James Madison University Top Questions

The most frustating thing about James Madison University is the parking. For such a large campus, it is almost impossible to park. I know the University is working on the sitiuation, but for the time being it is horrible. Students try to utilize the buses, but when winter comes its a hassle to stand outside and wait 5-10 minutes for a bus. Even when a bus does come they can be over crowed.

The most frustrating thing about James Madison University is the dorms. Not all of them are equiped with Wi-Fi or air conditioning, and some of the housing is located much farther away from the heart of cmpus than others.

I think the amount of underage drinking is ridiculous. Although the drunk bus on campus is meant to keep students safe, I think that it only caters to their drinking habits.

The fact that it's not as diverse as I would like it to be. Its an almost all-white school and I feel a little out of place and uncomfortable at times.

One of the most frustrating thing about James Madison is also one of the most special. It's a relatively mid-sized school which offers students the chance to get to know a greater percentage of the population. This allows limits the amount of exposure and funding required to produce nationally recognized sports teams. We have won a national football championship, but more would be better.

everyone drinks alcohol even if they don't like it

On weekends, you either go out and drink or you don't do much. The campus is also not very diverse.

The fast expansion without thought given to the aesthetics of the campus.

The most frustrating thing about my school is the dining hall meal plan. The way the school has it set up is a disadvantage to the students. Many students lose their "punches" or meals because they do not run over to the next week if they are not used. Consquently, many students feel they ought to "get their money's worth" out of the meal plan so they gorge themselves when they eat, which leads to gaining unwanted weight.

I find it frustrating to work really hard and get extra help from my professors and put in the extra time, learn a lot, and still manage to get a below average grade. I am working ten times as hard as I did in high school and receiving far worse grades than I did in high school. I also find the girls here that have everything they ever wanted handed to them from their parents really frustrating.

The most frustrating thing about my school is that there is nothing to do if you do not like to drink.

The false perception that JMU is a "party" school. Yes, there is a party and alcohol culture here, but this is found at most colleges. It should also be noted that everyone is not involved in this scene and there are plenty of other fun things to do around campus and in Harrisonburg. Any bad reputation JMU has acquired (mostly a result of the Springfest incident), is not a good representation of this wonderful school.

Staying involved in the numerous clubs and events offered is probably most frustrating. The demand from a student's academic life takes a lot of time out of social and extra criteria. One must sacrifice certain clubs and events often in order to stay onto of the competitive academies.

Not diverse

Our campus is very spread out, so parking and getting from class to class can be frustrating. It is not a very wise campus layout. It can take up to fifteen minutes on the bus, depending on traffic, to get from one building to another on different sides of campus.

James Madison University is an unique university and I would encourage anyone who is applying for colleges to look into this one.With 15,000+ students attending here there is one thing that frustrates me. The Harrisonburg Bus system.With students living on and off campus, at centain times of the day there is just not enough buses that can accommodate all the students going to classes and other places. At peak times, for example from 12-2 and 3-4 there just isn't enough room for the students who are trying to get to class on time.

Financial aid here sucks. Minimum scholarships are given to transfers and freshmen.

The way scheduling is set up; the tiered priority by grades and within grades put freshmen trying to get into certain classes at a disadvantage, and students who would like to take certain courses are sometimes unable to because of specific major restrictions.

There is nothing that i dislike about James Madison University. I absolutely love my choice of college!!

Drinking. The reputation of JMU as a party school has started to outweigh it's reputation as an academic institution. If you are our on a Friday night, you can see why. When the weekend comes students seem to forget the purpose for why they are here, to be students. You often see heavy drinking, sloppy behavior and dangerous decisions. The 65/35 ration of girls to guys does not help. Girls here often feel insecure, and the need to compete for the attention of guys. When drunk, this leads to embarrassing decisions.

Parking.

That all people do on weekends is binge drink and party

I really feel like the lack of diversity frustrates me the most. The school is made of about 80{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} white and 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of other ethinic groups. There are ways to get involved in ethnic clubs, but it's depressing walking through such a predominantly white campus.

Although there are plenty of places to study, I find it difficult to find time to go to these places. I have a part-time job on campus, in order to pay for the tuition. Even with just part-time, it cuts into my study time. Often times I am so tired that I study in my dorm instead, just in case I fall asleep. Dorms, as one might figure, are not the best place to study. The hours of work cuts into my studying methods really made this complicated for the first year but money was essential.

So many students and not enough class sections to go around, and not enough treadmill supply in the gym for demand

The distance from my home in Connecticut to Harrisonburg. Also, the financial aid office can be difficult and gives different answers to problems that are actually really important and timely. It is such an administrative school; there are so many different people at work there that the consistency problems are serious.

That would be the amount of parking allotted for students and the way parking is enforced. I would have to get to my classes at least thirty minutes early in order to have any hopes of finding a spot. Sometimes I would have to cirlcle the parking lot many times and if I still was unable to park in a spot appropriate to my parking pass, then i would park in a metered spot and refill the meter every thrity minutes. Parking tickets are very easy to get and not easy to refute. JMU is working on providing more parking.

The lack of diversity and use of alcohol.

The location

The campus is split into two by a highway.

The most frustrating thing is the lack of diversity. It seems like everyone is female, white, middle to upper class and from Virginia.

The fact that very few people speak outside of the classroom, intellectually

Registering for classes. Things get a little crazy during registration, but if some of the classes you need are closed it is always possible to get an "override" into the class with the professors approval.

Nothing around it off campus to do except ski.

There are not enough parking places for the number of students that attend the school!

Alcohol is out of control.

Finding diversity and the feeling of isolation within the community

Getting between classes, because some are at different locations on campus.

The amount of construction going on on both sides of the campus. It is sad to see everything being built for 4 years and not being able to have access to it. It all will be finished after I graduate.

GETTING TO USE MY MEAL PLAN PUNCHES SO THEY WON'T GO TO WASTE AND THE PARKING.

The most frustrating thing about JMU is that it has so many options that it can be hard to choose which activities I want to participate in. JMU allows the students every opportunity to be involved outside of the academic structure of college, and to have a good and safe time. There is an organization or club available for each and every person on the campus - whether they're looking for a religious, musical, sporty, or even just casual group to meet new people, the possibilities are endless.