University of Minnesota--Twin Cities | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Liela

Class: Sophomore
Major: Chinese Studies
Gender: F

High School: Farmington Senior High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

I love the size of the University of Minnesota. For me it is perfect. There are so many places to go and things to do. It is never dull. There are three parts to the university. The West bank is for business, law and the arts. It has a nifty little museum full of the art of traveling artists as well as exhibitions by students. It's pretty nice. The st.paul campus is a quite a distance from the rest of campus and is most easily accessible by bus. It's like a whole other world there. This is where the school of design is, as well as all the animal and most of the biology classes are. It's so quiet and peaceful here. While the East and West bank are full of hustle and bustle the st. paul campus is very calm and laid back. The gym on this campus has a rock climbing wall that is lots of fun. The East bank which is my favorite holds most of the restaurants and frat row. University ave. is almost only fraternities for quite a ways. Coffman Union is on this bank and there are protests, demonstrations and performances all the time in front of it. Most of the student organizations have a room in this building. I think it's safe to say that everyone will have at least one course on this bank. Almost all the buildings are connected underground by tunnels. These are awesome for the wintertime so you never have to go above ground. Gophers after Dark are activities run by students at Coffman that are always a lot of fun. Nearby restaurants will bring in free food, bowling will be free, there are hypnotists and other performers usually. My favorite time was when they had giant inflatables and my friend and I had a gladiator match. We stood on pedestals and tried to knock each other off. I lost but made myself feel better by getting a free air brush tattoo. If you want to get away from all the study and work of college the city is just a couple minutes away by bus. The metrodome is very close to the city and here you can see the Gophers though it will be far more amazing when they play at the new stadium being built on campus. There are also tons of amazing clubs, malls, museums and restaurants downtown. The U of M is next to Minneapolis and anyone with common sense will not travel alone after dark. There have been muggings and sexual assault reported to people who do. But there are campus escorts available for anyone needing to get anywhere and neither I nor my friends have ever had a problem with that. The U of M is full of so many different types of people. Different races and religions and they are everywhere, talking about themselves, drinking coffee and studying just like all the other students. At the U of M it's a gurantee that you'll find someone who your share interests and perspectives on if you just look.

Academic Life

By far the best classes I took were language classes. The class size is small in comparison to most others. The classes are interactive. I love them. The Chinese teachers in particular are hilarious. For almost other courses the class size is going to be huge and questions should be saved to ask your teacher one-on-one. You have to make an effort to stay in touch with your professor because they are usually here for research and have there own things. A lot of work has to be done on your own. The IT students are almost guranteed a job straight out of college. Many are recruited while still in school. Carlson school of Management also produces amazing business students who usually don't have a problem finding well paying jobs all over the world. The Nursing school is extremely hard to get into but with the growing health industry there is a 100% chance of them finding a good job. CLA is a bit different. Students here will most likely double if not triple in majors. They will get a taste of all other fields through their liberal education requirements. The jobs they get will probably not be related to there major. For me this is a college for learnings sake. Here you take classes that you want to not because you have to. All University of Minnesota graduates have a little prestige attached to their degree and will have an easier time finding a job then someone who is not from a big ten school

Student Body

The U of M is decidedly more liberal. When voting in the straw polls the Democrats got Coffman Union and the Republicans had Ford Hall. Ford hall is decidedly smaller. The university has roughly a 20% minority population. There are Lao, Hmong, Ethiopian and you name it we probably have it for student associations. This groups are open to all races but consist of only the race they represent. As a multi-racial student I felt very comfortable here. I know students of every race, sexual and religious orientation imaginable and they seem as at home here as I do. There are tons of international students. They are all really fun upbeat people to hang with. Most of them seem to be engineers and they all seem to play soccer, go figure.