Kansas State University Top Questions

Is the stereotype of students at your school accurate?

Jasmine

That depends on what the stereotype is. Overall, k-state does pride itself on it's community. Typical stereotypes for greeks, and jocks may be true, but i think any school can say the same. People in general are friendly.

Reed

I think it would be incredibly difficult to accurately stereotype any university or organization that has more than 20,000 people, so no I do not think the stereotype is accurate. Of course unless that stereotype is a bunch of purple bleeding, family oriented, fun loving driven individuals with a passion to succeed and innovate!

Reed

I think it would be incredibly difficult to accurately stereotype any university or organization that has more than 20,000 people, so no I do not think the stereotype is accurate. Of course unless that stereotype is a bunch of purple bleeding, family oriented, fun loving driven individuals with a passion to succeed and innovate!

Kirstin

No. One stereotype cannot even describe all the students on campus. There are different religions, cultures, sexual orientation, students with different majors, traditional and non-traditional students, faculty, staff, everything! There are so many students. We aren't all hicks just because Kansas State has a strong agriculture program. There are so many other things behind Kansas State!

Lori

Absolutely not!! Most of my friends are in something completely unrelated to agriculture. The education here is phenomenal! I've learned so much here and I still have a lot to go.

Monica

While a good portion of the school comes from Kansas, there are diverse people from all over the country who come for the quality of the school. Manhattan isn't the most exciting town but it has a fair amount of things to occupy your time without distracting from your studies. For bigger activities it is a short drive to Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City.

Rachel

K-State is most definitely a friendly place. There are small world connections between so many people on campus, and everyone is always willing to make a new friend. Although not everyone is majoring in Agriculture curriculum, K-State offeres programs some unique programs dealing with the College of Ag that are the only ones of their kind in the country, like Bakery Science. In all honesty, there are such a wide variety of students and majors that K-State doesn't fall into many stereotypes.

Dani

Haha yes about the Hick stereotype but thats mainly because there are so many Ag Majors. The student stereotype of being friendly and welcoming was correct!! I felt at "home" for once!

Melania

Well, it is a land grant university and agriculture is a strong field but as all ways, no generalization is correct.

Chelsie

No although K-State is a farm school not everyone here is a farmer or from a small town.

Melissa

somewhat

Connie

Absolutely not.

Michaela

K-State may be in Kansas, but in my opinion its not a hick school. I am from a city that has almost half a million people and although I may see more guys wearing cowboy boots and more silverado trucks, I would never say that my school is a hick school. As for having nothing to do, I disagree there as well. Manhattan may be small but the people are friendly and its small radius is packed full of fun. There were very few nights my freshman year when my friends and I were bored...very few.

Harper

This is accurate, since the college of Agriculture is one of the most prevelent colleges at the University

Alex

Well, we do have students from very rural places in Kansas, as well as all over the Midwest. For example, I constantly saw a student who wore cowboy boots tucked into blue jeans, a huge belt buckle, a flannel shirt tucked in, cowboy hat, and a horseshoe mustache. That aside, the rest of us are actually quite normal.

Alex

yes and no. I would say there are some kids that fit the decision but most don't. Most of the people I know come from cities like St. louis or Kansas city, even Wichita.

Abbey

In some ways, yes but not over all. KSU has a population made up of students from all over the world, including China! Also, you can find some pretty neat stuff to do, from jumping around to live bands outside your dorm room, to participating in campus socials that include japanese dancing and wax hand making.

Blake

No. Yes, there are quite a few ag kids and kids from small towns, but there are also a TON of kids from cities. As for the party school part...Manhattan has it's fun! :) I personally grew up in a town a lot smaller than Manhattan so I think there is a heck of a lot to do. People that can't find anything to do are lame.

Barbara

What I said above is what I have observed. I don't know about other stereotypes because I didn't grow up in KS.

Rachelle

NO!!! We have people in from every state, tons of countries, and almost all major cities! One of my rommmates is from Chicago.

Blake

This is not true at K-State. You have some greek houses that fit the stereotype but not all are like that. Unfortunitly the old saying is true, One person can ruin for everyone.

