Michigan State University Top Questions

Large amount of clubs available to students. I belong to the MSU Triathlon Club, which is one of the best Triathlon teams in the nation. The club is full of welcoming and friendly people, as I imagine many other clubs are. There are plenty of campus events to keep students occupied, however the city of East Lansing doesn't usually have a lot going on outside of MSU's campus, which I think should be improved.

In the freshman dorms, doors are open all the time. That is also how I made some of my good friends at school. I'm involved in the Wesley Foundation on campus, which is a Methodist-based group that encourages fellowship among all students. I've been on work mission trips to Florida and twice to New Orleans. I've made very close friendships with my Wesley friends. There are many religious groups on campus, so if you're seeking that kind of fulfillment, it is out there. There are also many non-religious groups to join.

Do everything you can without failing your classes!! Try something new. Get season tickets. Get to know people. The best way to meet friends is through common interest clubs, so join them! LOTS of people at MSU don't drink.

Religious groups, political groups, and sports clubs pop up EVERYWHERE. It's great to see how involved everyone is. Athletic events are very very very popular. Being a Big Ten school, a huge portion of the student body attends the football games. I met my closest friend, my roommate Traci, by going in blind. I lucked out and we ended up having the same sleeping patterns and interests, so becoming close friends was inevitable. If I'm awake at 2 AM I'm either studying, trying to finish that paper due the next day, or watching TV with my roommate. People party A LOT. Thirsty Thursdays live up to their reputation. I'm not a partier myself though, I just hang out in my dorm on those nights and laugh at the drunk people returning around 2 in the morning. One thing you can do on a Saturday night without drinking, is see a free movie on campus. There are new ones every weekend. They even provide popcorn.

Meeting friends is probably the easiest when you're living in the dorms because you're surrounded by people that are your same age and usually have common interests. I met my best friend because we simply worked in the Phillips Cafeteria and she lived down the hall from me, and later with me for the next 3 years. As for the night life, Freshman and Sophomore years, although you can't go to the bars, are probably the best years. I know I personally lived in the dorms both years and it's just so much fun having all of your friends in one building, someone wants to hang out you can just walk over in sweats and have a little get together right then and there-- no planning no worrying about what to wear-- it's just fun. Also, take advantage of all the many house parties that go on. You will meet SOOOO many people just walking around the streets of EL. Most of the time at night people may be a little tipsy so it could be easier to make friends with just a little "hey!" If you're a girl, frat parties those years are THE best... So many boys and they have the best parties-- graffiti parties are my personal favorite!

Bar every night. Haha. I definitely suggest getting really involved in a few clubs and stuff. I've loved everything I've done from thebiggreen.net to spartanedge.com to Focal Point and I'm going to try and work it out so I can do some PR for SADA next year. I'm also going to start going to at least one of the campus LBGT meetings semi-regularly.

Parties hard and Parties often. There is never really a shortage of parties. Frats and Sororities are suprisingly open to letting people in and you can have a good time there, but it can be awkward if you aren't into the chest bumps and generic looking sorority girl. It tends to be underclassmen in those scenes. On the other hand if you are walking the streets, dont be surprised if a house party invites you up for a beer. Beware: $5 is the standard rate at parties for a cup even if you "know the guy who lives there" and girls don't assume a free cup every night no matter how good you think you look. Don't complain, pay for the cup and have a good time.

At 2 AM, I suggest getting Rice Kitchen.

Don't know other than "party school."

Between the hours of 1 and 3 a.m. every weekend you can see MSU at its ugliest. The streets are overflowing with drunken, loud, obnoxious students who act like they are the first people to ever be drunk. **This is a massively bias opinion since I was a liquor store employee. I still have hopes that I surrounded myself with the wrong people and there were in fact many groups of people I never found that do manage to have a relatively engaging life without all this Bar shit every weekend**

I graduated MSU in 1982 and returned to collge to take pre-nursing classes, hoping to enter the MSU Nursing program. I am much older than most MSU students (they're 20, I'm 50). Many young people were considerate of me and even opened doors for me, even though I'm clearly healthy and able. This considerate treatment was very nice.

The best there is in the country.

Okay

A lot of people party..that is quite often what most people do for the weekends. I can find something to do on a Saturday night that doens't involve drinking, most of the time I end up hanging out in my dorm with friends. The UAB holds some events that are quite fun, especially for freshmen who do not know many people and want to not go to the party scene. It depends on where you are on campus if students leave their doors open. My freshmen year, girls didn't leave their doors open, but this last year I lived in a co-ed, upperclassmen dorm that was pretty awesome. We always left our doors open. Frats/sororities are quite important on campus. Everyobdy knows when rush is and then their bid day is. I am not part of that scene, but it seems to play a prominent role in State.

