East Tennessee State University Top Questions

Some of the stereotypes of ETSU are very biased. One that i get a lot is the "gym rat". A lot of the students at ETSU are very involved in taking care of them selves and helping others. It does happen a lot at ETSU but we all need to take care of ourselves. Another is fraternities and sororities on and off campus. Being in a fraternity we all get labeled as a "frat guy". These two stereotypes are the two biggest in my eyes.

The few stereotypes that exist on Etsu are that fraternity and sorority ties can get students into excessive drinking and over socialization. This in turn leads to faltering grades because there are many people to meet and be friends with on campus. Otherwise, the college stereotype is students go party, while they attend school and balance their grades. How students choose to interact socially and responsibly effects scholastic achievement. I like to thing that Etsu doesn't have stereotypes because of its diverse network of great people steering students in the right direction. Each institution a student finds such as extracurricular activities and having a place to share your ideas, gives them more opportunity to excel away from social trends and meet the diverse range of great people.

ETSU is often called a "suitcase school" because some people leave for the weekends to stay with their parents. Everyone does not do this, but students like this make up a large part of the population. Many of them are typical, fresh-out-of-high school students who have yet to be stereotyped as anything other than dependent. We have outdoors lovers (because the school is surrounded by hiking, caving, camping and rafting area). I sometimes hear the partiers called "chromies," named after our local dance club Chrome where the girls who tan too much and the boys with perpetual boners go on Thursdays to sweat on each other. We have geeks, artists and athletes. Greek life is about the same as any other school: bros in their matching glasses, vests, polos, shoes and hobbies and sorrority sisters with their philanthropy, fashion and booze. The student population is mostly friendly and laid back. Everyone seems to mesh. I suppose that happens when people get out of high school and learn to appreciate their differences.

I think people think of ETSU as the "affordable" college in the area that will literally accept anyone. There are a lot of other private schools in the area with much higher tuition rates and smaller student bodies, and it is true that ETSU is one of the more affordable universities, and it also does have a large student body that is growing every year. Therefore, I think people stereotype some of the students at ETSU as "lower class" or "middle class" who wanted to go to college but couldn't afford anything better. I also know ETSU has a very big international program, so some students stereotype it as a place with students from all over the world. You can literally walk in a classroom in almost any building for any major and you're bound to see at least one foreign student in a classroom, often times multiple ones. And I think ETSU has a stereotype of having this point in the semester where a big percentage of the students attending drops. ETSU is one of the only schools in the area (to my knowledge) that has a strict attendance policy. Almost every teacher will fail a student if they miss more than X amount of classes. So it's quite common to see a lot of people on campus at the beginning of the semester. It's almost chaotic. But as the semester goes on, parking frees up, and sometimes class sizes can drop down from 20 people to just 10 or less students. I know every college has this problem to some degree, but with a big student body count like the one ETSU has, it's synonymous with the school

Of course like every school, East Tennessee State University has all of the aforementioned stereotypes: jocks, frat kids, stoners and geeks and yes these stereotypes are accurate. It is no surprise to any prospective and current student that every school is going to include these stereotypes. What is unique about ETSU however, is that no matter what group one may be categorized under, they are greeted and welcomed with friendly, open arms. Stereotypes may be present, but they are not used to pass judgement. They are only present to identify one's own unique self.

A lot of people believe that half of the school's population consists mainly of hipsters and Asian exchange students. They aren't wrong.

There is definitely an eclectic mix of students at ETSU; however, I would say that because of the slow pace of life in Johnson City a good majority of us seem to be pretty laid back. The mountains and all that goes with them are a big incentive for attending school here; so, there are students that really like to adventure outdoors, there are students who enjoy late night parties (more house parties than crazy city nightlife), and there are a lot of students who hang out together because of the common bond of enjoying music. The athletic population on campus is not absent, but is not as predominant as with other colleges and universities, perhaps because we do not have a football team. Most of the athletic entertainment focuses around men's and women's basketball and soccer. Greek life is similar to the athletic population. Fraternities and sororities are active on campus, but there is such a wide variety of students that they represent a fraction of student life and do not establish a stereotype for ETSU students. For people who do like more nightlife there are 7-8 fairly busy clubs and bars in downtown Johnson City. They offer a good variety of music and entertainment - harder rock/punk music venues, acoustic music venues, pool halls, sports bars, dance clubs. One important thing to know about ETSU students is that there are a good number of them who commute to campus, so on-campus life at ETSY is not nearly as active as some colleges and universities. In many ways, however, this is one of the unique parts about going to school at ETSU. Students do not live and breath ETSU all the time. It is easier to get to know your surroundings - great local cities like Asheville, all the great hiking, climbing, kayaking locations nearby, the music festivals (like the yearly Bristol Rhythm and Roots), etc. You probably know your city and the surroundings better because not everything you do takes place on campus. So, in general ETSU does not have a predominant stereotype. We are more of a potluck of people than anything else - a good mountain chill.

This is certainly true for some students, as it is at any school, but it is entirely possible to avoid that scene, as I have. There are tons of other things to do on campus besides party so it just depends on the student.

After living in Middle Tennessee my entire life, I had heard very little about East Tennessee State University, so I was unsure about the stereotype of the students at ETSU. Once I came to East Tennessee and talked to people from around the area, I learned that the stereotypical ETSU students are local Appalachian kids. This stems from the fact that a lot of ETSU students are from the Tri-cities, which gives the impression that we are a "suitcase" campus. While there are a lot of students from the Tri-cities, I have found that most ETSU students come from all over the state of Tennessee and Virginia. This stereotype represents old ETSU. We now have over 15,000 students from all over the place. I personally came from Nashville to come to ETSU, and if you especially live on campus, you will find this stereotype is not true any more.

At East Tennessee State University, we have a variety of types of students! We have a healthy mix of students in Greek life, the 'jock' type, and of course, the geeky ones too. Overall, no matter what type of student you are, you will find a niche on our campus.