Ithaca College Top Questions

Very liberal, very open-minded as a whole. Conservatives may feel out of place. Most students wear everyday casual wear, some even wear sweats/pjs. Quite a bit of interaction among groups, but some seem to ostracize themselves. Most students from NY, New England, Jersey. Financially upper-middle class. Many politically aware, some active. Mostly very left. Not much talk about how much will earn, more "I hope I earn enough to pay for the education".

I try to put myself in situations I'm not comfortable with when I get the chance, I'm pretty introverted around people I don't know... and there are many opportunities to try new things. I have done Habitat for Humanity on a break trip, and was going on an Alternative Spring break trip to an eco-village.. but that was canceled. Boo on Ithaca for not having drivers. Someone who felt out of place in high school - because it still feels like high school here. It varies - some girls go all-out every day, and many people just wear sweats. People form cliques, that's what happens.. but in different situations, yes, different types of people interact. A lot of students seem to be from LI or Jersey. I don't think normal people talk about their financial backgrounds, not everyone is so self-righteous. We have all parties, but many students need to be more politically active. Including myself. Not really - at least I don't.

People need to stop thinking about how we're different and start thinking of how we're the same.

All my friends are white, and I know few people of other races Nobody would feel out of place Sweatpants and flip flops Students are very cliquey, like many Asians canbe found in one spot Athletes, Whites, Theatre/Vocal Majors, Nerds NJ, NY (LI), PA Most are above average financially Students are not as politically active as I though they would be considering Ithaca is such a liberal town They are normally liberal No, future pay checks are rarely discussed

I have friends in all minority groups and all levels of economic class but that is because it doesn't matter to me and i seek out people that i like, not what they look like or have. Students wear anything from sweats, to high heels and nice pants. depends on the class and the attitude of the prof.

There is no school community. I can yell out "go bombers" with my teams, but not with my biology friends and not amongst teams. only sometimes while going to basketball games or going to cortica is there IC pride.

People are very passionate and outgoing about their beliefs...LGBT is very accepted here. I think a super religious fundamentalist christian might feel a little out of place here, but only because of the widespread acceptance of certain issues/ people. But that is just how I feel. Most students wear jeans/sweatpants, northfaces to class. Many groups mingle here. Four tables... 1 would be the drama/theatre kids, the athletes, normal smart looking intellectuals, hippie kids. Most ithaca students are from upstate new york (rochester, buffalo, syracuse) or long island and the new england states. Most people's financial backgrounds are from a reasonably comfortable financial status, because the school is expensive. Students are quite politically aware. liberal. Left. I have never heard students talk about earnings in the future.

Not very racially differnet

There isn't much diversity at Ithaca as far as race goes. I'm not a religious person, so I don't have much experience with this. LGBT-there has been a lot of lesbians and gay people in my classes that are open about it, so that has always been an interesting experience for me. I enjoy it. Socio-economic-people that are rich tend to be quite stuck up. I think a poor person of color would feel out of place at IC. Most students are pretty casual-jeans and a t-shirt or sweats. Some get dressed up, but its not common. --

I dont have any experience with any of the groups listed in the first question. I think most students would feel welcome here. Students wear a BIG range of clothes to class, dressed up - athletic gear. Yes, different "types" of students interact. Ithaca students are mostly from the northeast. Financial backgrounds very widely. Students are politically aware, could be more politically active. Predominantly right.

Student body is trying to become more racially diverse. I love that at IC you can wear sweats, jeans or anything to class and not feel out of place. Most students are from the east coast- Mass. and NY. ( or so it seems)

Ithaca is not very ethnically diverse but it is the most perosnality diverse place I have ever been too.

Ithaca is extremely LGBT, queer and questioning friendly. And everyone's pretty much OK with that. It's weird for me to talk to my friends at other schools and they say "my one gay friend..." I think to myself "you only have one gay friend?" That would be nearly impossible at Ithaca if you make friends at all. It isn't necessarily racially diverse, but we do have a lot of international students. There is a very strong Jewish presence on campus. In the beginning of the semester, everyone dresses pretty nicely for class, then by mid-terms, students generally wear either sweats or just jeans a sweater to class. Blame it on the stress. Athletes are usually wearing some Ithaca sport-related clothing. You can spot a football player a mile away because they always wear their white and blue warm-ups, sweats, jackets, hats, whatnot. Ithaca has a lot of students from New York (not the city) and a TON from New Jersey. I have no clue why. Jersey kids love the Ith. Most students are left-wing or relatively moderate and I would love to say that they're politically active, but for the most part they're more socially active and they like to talk about politics. They are usually very well informed though. Unless you're in the business school, you don't necessarily talk about how much money you're going to make. It's kind of a running joke for Parkies (Park school of Communications students) to say "I am majoring in something I like and one day, I'll probably live in a cardboard box."

Ithaca has invested a lot of time and money in the LGBT sector, which has landed us as a top college for LGBT acceptance. There is a full LGBT center along with film series and other educational programs available to students. While Ithaca isn't very racially diverse, I have not had any experience with racism and Ithaca also has education programs exploring diversity. Ithaca's population is fairly homogeneous. The majority of people come from New York, PA, CT, and NJ, but there is a representation from nearly every state and there is also a strong international program. Ithaca is pretty much as casual as you'll get, with students coming to morning classes in sweats and pajama pants. However you dress is probably fine, but if you're looking for a really preppy school, IC is not the place for you. As far as politics go, Ithaca leans heavily to the left, with a small population of conservatives (there is an IC Republicans club). You can also expect the majority of the population to be in the category of educated voters, regardless of their party affiliations.

I think that though Ithaca tries to present itself as a racially diverse college but there is still a lot of work to be done. I had a friend come to visit me from University of Rochester who commented to me “Wow, there are no black kids at Ithaca.” This of course isn’t true, there is some racial diversity but in my experience, the African American and Hispanic students tend to stick together and not interact as much with the white majority. Though the minority population isn't high, there is still support for minorities at Ithaca College. A couple of years ago there was a lot of controversy because we had classes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and so after meetings with the administration we now have the day off. Though there isn't really a typical IC student, the majority are from upstate New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. In general people are very open-minded, opinionated, intelligent and easy to talk to. I'm continually surprised at how un-cliquey IC is. With so many different programs and student interests, you would think that groups would stick together but most people are open to hanging out and mingling with everyone else. It's not at all weird to see a girl wearing Ugg boots talking to a guy with massive dreadlocks or a guy wearing a Giants jersey eating lunch in the pub with a hipster chick.

First of all, Ithaca is not diverse. The majority of the student body is white, middle class students, with a small minority population. We do, however, have a large and active LGBT community and they are widely accepted on campus. Ithaca welcomes all students to their campus and the only ones that might feel uncomfortable are shallow, close-minded students who might be still stuck in the politics of high school. There are no cliques at Ithaca and all students interact with eachother no matter the dress, race, religion, hair color, major...you get the picture. As I have said before, students are very politically aware and active with the dominating population being liberal. The economic status of most students are in the middle to upper class part of society, but there are many here on full scholarships or financial aid or add a little diversity to campus, but not enough. In certain classes, such as my Politics of Identity class that dealt with race and culture, students could benefit from a more diverse class make-up because it is hard for 15 white, middle class students to debate about minority drug dealers stuck in lower income areas.

Ithaca is incredibly open to different lifestyles..or so we seem. We proclaim to be open to various races, socio-economic and sexual orientations, but the majority of students are middle-upper class, white, heterosexuals. There are a lot of diversity clubs and opportunities, there just aren't as much actual diversity on campus, though it seems that it's being worked on. Most students are from the north east and very politically aware, very liberal!