Everyone at MSU goes to the football games. I definitely recommend it because it will get you familiar with MSU traditions and build your school pride. It also provides a great way to meet people and let loose on the weekends. Another recommendation is to go to UAB (University Activity Board) activities. They happen every week and are almost always free. They are a great alcohol-free option.

tons of that

The MSU social life is a lot of fun. Depending on what you like to do, you'll find it at MSU. They're are tons of clubs on campus. MSU has free movies and activities on the weekends in case you can't find anything else to do. Even on a weeknight you can find something to do. Not everyone has the same schedule like high school, so you have ppl who stay up till 4 am on a Tues night b/c they don't have class on Wed. Especially in freshy dorms, you can always find somting going on.

great greek system, one of the largest in the nation. football games/tailgate are huge. amrtini monday, boozeday tuesday, wine wednesday, thirsty thursday, then the weekend...every day is a drinking day. you'll meet your best friends through your house if you rush one and get involved in it. if you want to get the most out of the social scene at msu go greek, you get to do so many activities that are not available to GDI's and you meet so many more people. it's a blast.

I was involved in dance mostly. A lot of students leave their doors open in their dorms, but its not smart. Basket Ball/Football games are very popular. Most of my closest friends are childhood friends, but I do have a few old roommates with whom I still remain close to. I was always awake at 2am during the week, usually talking with my roommate. There are always plenty of things to do that don't involve drinking. Sororities/fraternities were not important at all to me.

MSU is of course known as the party school!!! that is very true, there are parties everywhere and for everyone, no one is left out and they run from wed to sun.

--Sports teams are great and there are many teams that are club teams you can join if you are interested and many epople do that but that costs money. --My college life consisted of studying, hanging out with girls on my floor, flirting, and drinking --There are many things to do besides drink, which is encouraged like bowling or going to the movies that are for free and always new releases. --Frats and sororities are very popular and if you are interested you should really check it out. My major is too demanding for me to do that becase besides studying i really like doing nothing and they are pretty time demanding

There are a lot of groups you can join at MSU to help make friends. However, I am not involved in any of them. There are also lots of on campus events to go to including free movies and bowling. There are always parties at MSU and most of the time you can walk into a random house and meet somebody that you know. Frats and Sororties suck just like most schools.

Some people leave their dorm doors open. My roommate and I always said we wanted to leave our door open more, but still we didn't that often. Our neighbors did though, and so we always felt welcomed, which was their intention. They liked to feel somewhat included in what was going on in the hall and people could stop by and say hello. It was nice when people had their doors open, I wish our hall had done that more often, but it's easier to study with the door closed.... My hall was a "quiet floor" so nothing was going on in the hall much after midnight, before earlier. If people were still up, they'd have to hang out in the rooms, quietly, with the door shut. Don't get a quiet floor. I never drink, so we would stay in the dorm some weekends, doing our hair/make-up/etc. and getting all glam and then have a photoshoot. That was always fun. We'd take a walk down Grand River, watch movies, or just talk all night. We were rarely bored. I always had a lot of fun on weekends, without drinking at all.

While living in the dorm setting it is extremely common to leave room doors open while in your room so students can randomly socialize with one another. It is also common for commotion to still occur at 2 and 3 in the a.m. during the week and all through the night on the weekends.

I mean MSu's social life and activities are quite broad. In the Fall many people tailgate for the football games which can be fun and crazy and in the spring lots of students head over to the basketball games sitting in the Izone and cheering on our teams. I am involved in two different groups on campus, a group about my major and a social sorority. Marketing Mix has to do with my major and in the group we do hands on marketing with local businesses that need the help of getting there store or products out there on the market whether it be in East Lansing or a nearby town we help them market themselves and advertise to their target market. I am a par of Zeta Tau Alpha which is a social sorority where we are a part of greek life helping our philanthropy, doing mixers with fraternities and other sororities all supporting each other as a whole.

There are many activities and extracurriculars you can get involved with. Parties are a great way to meet people and let loose on the weekends after a hard week of studying or doing homework. If im awake at 2am on tuesday its because im studying or my class doesnt start till 1:00 pm the next day. I didnt get into the fraternity seen so I couldnt tell you what thats like. Some of my friends did and they like it though.