Dana

The ag program is very strong, but it's only one part of K-State. And yes, there are a larger number of small-town, country guys (and gals) at K-State, but they aren't the only ones here! There are lots of more "cultured" activities and programs to get involved with. And yes, campus often revolves around football here--but what college doesn't?

Mary

Of course not!

Sarah

Well...yes.

Alex

NO. not at all. while a lot are there are so many other majors involved as well as a large portion of the students are from big cities rather than small communities.

Tyler

No

Andrew

There are quite a few people at K-State who fit that description, but K-State is way more diverse than people give it credit for.

Caitlin

of course there are a lot of country people here and most people listen to country music, but all types of people can find a place to fit in at K-State!

Matthew

n/a

Kevin

Not at all.

Monica

NO! I'm from Johnson County and there are plenty of kids also from there and areas like it. There are kids from small towns (more so than other Kansas Universities) but these people can give great insight and diversity to the university. Also, there are a lot of out-of-state students that come to K-State for quality education and the fact that they got great scholarships.

Torry

Nope!!

Paul

No. Although there are some people here from the country, most are from well defined cities across the nation. There are quite a few engineers here, but I would have to say that there is definitely quite a bit of variation among the different majors here as well.

Chris

There is a large population of students from rural areas, as you would expect from any university in the midwest, however KSU does maintain a good diversity of cultures, majors and political opinions.

Katie

No, while a lot of students are from rural Kansas there are a lot of students from cities or that are not majoring in agriculture.

sarah

There is a large majority of students involved in agriculture, but thats how we started, so it only seems natural.

Jerry

Not at all. K-State is incredibly diverse and caters to all sorts of students

Amanda

I don't think these are accurate. There are more Ag students but that's just because the Ag school is so big here. There are tons more different types of students and alot more diversity than some people expect. There are things to do all the time so I never find that I'm bored.

Andrew

Though success in football and basketball seems fleeting at times, the school is successful in many other sports. All the rest of said stereotypes ring mostly true.

Jenny

The farm school is false. yes we do have a agriculture division of the school as well as a Rodeo team, but that doesn't make us a farm school in anyway. We have students from all over the country and even the world that attend Kansas State. True, The students at Kansas State are very friendly. It is hard to walk across campus and not have people to smile at or say hi to. If you need help with something other students are more than happy to help and the faculty will go out of their way if you need some extra help in classes. Also there are so many different activities to get involved in it is easy to meet people when first starting school and make new friends. The next one is False. Yes the school is in Kansas but that doesn't mean there is nothing to do. Manhattan is a pretty large town and there is a shopping mall in town for the girls who like to shop, and there is also stuff to do around town, We have pillsbury crossing which is a creek that is popular for cookouts and hanging out on Hot fall and Spring Days. We have Tuttle Creek Resivor where there is a boat rentel place for spending the day out on the lake. For those who are looking for some night life we have Aggieville which is a strip of bars, and clubs and resteraunts to hang out at . Some are only 21 and over, but others will let you in if you are 18. We also have a movie theater, mini golf course, and other activities can be found around town.

Cassie

There is a huge Greek Community, but you can get along just fine not being a part of it. Most of the campus is overwhemingly preppy looking, but everyone is very friendly. I've yet to meet someone at K-State who wouldn't help you if you needed it. And surprisingly the student body is more liberal than you would expect. Everyone's political opinions are welcome there.

Andrew

yes to some degree

Jared

Not really, there are some students some small towns or from the country, but there are also many big city students as well.

Alex

Absolutely not!

Alex

Nope! We have a wide variety of students with many different ethnic backgrounds

Royce

yes

Alex

K-State is one of the premiere ag schools in the nation so it's understandable where the stereotype comes from, but it is completely false. There are some cowboys on campus, but I'd guarantee there are cowboys on every campus.

Lauren

The first one is true we do have a really great student population! The second is definitely not true! We have a fairly diverse student population especially between students from small towns and large ones.

Alex

No! People from all over the U.S. and world attend K-State. There are tons of different majors to choose from.

Christian

All stereotypes are generalizations. Every stereotype stems from some aspect of truth, and though not everyone falls completely under any one stereotype everyone shares some commonalities with one stereotype of another. So, are they accurate? No. But they are worth paying attention to.