The truth about GVSU

Introduction
The biggest advice that I can give is don't take this school lightly. GVSU is now tied for 2nd in the state with MSU for admission standards. It's no longer an easy school to get into and it's getting more difficult every year. I'm glad that I got in when I did because today there's no way I could've gotten in. I chose GVSU because I want to be a teacher and it has an outstanding college of education. It's also one of the cheapest schools in the state so you get a lot and don't pay near as much as other schools. The campus is also beautiful. The kind of student that should stay away from here is the kind of student that I used to be...a slacker. With the increased admission standards have come more difficult classes. If you slack, your chances of failure are high.

Campus Life and Social Life
The social life at GVSU is pretty good. It's a big school so you're bound to meet a lot of friends. If you come in as a freshman, you meet a ton of people. I unfortunately came into GVSU as a junior, so it was harder for me to make friends. The partying here isn't nearly as good as Division 1 schools. The school cracks down on parties that take place on campus, so most of the parties are in off campus apartments. Basically you come to GVSU to make some great friends and get a good education. Most people that come here don't come for the party scene.

Now as for sports. GVSU has been awarded the Director's Cup three years in a row. That award is given to the best athletic program in the country in its respective division (Division 2 in our case). Our football team is incredible as it has won the Division 2 national championship 4 times (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). Also, every one of our sports teams makes it to the post-season. The students really support our sports teams, especially football. Lubbers Stadium only seats about 9,000 people, but we pack close to 15,000 in there all the time with about 5-7,000 of those being students. A stadium expansion is hopefully coming soon.

As for housing. Some of the best in the state. In a lot of the dorm buildings you get your own room, which is awesome. I live in an on-campus apartment style dorm and my room is huge considering it's a dorm, there's a kitchen, a living room, and of course a bathroom. Granted, that's upperclassman housing, but lower classmen housing has options where you get your won room too. If you do end up in traditional style though, don't worry, the social life in those places is incredible. Academics
GVSU's admission standards are 2nd only to the University of Michigan in the state and tied with Michigan State. With a large increase in enrollment, the school has had to raise the standards. And like I said before, with increased admission standards comes increased academic standards as well. GVSU has gone from a small, no-name, regional college to a huge, difficult to get into, well known university.

Here's a list of some great academic programs at GVSU...
College of Health Professions (nursing, pre-med, physical therapy, physician assistant, etc.) - They've just built a large, state of the art health sciences building in downtown Grand Rapids (20 minutes from campus) that is located on Grand Rapids' medical hill (hospital, cancer research center, heart center, future childen's hospital, future MSU medical school that's teaming up with GVSU)
College of Education - One of the best in the state and possibly the Midwest. Getting a teaching job in Michigan is extremely difficult, but if you go out of state you'll be hired instantly.
College of Business - Business is a popular major at GVSU and for good reason because the College of Business here is really good
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences - Includes over 50 degrees being earned by most of the students on campus. GVSU was made to be a liberal arts college in the 1960's, so it's really what GVSU is known for.

I could go on but it's late and I don't have time. Just look it all up on www.gvsu.edu and you'll see all of our academic programs.

Student Body
GVSU is home to 24,000 students. Whoever put 13,000 on this website needs to change it as that was GVSU's enrollment almost 10 years ago. In the last 10 years our enrollment has increased over 100% and we're now one of the biggest schools in the state. With that large enrollment comes a big college feel and you're way more likely to meet a lot of friends.

In Closing...
If you're looking for a great education and don't want to pay a ton, look into GVSU.