The students at SIU are generally pretty smart, although you will be amazed by how many (I hate to say it, but...) dumb people there are at universities all over the country. SIU is in a unique position in which they are owed lots of money by the state government, and the state doesn't have it, so they tend to admit anyone with a pulse and a check in their hand. Because of this, there are lots of incoming freshman who attend SIU who probably shouldn't be at college, or aren't ready for college, but the university takes a chance on them anyway because if they fail out, at least the university still has their money. That being said, the students who survive the temptations of college life and commit to their academic careers tend to be very intelligent and successful. There is a diverse atmosphere at Southern with several demographics of people represented. About half of the students are from the Chicagoland area, and a good percentage of those students are from the inner city. The other half of the student body is made up of kids from the middle and Southern parts of Illinois, as well as parts of Missouri and Kentucky. Obviously there going to be stark differences between people from such a wide range of backgrounds--both culturally and politically. Carbondale itself, because of the university, is a fairly progressive place, but I'll be clear, the entire region of Southern Illinois is vastly conservative, and that presence is definitely felt on the campus. Due to the wide array of political ideals present on campus, with no one side making up the majority, the political atmosphere of the campus is overwhelmingly apathetic. This is the case about most things at SIU. Saluki athletics are a running joking on campus. Attendance at football and basketball games is laughable, as are the results on the field in recent years. Women's volleyball has had kind of a cult following recently, but that's begun to subside due to their recent struggles as well. All in all, the students at SIU are mainly concerned about getting their degrees, drinking (this is not unique to Southern, drinking is simply a part of the culture on college campuses) and having a good time--not necessarily in that order. Generally everyone is pretty friendly, and if you don't close yourself, it's not hard to make friends. Being a college freshman is a really unique time, because you might not know anyone at your school, but neither does anyone else, and if you just talk to people and put forth the effort to find friends, you're going to be successful at it.