There are clubs and sports stuff, just look around for them and they will be there in one form or another. The anime club is fun to just sit around anime with some weird kids. S.W.A.T., which is club about making websites and doing fun things with cool people interested in HTML and whatever, is basically a great way to learn how to make websites and pick up some new tricks with CSS, PHP, and JavaScript.

There are so many opportunities for socializing. Honestly, you could probably find a group for just about any thing you like doing, or you could make one yourself. I myself love horses, so I joined the Horsemen's Association, and the MSU equestrian team. I also volunteer at the Student Organic Farm- are you building a picture of what kind of person I am yet? :) Next year I will be joining ECO, which is environmentally based. There is also the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, which has fantastic concerts, plays, and tons of other performances (I work there, so I get to see them for free). There really is something to do in every area, those are just the things I am interested in. There is also a salsa dancing club that I want to join next year.

There are plenty of opportunities to enhance your social life at MSU. People are generally really friendly and it is easy to meet people and develop friendship. It is also really easy to get involved in a lot of student organizations. There are countless numbers of student groups for almost every interest and major.

not sure

There's waaaaay too many clubs/organzations at MSU to have a few that really stand out as "most popular". Our ASMSU (Associated Students of Michigan State) is probably the most recognizeable though, because of all the on-campus events planned by them. Again, athletics are HUGE in E. Lansing, and the whole college is tailgating on home football saturdays. Greek life at MSU is pretty big, but not to the point where you can't find parties anywhere else. And, even though frats and sororities can be, well, pretty annoying sometimes, they do plan a lot of great fundraisers and take part in several charitable events on campus. Most people at MSU have a pretty good balance between work and play: weeknights, for the most part, are dedicated to studying and getting your stuff together, and weekends, well...are there to relieve the pain of studying all week long.

Ultimate frisbee and Raquetball are two of the most "collegy" things to do. Also great fun! See above about the drinking. Just make sure you don't start a riot - you can't party when you are in jail.

Students in the dorms always leave their doors unlocked and have things stolen...they also leave their bags unattended at the library and have them stolen.

Clubs and organizations, basically if there was something you were interested in, there was already a group of people interested in the same thing as you. I'm in the Spartan Maching Band, we practice about 24 hours a week. It's like a part time job, but you get the best seats in the house at football games, and if we make it to a bowl game... then you get a free trip over winter break and dont even have to pay for a thing! It's pretty awesome, not to mention that everyone in it is now basically my family. Each year the week of the Michigan Vs. Michigan State game we have this thing called "Sparty Watch", where we stand out in the freezing cold, and guard the sparty statue all week to make sure it doesnt get spray painted Blue and Maize or anything. Party's at michigan state are amazing, you can start thursday night and party till the sun comes up on sunday. If you're not into the party scene then there are a lot of other things you can do as well... like going to Wells hall and hitting up some free movies that may have just went out of the theater but hadn't hit the Movie stores yet, or you can go to the planetarium or try our famous Chocolate Cheese at the dairy store.

MSU offers many weekend activities such as free movies and conerts on campus. However, most students want to drink regardless of if its on campus or off.

Athletic events like football or basketball games are pretty popular. Every floor of every dorm is different. I lived in Wonders 1 South and no one really talked to each other. But, I had some friends on Mary Mayo 2 and everyone on their floor left their doors open and they all hung out. Most academic events outside of class aren't really popular. Greek life is pretty substantial. Last weekend, I went to a party at Delta Chi. Most are within walking distance. If you're safe when you party, then you can have a good time. The cinemas in Wells are pretty cool, they play brand new movies every weekend and they're free.

Most popular groups on campus are the ones that are sport related, like the izzone, our basketball crowd, slapshots, which is our hockey crowd and then the infamous foot ball crowd, all fun, all exciting, and all so spirited it gets us in trouble sometimes. One of the most amazing sights is to see all of the students in the football section to be moving and chanting at once. Unison in all areas. Its crazy cool. Dating scene. Dude I work at a bar, I don't have a boyfriend but am seeing someone, a lot of my friends don't have boyfriends but thats all because they drink to much to have ones. Its easy to meet people, just hard to find someone who wants to settle down. We are young live it up. Hahaha every night is a party night, so in response to the question if you are awake at 2am on a Tuesday, you are walking home from the bar or stumbling your way to a taxi. Which taxi's are seriously everywhere. We are one of the most equipped towns for the night life, in terms of safety, when I have to call the cops because some drunk guy is harassing me at work they are there within 30 seconds. ELPD can be amazing sometimes, they can also be very rude, but all around just looking out. Our greek world is huge here, I am not in a sorority but live right next to one, seriously it is such an extensive system I cant keep track of all the stuff they have going on. I worked last weekend. On a Saturday night that does not involve drinking would probably be either working for me, or having a cookout and maybe a movie, golfing during the day and some intense Wii challenges to fill the night.

