together for sporting events, football and men's basketball, specifically. We have some of the best traditions that have been going on since the university was established. I can't really think of anything I would want to change at the university. The greeks are an overwhelming population, so I guess I would like to see the university advertise more ways to get involved than just by joining a sorority or fraternity. I believe KU is the right size for me, but an opinion on the size of a school depends on the individual. When I tell people that I go to KU, most react by saying I went to the "wrong" school. In other words, everyone from my hometown are huge KSU fans...and I chose to be different. Otherwise, a lot of people think that it's cool that I chose to go somewhere most of my high school classmates didn't go. Most of my time on campus is in a library. Being a pre-pharmacy student requires a lot of studying! Lawrence is a great college town. The best are the Lawrence residents, who support KU and the college students and have the same spirit we do for KU. The biggest recent controversy on campus would be gay pride week. Fred Phelps decided to show his presence. Most do not like Fred Phelps anyways, but he of course caused controversy with his radical ideals. KU has A LOT of school pride. How can you go to such a great college without having pride in it...especially after winning the Orange Bowl and NCAA championship within one year?! I love walking into classrooms and seeing the wave of blue, red, and white KU t-shirts. It just reminds me of how much school pride and spirit all of us have. I have had many experiences I will always remember. I will remember Mass St. each time after each big NCAA basketball game. I will remember my experiences going to basketball games in Allen Fieldhouse and the traditions we have there. I will remember the football games in Memorial Stadium, the band playing Michael Jackson's "Thriller," and many other things having to do with KU football. I will remember having the "famous" athletes in some of my classes. I will remember the first time I came to KU, when I fell in love with the campus, the great views from the hill, and the red rooftops. The most frequent student complaints are usually about Lew Perkins stealing all our money and parking. Parking is probably the most complained about. The scholarship halls have minimal parking for how many students live in them, the dorms can in no way support how many residents they have, and parking at the recreation center isn't that great, either. But parking definitely should not deter any decision of attending KU!
Katie Sophomore
KU has a beautiful campus. The architecture is amazing--the red roofs make for a wonderful view from the top of the hill. The landscaping is lovely--the trees in the fall turn vibrant colors. The steep hills and tall trees often surprise students from the "flat" areas of Kansas. KU has many renowned programs and students excel academically. KU can be a great choice for people who like large classes and for people who prefer smaller classes; both large lectures and small honors sections, large dorms and small scholarship halls are available. Lawrence is a fabulous college town. It's an amazing community; it offers many opportunities for attending concerts (both classical and rock), volunteering, and expanding one's interests artistically and academically; it has an awesome downtown scene--you can shop to support local businesses or just have fun on Mass Street. KU has many excellent staff members and professors famous for their work in their fields. There is a LOT of school pride, demonstrated after we became basketball champions! The only big complaints I hear are about the ridiculously strict parking rules and the difficulty of working with the bureaucracy.
Amanda Sophomore
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.
Surya Sophomore
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.
Melody Sophomore
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.
Alli Sophomore
Reviews provided by: UnigoBest thing about KU--definitely the honors program. It lets students really have a chance to shine in an academic setting. In all my research on other colleges, I didn't find one that actually tried to give students a better education for being in the program. The honor program here allows for smaller class sizes, taught by professors, not TAs. If I had to change something, it would probably be the the classrooms. The buildings are beautiful--but walk into one of the classrooms, and everything is industrialized. Give us some color, not white walls! KU, as I said before, is just as large as you want it to be. Find the community that's your size. A lot of them say wow--don't you feel lost, coming from a small town? Nope, not at all. I have more close friends here than I ever did back in Paola. I spend most of my time in the schol hall community. College town. If you like dancing, drinking, and shopping, Lawrence is the place to go. If there's one thing I hate about KU, it's the administration. It's one place you'll never feel like anything but a number. I guess they have to do it that way, though--so many people. Controversy on campus--I think we're too diverse, too spread out for anything major. But KState beating us on their turf--that wasn't cool. Not cool at all. Well, yeah. Are you kidding? I'm wearing a KU t-shirt right now! The schol hall system is really unusual. Check out the web pages, or take a tour if you want to find out more--otherwise, I'll spend five pages just raving about it. I can't name just one experience, since I have new experiences every day. For the observant person, or just someone who wants to get involved, there's always something to do. Parking at KU is the most frequent complaint. The parking department is populated by Nazis. I'm not even kidding.
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