Fun and Games

Introduction
This school literally offers everything and anything you could ever want. But you have to preapred to make the first step. Unlike high school, this school is huge so you cannot expect professors to constantly be there for you. You have to be self-motivated. However, there are tons of resources around campus and the T.A.'s can sometimes be a huge help (if you can understand them!) I chose this school because it was really cheap and I knew I would have a great time. The people are amazing here and everyone is so friendly!

Campus Life and Social Life
Partying is great here! You can literally go out any night of the week and there will be people out. Every night there is a token bar that people go to because of their drink specials. The only thing you need to have to get into these bars is an ID that says you're 19, pretty muchany ID would work. The greek system is also pretty huge here. I love being part of it but there are definitely the greek bars and the nongreek bars. There greek system helps you know so many more people pretty much immediately. It also opens up doors for more partying such as exchanges and formals! Sports are also really big here, well I guess only men's basketball. But that whole season was crazy. After pretty much every NCAA game win, everyone would run out of the bars and go to the Alma Mater and jump all over it. It was unreal! Football is slowly picking up more spped now that we have a new head coach. I think that in a few years it will be really big again because we will actually be good.
Weekends typically start on Wed. or Thurs. night due to the specials at the bars. However, if you ar enot into the bar scene, there is always a lot offered on campus such as movies, bowling, and different events on the quad or in the union. Academics
Obviously the businees and engineering schools are nationally known. They attract most of our out-of-staters (the few that we have.) I think that the education school is also great. They are very personable and you really get to know your advisor. However, I have heard from friends that the college of LAS is quite differet. Since it is our biggest college, you are pretty much a number and really have to be self-motivated and prepared. Freshmen and sophomores will usually not have a lot of contac with their professors because that is when you are usually in the bigger lectures trying to take your general eduaction classes such as math, english, etc. Junior and senior year, the classes are much smaller and you have a better relationship with your professors. In addition, there will not be as many teaching assisstants, which is a huge plus. Many of the t.a.'s you cannot really understand because they are from a differnt country. You really have to make an effort to decifer what they said.

Student Body
Pretty much everyone is from Illinois. It is very surprising when you meet someone from another state, and it's usuall Missouri. It is nice because you can visit everyone you meet easily while on breaks. On the other hand, you know no one from anywhere else. We have a very diverse campus, but there is a lot of segregation and stereotyping. It's sad but there really is not much cultral mixing.

In Closing...
University of Illinois is the best! You will make great freinds here and meet wonderful people. I think everyone can find a place to fit in on this university. WHile the scenery is not much, the people and academics definitely make up for it. The classes really are not that bad, and you can usually find a few old tests that will help you out for future exams. The people are so much fun! Go Illini!!!