Ball State University Top Questions

Within the first few weeks of attending Ball State University, I was told that our school was known as a party school--contrary to whatever admissions might say--and that a lot of the students were partiers. In my experience, though, this stereotype is only quasi accurate. Yes, a lot of students party, with some majors (i.e. theater and business) being more well-known for partying. However, I don't party and never felt pressured to. I feel that the school is so big that it's easy to find a niche regardless of which stereotypical label you might claim.

Ball State University has a reputation for being a "blow off" school, but that hasn't been my experience. A friend's mother once told me Ball State was a stoner school, but she's the only one that I've heard say that. Stereotypes are almost always wrong, so don't necessarily believe what you hear.

The stereotypes that seem to be attached to Ball State are that it's a party school, there are tons of frats and sorority kids, a stoner culture, and that it's an easy school so everyone is pretty dumb. From my time at Ball State I've learned that you can find a group of people from any kind of background, but the school is still not easy. I believe this comes from the amount of students the school accepts per year, which is rather high and they have fairly low requirements for acceptance as an undergrad. However, many of the students that lack the dedication and drive for an education end up leaving before the end of their first year while the rest continue on.

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A big stereotype on our campus is that there are a lot of film snobs here. Now it is true that our telecommunications program is very expansive and because of that we do have quite a few people here who are very interested in films to the point where some people become obnoxious about it. But there are quite a lot more majors on this campus so this stereotype is not entirely accurate.

The school can often be associated with being the "backup" school, meaning the school people do not hope to attend but eventually settle for. As a result of this, the students here are stereotyped by those from other schools as being less intelligent or less driven. However, this could only be further from the truth. I have seen motivation in students that most people could only dream of as well as a level of intelligence to the point that one can already tell many of the students here will make a difference int the world.

Some of the common stereotypes about athletes at Ball State is that they are all rude and obnoxious. There are extremes for every group, but for the most part I had a good experience interacting with them.

Before I attended Ball State, the only stereotype that I heard about was that the school was a party school. A walk on a friday night will prove that many students do, in fact, drink, and I have heard students talk about parties that they attended over the weekend. Even so, I've met many people who do not drink and it is very easy to find people who do other activities over the weekend. I believe that our reputation as 'partyers' is an exaggeration, having about the same amount of parties as other schools.

Prior to applying to colleges and deciding to attend Ball State, the prevailing stereotype that I'd heard was that it was a party school, that everyone partied hard. I hadn't heard anything about "frat boys" or whatnot, but indeed, when you come to Ball State, it does soon seem as though fraternities are a big deal. A lot of people do party, and there is often drinking going on at the bars on campus or houses just outside of campus. Also, there is plenty of unseen drug use as well, primarily of marijuana. On another note, since many students come to Ball State for telecommunications and similar technology majors, there is a healthy "techie"/ nerd culture too.

We're known as a party school. I'm not sure if this is true, but I do know this; it's easy to stay out of the party scene, if you want, or to get into it. I don't go to parties; I know people who go every weekend. There are frats and sororities, some of which house their members inside the residence halls, so I'm assuming they don't drink as often, though I know that many do. There are also conservative activities every Friday and Saturday night, through the university, as alternatives to parties, which many people attend.