Athletic events, at least football and basketball, are extremely popular. People party a lot, kids in the dorms sometimes leave their doors open, but it really depends on the dorm. Fraternities and Sororities are huge, and you cannot escape their influence. If you are awake at 2am on a tuesday, as i commonly was, you can be doing anything. There will be people partying, people studying, or people sitting around and doing nothing, and definitely people smoking pot. The only things people really do off campus is party or shop or eat, but i have gone to the park a lot, and there are other activities, but east lansing doesnt really have too much to offer, if you ask me.

TONS of activities to get involved in. There are over 600 groups at MSU. It is crazy. Football is awesome, basketball, hockey, on campus movies and events..etc....always something to do.

I wanted to try something new when I got to MSU and I chose to learn how to SCUBA Dive. It was a blast and I went with SCUBA Club on Spring Break for two years to Florida and dove in West Palm Beach! It's so easy to find clubs on campus, Party on the Aud is a blast! That is how I found out about SCUBA Club!

As I mentioned, I met a lot of friends in the lab. I met my boyfriend in the bio lab almost 6 years ago. If I was awake at 2 am on a Tuesday I would probably be freaking about a biochem exam that is happening in 6 hours. The Union Activities Board does a great job providing things to do that don't involve drinking. They offer movies that were just recently taken out of theatres free on the weekends and they bring bands to campus for a really good price.

Most popular groups are musical groups and intramural sports. Marching band is a really close-knit group with a great sense of teamwork. My best friends are from band. Students in dorms have open-door policies. People are always there to talk to. Athletic events are very popular. Theatre is popular for artsy kids, and guest speakers are only popular for politically active students. I don't know much about the dating scene. I stayed with my girlfriend from the summer before college. At 2am on Tuesday I'm probably studying or maybe watching a movie with floormates. Traditions/events each year - Sparty Watch is when the marching band guards the Spartan statue 24/7 during the week before the UofM football game so it isn't vandalized. Students party Thurs through Sat night. I only know one person in a fraternity. They are there, but not that big of a deal. There are campus events such as movies for people who choose to spend their weekends sober. There is good dining off campus.

I lived in the dorms for my first 2 years at MSU and I loved both years but in different ways. My freshman year, we had the absolute best floor ever. All the guys and girls became really close and hung out all the time. Everyone always had their doors open and would talk to everyone. It was awesome. I'm still really good friends with most of the people who lived on our floor last year. Sophomore year was a little different. We were on a floor with mostly freshmen and they weren't as open as the year before. We got along with everyone but no one ever had their doors open except for us and a couple other rooms. The sports events are incredibly popular. A ton of people go to the football games and so many people go to the basketball games. They are always a lot of fun to go too. There is a ridiculous amount of school spirit. I feel it makes the students feel closer to each other. My closest friends from MSU lived on my floor freshmen year and some of us talk everyday. If i'm awak at 2am on a tuesday i'm more than likely studying for an exam the next day. People party a lot. There are parties wednesday thru saturday and sometimes in between. I've had such an awesome time at MSU and i wouldn't want to change any of the experiences for anything!!!

We have 500+ student activites and organizations so there is somthing for all of us. YOU MUST get foot ball tickets. Even if you dont like football the games are SO much fun. New at the dorms? if you leave your door open that shows that you want to be social, people will stop by in, and it also lets you know that people want to talk too.

There are a lot of people who participate in the Greek system, but if you don't, you won't be left out. I met my closest friends in really random ways- that goes to show how friendly MSU students. I met one of my best friends at a bus stop one random Friday night, and just last weekend, my friends and I started talking to a random girl walking down Grand River, and we've already hung out with her again once this week. MSU students are ALWAYS willing to chat with you or help you if you're lost. If you're not interested in drinking there are always University sponsored activities on campus. Actually, there are usually multiple different choices. If nothing else, every weekend night there are 4 movies that are played in Wells hall for free if you live on campus- if you don't live on campus it cost $2. The movies are always really recent and it's a great deal.

