University of South Dakota Top Questions

Describe the students at your school.

Audra

Mostly white kids. The minorities stay within their ethnic circles, which is a shame.

Austin

Most of my classmates here at USD are the best kind of people that you want to know, they are friendly, smart, kind, and are always willing to help you out if you need it.

Traci

There is a variety from people who don't really care to people who want to change the world in their career. As an honors students, a lot of my classmates are very driven which is even more encouraging to me.

Austin

Due to the fact that I attend the USD through the University Center in Sioux Falls, I have come into contact with many indivdiuals of all age groups and walks of life. Many of the individuals that I have met are concerned with getting a degree and bettering themselves. Classes run smoothly and tend to be a mix of lecture and classroom discussions. I have always noticed on how keen everyone is to staying respectful and being as opened minded as possible durring debates, it helps to create a feeling of intelectual community, allowing for maximum learning to be done.

Mindy

My experience with different racial groups on campus has been facilitated by my involvement with a group called Cultural Connections. It's an organization where American students from USD volunteer to spend time with other exchange students attending USD, in order to help them better adjust to life in the U.S. and South Dakota. Most of the students were from various Asian countries, including China, South Korea, Vietnam, as well as India and Nepal. Religious affiliations on campus include Campus Crusaders, an organization devoted to promoting Christianity. I have gained a very positive perspective of both of these racial and religious groups on campus, and found students to be very welcoming despite varying backgrounds. Students interested in pursuing computer science or agricultural degrees might feel out of place. Since USD doesn't offer very much for either of those majors, less students attend the school in pursuit of those interests. As far as dress is concerned, about half of the student body come to class wearing comfortable clothes such as sweatpants and sweatshirts. The students not wearing sweats can be found wearing jeans, sweaters, dresses and leggings, boots, flats, and occasionally heels among other combinations. Student interaction is relatively intermingled at USD, as student involvement in multiple organizations is common. Though fraternities and sororities tend to get "cliquey" and exclusive, the non-greek population tend to interact well with one another. Most of the students attending USD are from the midwest, with many coming from South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, and MInnesota. The financial background most prevalent of students at the school is middle class; a large percentage have parents in the working class and most require financial aid to pay for tuition. Students are moderately aware of politics, and groups such as College Democrats and College Republicans are active on campus. Students are predominantly center in their political opinions, as many come from conservative, right-winged parents, but become more liberal in political opinions once out on their own. Students don't necessarily talk about how much money they'll earn one day, but they do talk about occupations they see themselves in.

Samantha

The students at the University of South Dakota are very interesting and accepting. With many different groups such as CRU, a religious group, 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}, a group of LGBT and many others, and so many different groups it is easy to find your place and very hard not to feel accepted. Students can be seen in sweats and sweatshirts and everyone is very casual.

Matthew

Students at USD are very diverse. There are students from many different nations that have come to USD. As far as race, religion, LGBT, and socio-economic groups there is not a lot to talk about besides that there are clubs for each. Whatever a student has interest in, there are others. There is not many students who would feel out of place. Maybe if the students wanted to be completely sheltered and left alone. South Dakota is a friendly and accepting state, and we practice it everywhere. The students wear whatever they want to class. Students could show up in a garbage can and probably would not be questioned about it. If they feel comfortable, why bother them? If anyone would walk into the dining hall and look at four tables, they would not see anything out of the ordinary. Everyone would be in USD t-shirts and would be wearing sweatpants or gym shorts. They would most likely be talking to each other from table to table. Like I said, USD is a very close community of students. Most of the students are middle class individuals from around either South Dakota or the neighboring states. Excluding the certain clubs dedicated to government, I do not usually hear about student's political beliefs. This could be because they are unaware, or it could be that they do not want to push their values on others. Either way, I think students are mostly in the center.

