Vermillion can easily be considered a ‘party town’ and many students drink on the weekends (and sometimes during the week) at house parties or downtown at the bars. I would say that there is an equal split between students that spend their time engaged strictly with academic activities, or at least constructive activities and those who party like a rock star every chance they get. If I am awake at 2 A.M. on a Tuesday, I can guarantee that I am working on homework for the next day’s class. ?If you wanted to do something besides drink on a Saturday night, there are usually a few bands playing at random locations, open-mike nights, two movie theatres that give student discounts, bowling, or a number of varying activities put on at the dorms and student centers (video games, arts and crafts, team games, etc.). Most students that want to stay connected or interact with others will leave their dorm doors open. Although I don’t live in the dorms anymore, I hear that almost everyone leaves their door open while they are there. Greek life is a huge deal on campus, with over 30 fraternities/sororities to become a part of and each one supporting a system of life-long friendships (I know from friends involved with several different Greek houses). Athletic events gain the most popularity of all campus activities, especially football, but theatre productions are definitely a must-see among the USD community. Depending on the guest speaker, there will be an influx of students attending the event, especially when it is mandatory for credit in a particular class. In my experience, I have found the guest speakers to be very interesting, especially when related to my field of study. Personally, I spend most of my time off campus working or hanging out with friends at some of the previously mentioned hang-outs. I met my closest friends not on campus, but through my job at a local restaurant. Most of my co-workers are students as well, but I would probably never have met them through classes alone. In fact, with the help of a friend from work, I started the Improv Club on campus last semester. I love being a part of something I am so interesting in and we always have so much fun with it. We meet once a week for a couple hours and basically just play improv games and learn about the craft from my co-founder, who teaches us what he knows about improv from his experience. Hopefully by the end of the year we will be ready to perform for an audience! It is one of my proudest accomplishments since I have been at USD and I have formed many important friendships since we started the group.

USD does not have an extraordinary amount of cultural diversity, but cultural diversity certainly does exist on campus. Students from all over the United States, as well as all over the world, attend USD. One of the main reasons that USD is such an attractive option for students from distant places is because it is so affordable. Most any kind of student could find a niche a USD. Student apparel ranges from casual sweat pants and hoodies to professional dress. Different types of students are usually open-minded and friendly to each other. Most students are from South Dakota and the surrounding states, but there is also a large percentage of students from other areas. Students from all financial backgrounds are represented at USD, but middle class is probably the most common background. Many students are politically aware; as a whole, the student body is predominantly left. Overall, USD has a significant amount of diversity, and students are open-minded.

On our campus is one of the nation's oldest Music Museums, which contains various instruments from the 15th century to today. They house some very rare pianos and string instruments. In addition to viewing all of the instruments, you are actually able to listen to what each specific instrument you're looking at sounds like by wearing a multimedia player given to you at the museum entrance.

I was initially interested in attending the University of South Dakota when I spent a summer in the dorms for an athletics camp. The campus and town was easy to navigate and an overall comfortable place to be. When looking for colleges I considered costs, academics, and location. Although Vermillion is a very small town it is located between two big cities (Sioux City and Sioux Falls). The campus was also my favorite of all the colleges I visited. Campus is contained to a couple of blocks, which makes finding classes extremely easy. The academic merit was in my opinion the best in South Dakota for a liberal arts education. USD provided a variety of majors and minors as well as a long list of student organizations. The cost was also one of the best in South Dakota. Although tuition is continuing to rise, in comparison to other in state colleges USD remains fairly priced. It was a combination of the environment, educational opportunities, and finances that led me to choose the University of South Dakota.

