Western Michigan University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Jackie

Class: Sophomore
Major: English
Gender: F

High School: Springstead High School, Northwest High School
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

The best thing about WMU is the people. They're all so friendly and willing to help out. Incredible friendships are easy to come by. Also, the size of the school is perfect; it's neither too big nor too small. Everything on campus is within ten or fifteen minutes walking distance. Western students are definitely filled with pride. While most students usually show their pride by wearing Bronco apparel like sweatshirts, t-shirts, and beanies, on game days, students step it up a notch. Whenever there is a sports event, students paint their bodies brown and gold, they slap temporary Bronco tattoos to their faces, and theyÕll walk around as Western superheroes with a Western flag tied around their neck as though it were a cape. When I'm hanging out on campus, I can usually be found in the dormitory lounges-- usually the Draper lounge. My friends and I get together and have movie marathons, or we'll play pool or ping pong. However, if I'm not on campus, I can be found in Downtown Kalamazoo. There are several businesses and restaurants that offer discount prices for WMU students. Also, students don't have to pay bus fares which makes traveling easy and affordable.

Academic Life

I feel Western has nicely sized classes. Most classes seem to have an average of 30 students. There are several lecture classes, but they don't seem so overwhelmingly large. My biggest lecture class, Finite Math my first semester as a freshman, had about 230 students. Obviously, for the lecture classes you have to make it a point to get to know your professor otherwise, to them, youÕre just another ÒWIN IDÓ. However, for the most part, my professors know me by name. TheyÕre all very personable, and they encourage students to stop by for office hours. WMU does require students to take general education courses. These classes are anything from foreign languages to introductory science course and Intermediate Swimming to Music Appreciation: Rock and Roll. Generally, I like taking the general education credits; I suppose I like being "well rounded". But, there is one distribution area that I dread-- Natural Science and Technology. Philosophy of Science? Introduction to Manufacturing? Oh dear. I cannot offer too much insight about classes for my major. I only declared my major about two or three months ago; so, I havenÕt taken too many of the required classes. But, I can say, my favorite classes each semester are my English classes. Of course, the subject matter interests meÑmy major is English. But, I feel the teachers also play a big factor. I kind of get the feeling that the English teachers at Western are a little crazy. But, crazy in a good way. Crazy in a way that keeps students wanting to come back to class. Crazy in a way that keeps students wanting to learn more. As for academics outside of class, I'd say I spend about 3 to 5 hours a day doing homework, completing reading assignments, or just general studying. It usually depends on how lazy I am that day or how much I've procrastinated earlier in the week. Sometimes, my friends tell me I neglect them because I spend so much time studying rather than hanging out with them. Personally, I'm baffled they have so much free time. Maybe we have different work ethics, or maybe I've chosen incredibly work-intensive classes.

Student Body

Greek life is pretty big at WMU. In fact, several of my friends belong to sororities. Sorority and fraternity organized charity events are frequent on campus. Always, during the warm months, a myriad of chalkings can be found on the WMU sidewalks advertising the different groups. And, I think they try to recruit about once a semester. Students with all sorts of financial backgrounds attend Western. Most people I know have taken out loans to pay for school; some pay entirely with loans, others have help from scholarships and parents. Although most WMU students are from the state of Michigan and surrounding states, there are actually quite a few international students. WMU also hosts an international week; several activities, dinners, movies, lectures, go on all week to help students of different cultures learn and accept each other. There is a gay population on campus, and there is an LGBT group that vocalizes the injustices they face. I remember, in my Freshman Year Experience class, an LGBT panel came into speak to the class and to answer any questions we had. Overall, WMU students come from a variety of backgrounds and have a variety of beliefs, but we all somehow accept each other. And despite the nice cohesiveness, WMU students are always working to make the relationship better.