Matthew

Students at USD are very diverse. There are students from many different nations that have come to USD. As far as race, religion, LGBT, and socio-economic groups there is not a lot to talk about besides that there are clubs for each. Whatever a student has interest in, there are others. There is not many students who would feel out of place. Maybe if the students wanted to be completely sheltered and left alone. South Dakota is a friendly and accepting state, and we practice it everywhere. The students wear whatever they want to class. Students could show up in a garbage can and probably would not be questioned about it. If they feel comfortable, why bother them? If anyone would walk into the dining hall and look at four tables, they would not see anything out of the ordinary. Everyone would be in USD t-shirts and would be wearing sweatpants or gym shorts. They would most likely be talking to each other from table to table. Like I said, USD is a very close community of students. Most of the students are middle class individuals from around either South Dakota or the neighboring states. Excluding the certain clubs dedicated to government, I do not usually hear about student's political beliefs. This could be because they are unaware, or it could be that they do not want to push their values on others. Either way, I think students are mostly in the center.

Matthew

Students at USD are very diverse. There are students from many different nations that have come to USD. As far as race, religion, LGBT, and socio-economic groups there is not a lot to talk about besides that there are clubs for each. Whatever a student has interest in, there are others. There is not many students who would feel out of place. Maybe if the students wanted to be completely sheltered and left alone. South Dakota is a friendly and accepting state, and we practice it everywhere. The students wear whatever they want to class. Students could show up in a garbage can and probably would not be questioned about it. If they feel comfortable, why bother them? If anyone would walk into the dining hall and look at four tables, they would not see anything out of the ordinary. Everyone would be in USD t-shirts and would be wearing sweatpants or gym shorts. They would most likely be talking to each other from table to table. Like I said, USD is a very close community of students. Most of the students are middle class individuals from around either South Dakota or the neighboring states. Excluding the certain clubs dedicated to government, I do not usually hear about student's political beliefs. This could be because they are unaware, or it could be that they do not want to push their values on others. Either way, I think students are mostly in the center.

Maggie

Honestly, I cannot even answer the question about sizing students up. Everyone at this school is so accepting of others, that I have never seen anything more offensive than a good-natured joke between friends. The LGBT community is largely accepted, as USD is located in the liberal part of South Dakota; the school population is equally split between conservatives, liberals, and moderates. Students do not dress up for class necessarily, but many students make an effort to look decent.

Erryn

Students at the University of South Dakota are extremely varied. We have students from many different ethnic and religious backgrounds. Athletes are being scouted from states such as Florida, Hawaii, California, and states all across the US. I've also met students from India, Germany, China, and Brazil. Although the majority of USD students Caucasian, it is not a noticable majority. Students of all types interact with one another. There is no such thing as a typical USD student. Some students are bookworms, athletes, musicians, philosophy enthusiasts, etc.Students tend to group together based more on interests than race, religion, or socio-economic class. In fact, socio-economic class is not a relevant factor at USD. Some students have a wealthy financial background, while others do not. However, it is not a relevant factor in student interactions. Although students of similar interests are more likely to interact, there are no social barriers based on interests. Fraternity and sorority members hang out with non-members, athletes hang out with journalism majors, democrats with republicans, and so on. The school has such a wide variety of beliefs, backgrounds, and interests that it is not segregated in any way. Students gravitate toward others with similar taste, which is natural, but you don't have to be part of a specific group to interact with those students.

Amy

My classmates are generally hard-working and focused, but also very social.

Eden

my classmates are mature, in most of my classes my classmates show up every day, ask questions and challenge themselves. so they are hard workers.

Eric

The majority of my classmates are from South Dakota, believe Christianity, conservative, and usually come from rural backgrounds.

Rebecca

Talkative and helpful in class

Elizabeth

Some classmates doen't take class seriously, but some are studious and care, and they tend to be bias and judgemental to those who are different.

Collin

Just a big group of friends getting together again.

Isaiah

Very friendly people who have a one sided view of the world.

Courtney

My classmates are friendly people that I can rely on to help me out with anything for class, because I can count on them to be working just as hard as I am academically.

Tyler

They really only keep to themselves.

Danielle

My classmates are welcoming, intelligent, and fun.

Evan

Fun, well-educated individuals

Allison

(100 word minimum..one sentence. That's a bit confusing.) My classmates aren't necessarily open, nor are they understanding. They just keep their mouths shut on a lot of issues because that's how most of them were raised, from what I've gathered. Obviously, this is a generalization. Despite this, classmates are pretty good at helping one another out, and they are pretty respectful. They don't typically give each other or professors too hard of a time. Most of them are pretty focused, whether it's career stuff, job stuff, art or music stuff, or sport stuff.