I am a double major in English and International Studes with a minor in Spanish. The English departmenet here at USD is excellent. The experience I had with my engish professors is what convinced me to join the program. All of my english professors know my name and recognized my potential as a english major from an early standpoint. They wanted to use some of my essays as examples for future classes. One professor in particular convinced me to participate in a "poetry slam" which is awesome fun! The International Studies department is also excellent. Recently one of my political science professors, who is head of the department, agreed to help me with an "independent studies" class, since I will be gone for two months next semester for an internship. He was very flexible and excited about creating a class to fit my individual needs. The Spanish department, I am sad to admit, is not very good. Regardless of previous knowledge of a language, they expect you to excell in a "full language immersion class" right off the bat. In Spanish 101, I was not allowed to ask questions in english which made things difficult. The professors were also somewhat rude and uncompassionate towards students who felt overwhelmed in their class. I am traveling to Costa Rica this summer to get spanish credits to fufull my spanish minor. This seems to be the better option than getting them at USD. Class participation is common. Freshman students are often hesitant, but by the time they are sophomores, particication is normal for them. Some of my professors have organized small groups in class so we can discuss questions posed to us. There are usually multiple responses when the professor asks questions, depending on the class. I personally study at least 5 hours per day. The library is always a busy place, so I'm assuming that study is a common activity for most of the students. Alot of students prefer to study in their dorm rooms or apartments as well. My least favorite class was "pre-calculus" becuase math is not one of my shining natural abilites. My favorite class would probably be "British Literature" becuase growing up my favorite novels were by british authors. USD makes an effort to help students get ready for a real job once they graduate. Internships are highly reccomended and career fairs are common. They also have mock job interviews and staff willing to help students write good resumes.

I go to the University of South Dakota. I decided to go there because I wanted to commute and it was close to home. Now I go there because of the amazing friends I have.

Students at USD are very diverse. There are students from many different nations that have come to USD. As far as race, religion, LGBT, and socio-economic groups there is not a lot to talk about besides that there are clubs for each. Whatever a student has interest in, there are others. There is not many students who would feel out of place. Maybe if the students wanted to be completely sheltered and left alone. South Dakota is a friendly and accepting state, and we practice it everywhere. The students wear whatever they want to class. Students could show up in a garbage can and probably would not be questioned about it. If they feel comfortable, why bother them? If anyone would walk into the dining hall and look at four tables, they would not see anything out of the ordinary. Everyone would be in USD t-shirts and would be wearing sweatpants or gym shorts. They would most likely be talking to each other from table to table. Like I said, USD is a very close community of students. Most of the students are middle class individuals from around either South Dakota or the neighboring states. Excluding the certain clubs dedicated to government, I do not usually hear about student's political beliefs. This could be because they are unaware, or it could be that they do not want to push their values on others. Either way, I think students are mostly in the center.

To be fair I haven't gone to any other schools, but I love it at the University of South Dakota. The professors are great and are very sociable and easy to talk to. I highly recommend getting to know your professors because it helps to connect yourself to the class. It makes learning and accepting the information being taught to you easier to grasp. Not only that, but the campus is of good size with decent facilities and many fun places that are also good for studying and meeting friends when needed.

Honestly, I cannot even answer the question about sizing students up. Everyone at this school is so accepting of others, that I have never seen anything more offensive than a good-natured joke between friends. The LGBT community is largely accepted, as USD is located in the liberal part of South Dakota; the school population is equally split between conservatives, liberals, and moderates. Students do not dress up for class necessarily, but many students make an effort to look decent.

Overall USD offers a nice balance between education and socialization. USD has many regionally recognized programs that will enable student whether they're interested in graduate school or moving straight into the workforce. The campus is large enough to offer all the major amenities (workout facilities, new commons area, dormitories, excellent library and many computer labs) but small enough to navigate with relative ease. Athletics is an important part of the campus life but one is still free to involve themselves in varying degrees. The University has many fraternities and sororities if greek like is of interest to you, though greek life does not dominate the social scene. Overall USD is a very nice school, the weather can occasionally get you down but the faculty is great and there is quite a bit to do, whether it "partying" or one of USD's many other extracurriculars.