I'm not a huge party person, so what I know about the typical college life is somewhat limited. From what I understand, dorm life at MSU is just one of those things you have to put up with (much like dorm life anywhere). If you like to play beer pong and beer golf, that stuff is going on all the time, but don't expect to do well in your classes. The dorms aren't really good for serious students even if you can find a serious person for a roomie, because even the quiet floors are loud until 3-am, and by the demographics you'll most likely get stuck with a couple of party animals for suitemates. Living off campus is the only really good choice for a hard worker, and only if you can manage to avoid living in the student ghetto. The worst drugs you'll find in the dorms are usually pot and booze for the underage folks. The student ghetto that's close to the east lansing strip has tons more booze and pot, and I suspect a smattering of coke near the concentrations of frat houses. Further out in the worst part of the ghetto (Chandlers Crossing, etc...) you'll get the occasional meth lab and bulk pot dealer people. This is where you get the majority of the burned out juniors and seniors who haven't managed to flunk out yet being loud, and all the apartments out there are absolutely trashed. Most of the east lansing rentals in general are poorly maintained, and managed by the crappiest company in the area since they have a monopoly on them (DTN). The coop system is a little better, but then again, quite a few of the members have habits like loud sex with the door open, walking around naked, and hotboxing the entire house. If you really want to live somewhere nice where you can get to bed on time, have your living place fixed properly by maintenance, and go for walks without being harassed, I suggest finding a place in Okemos or Haslet along the bus route (runs right into campus), avoiding DTN owned places if at all possible. There are some okay neighborhoods in Lansing, but for the most part you shouldn't be walking around outside there if you don't want to be harassed, and you might get your car or apartment broken into. Stay away from the capital area and south lansing at all costs, as this is crack den central, and you are much more likely to have your stuff ripped off. There's a lot of fun stuff to do on campus if you have interests outside of drinking and partying. Just to name a few things, there's the gardens when it's nice out, the planetarium on fridays and weekdays, cheap movies at wells hall, bowling and pool in the union, and lots of shopping on the strip. If you're a nerd like me, there are couple of nice hobby stores where people get together to play games, and an arcade for goofing off. Campus food is slowly getting better, but still crazy expensive. There are some good cheap places on the strip, but most are a little pricey for the student budget, so you have to get acquainted with the area before you'll find the best spots. Lots of good international fare for those who like it, and three different sushi places (one quite reasonable). The Wharton Center has a lot of really awesome shows that play, but most are for the rich east lansing and okemos alum, and student prices are only reasonable if you really REALLY are interested in seeing them (I saw Jethro Tull with my husband at the auditorium for $20 a ticket). Football and Basketball are the same way with prices, but the less televised sports are cheaper and easier to see. If you have any hobbies or interests, there is undoubtedly a club that caters to them. All you have to do is look them up from the main webpage, and likely there will be at least two or three that meet at different times for what you're interested in. Most of the clubs are free, and fun to join. With the campus as big as it is, it's impossible not to find something to do during the school year. While the drinking and rioting is the aspect of MSU that gets most advertised, the campus is one of the most friendly to people with a variety of non-drinking interests I've seen.

I am involved with the MSU Model United Nations group. It is very fun and is especially helpful for future international relations people or political majors but is also a lot of fun for everyone. We travel to different states and sometimes other countries for Model United Nations conferences where we pretend to be representatives from other countries and debate topics of interest. People in the dorms generally do leave their doors open, and people are normally pretty social. Although if you feel like closing your door and being more by yourself you won't be shunned for doing so. Athletic events are huge at MSU; the most popular are basketball, football and hockey. There are always four movies playing free of charge for MSU student residents at Wells hall, shows through out fall and spring semester at the Wharton Center. There are comedians like Will Farrell, singers such as Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, Circuses, and other types of entertainment at the Breslin center. There is never a shortage of things to do especially with all the free events put on by the University Activities Board such as free massages, tarrot card readings, free bowling and billiards at the Union on thursday nights, and much much more. I met my closest friends through other friends, through our combined interests, and through classes we took together.

There are so many activities at MSU. I am in a couple clubs for my major, and play IM sports. I also go to football games and strongly support all of our sports teams. One of the best things about MSU is the student body, and the friendly, outgoing attitude we have. My roommate and I always left our dorm room open freshman year becuase we wanted to meet as many people as we could. I know that everyone isn't like that, but I think that most of the students at MSU are nice and have a great tiem together.

Greatest frat is AEPi, if you're jewish. I say this because it just started up again like a few years ago and quickly became the largest small house on campus and now is a big house and is moving into the biggest house on campus. They won spirit week or w/e, and they have the highest gpa on campus to add to it. Extremely popular, sexy, and smart. And every sorority wants to do something with them.

Anything you could think of...I'm a party person, so I find it easy to get to/back from parties. And I generally feel safe at them. The rest of the social life is great too though. With at least two major theaters and 2 more arenas for anything from sports to the circus, there is never a dull moment here.