Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Top Questions

What do you consider the worst thing about your school? Why?

Alexander

I think that the worse thing about SIU is its reputation. SIU is known to be a really large party school, but even though that is true, there are many other things that the school excels at that isn't known quite as well. For example, SIU has excellent engineering and applied sciences programs, and many of the science programs are top tier, but not many people talk about how great the programs are.

Courtney

The worst thing about my school to me is the class size. It will be somthing I spend time getting used to because all my life I have went to small schools. I have never been to a school as big as SIU.

Ashleigh

The worst thing about my school would have to be how expensive off-campus living is. When I decide to not live in the dorms anymore, the cheapest apartment I will be able to find will be $450 per month, and I will not be able to afford that and tuition on my own.

Alyssia

It's not city life. I love the cities, and living in them, they are just a great and filled with more opporunities to jobs, and internships.

Jazmine

The worst thing about my University would be the math tutoring services at Southern. Although there are a large number of students ready to answer questions, most of the tutors there are more expierenced in high level courses in math and when I go and ask for assistance on homework or review, they do not recall the lessons that are being learned to me. That did not help. The best way to get the answers and guidance that you need would be to go to your professors and get your questions answered during office hours.

kellee

There is only one thing about my school that I consider a problem: tuition fees. Yes school is supposed to be expensive, but a few of the listed fees seem to serve the same purpose.

Julio

There are only two bad things I can say about this school is the distance away from home. Many of the students come from the Chicago area. Driving to the school takes about six hours and for people like me that are very close to their families, adjusting takes some getting used to. Coming from Chicago, one is used to the big city way of life. Carbondale is a small but amazing town, getting used to the small community can be hard for many people.

jasmine

n/a

Brittany

I dislike the fact that SIUC just spent a ton of money on a new football stadium, even though there are many teachers being laid off and many classes are being cancelled. I understand that the stadium was built using the money that was raised due to sporting event profits, but it doesn't change the fact that I think it looks really bad on the universities part by doing this.

Amber

So far at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, I would say the worst thing about it is the dorms I stayed at. I think yes, it is safe to have to swipe in your id and have an f.o.b. to even enter your building, but it is another thing when the front desk people recognize your face all the time and the process is still enforced with a line of twenty.

Jordan

Some of the buildings and equipment is pretty old so it makes some things a little harder then they should be.

Landon

The worst thing about my school is the language barrier between some of the students. Some of the students are from foreign countries and when a person works with them in labs it can sometimes be hard to communicate, but it also gives a person an opportunity to learn about another culture.

Allyssa

I hate the general consensus of the student body in that learning is not the primary focus for most students. A vast majority of the college choose my particular school based on its apparent reputation as a "party" school and spend a lot of time drinking irresponsibly. While partying is an inevitable part of college based on the students' newfound freedoms, I feel that for a number of students attending my school that embracing these freedoms has become more important than the learning for which they pay tens of thousands of dollars.

Ariel

You need a car and to know alot of people to really enjoy it.

Chinwude

I believe that my school does not provide enough resources for tutoring. Entering as a freshman, it was difficult transitioning from the highschool standards, to the college standards. I felt like I needed extra help. I struggled to seek that extra help because they were'nt very visable on campus. I believe that SIUC should provide appearent tutoring services for the future freshmans. This way, the freshmans can retrieve more help in their classes.

Victoria

A lot people percieve it as a party school, do they often assume you only go here to have fun.

ASHIA

THE WORST THING I WOULD CONSIDER ABOUT MY SCHOOL WOULD BE THE TRANSPORTATION THAT THE SCHOOL PROVIDES. EVEN THOUGH ITS VERY HELPFUL AT TIMES IT CAN ALSO BE A HASSLE. I WOULD SAY THIS BECAUSE ITS NOT THE MOST RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION. SOMETIMES THE WEATHER CAN SLOW DOWN THE BUS AND PUT IT OFF SCHEDULE.

David

overused drinking, drug activity, school keeps adding more & more fees onto the tuition...

Kayla

Well I think the worst thing about my school is when I transfered from a 2yr college, the University was in the possces of implementing new software. Therefore it was very difficult to enroll in my courses, due to the delay in the upload of my transcripts. I was forced to enroll at a time given to those of the freshmen year rank. This would not normaly be a problem except, I was given the last pick of classes and time slots.

Jordan

Well im transferring to Southern Illinois University from Florida Atlantic University. I start this fall, and at this point in time I cannot say a bad thing about the school I am so very excited to go to!! I can say that the reason I left Boca Raton, Fl was the town. Ive never in my life been around such a bougey class of people. I care alot about my education and most of the people in my classes and dorms just wanted to party. There was absolutley no diversity. I hope to find a change coming to Illinois.

Nicholas

The worst thing about Southern Illinois University Carbondale is the relaxation on some of the rules and regulations in dorm living. For example some of the students in the dorms are loud and obnoxious well past quiet hours and the RA?s simply ignore them. I found myself at times either trying to go to sleep or trying to study in my room late at night and I couldn?t simply because of the leniency of the rules and regulations in the dorms.

Kayla

The worst thing about my schoolwould have been dealing with finacial aid, you really had to know what you needed help with or you spent hours of time trying to figure out simple questions. Another thing would be the distance it is from my home I have to drive over four hours to get home and I don't see my family much.

Ashlye

I believe that the worse characteristic of my school is the students partying more than they study. I feel that if we all could just study more and try our best, our grades would rise and so would our school's success. Going to my school is a little hard for some for that simple reason. Some fall prey to the surroundings and then they lose sight of everything. I would like to say keep working hard and do not let your dreams go. Be strong and never give in to your surroundings. I haven't.

Eryn

The worst thing i guess would have to be the size too. I don't mind walking everywhere on campus and there are buses, but when it gets icey down there it's no fun walking to class.

Lorna

We had no real internship opportunities. Internships would have helped me get a job when I got out of the Navy right after graduation.

Jamie

Some of the advisors don't seem to put 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} into their job. However, the remaining advisors make up for it.

Alexandria

The worst thing about my school I would have to say is some of the academic advisors are not as helpful as they could be and are often not available when questions need to be answered.

Thomas

Some of the professors in this school choose teacher assistants that are not qualified enough to help you with your work so you may need to find help amongst your friends. With the exception of a few exceptional professors some are just impolite and hard to get along with, but it should be noted that anywhere you go, you are sure to encouter these types of people.

Grant

As I'm sure is the case in many schools, some students that are admitted and attend their first semester at SIU aren't necessarily ready for college. Personally I've seen a few people on my floor, including my roommate, that choose simply not to go to class. For me it was distracting because my he would sleep through the day and it was hard to get any work done until early evening. However, that is not always the case. I know a lot of driven and dedicated people as well.

Rachael

The adviesement and faculty are bad about getting you in the classes you need therefore putting you behind on getting your degree. None of the departments communicate with each other. They're mainly focused on the incoming freshman and tend to forget about the upperclassmen therefore not giving them the help that they need to succeed, causing them to leave the school in many circumstances.

Maia

The stereotype that people have of it only being a party school.

Samantha

People focus more on their social lives rather than their school work at this school. There will always be something more exciting to do instead of what is important and it is extremely hard to focus on what you should be focusing on in this atmosphere. Recieving and keeping good grades is almost impossible for some students.

Julian

Not a lot of women and I'm bored most of the time here because theres not a lot to do except for drinking on weekends and going to the gym here.

Jessica

The school has a reputation as a party school and the past two presidents have been fired due to some kind of scanal.

Blane

there's not really that much about this school that i don't like other than the fact that the expences to be here are more than what i can afford, but its got to be done.

Claire

The worst thing about SIU is the fact that it is labeled as a party school when in fact there is so much more to do here. We are located in the center of beautiful Southern Illinois next to Giant City State Park with plenty of beautiful scenery, lakes, and other outdoors activities to keep student occupied with things other than alcohol.

Jene`

The worst thing at Southern Illinois University is the limited numbers of on-campus apartments.There are only one bundle of on-campus housing apartments and they are only a few years old, no more than 5 years, so I am expecting the campus to have more on-campus apartments in the near future.

Jenell

there are too many hippies and bugs!!!

Joshua

It has a "party school" reputation -- which is too bad. The school and it's education is exceptional. I guess the only other negative thing for me personally is that it is a six hour drive from my home -- which gets expensive with gas prices over $4 a gallon.... but it is WELL worth the drive for a beautiful campus and great college experience.