East Tennessee State University Top Questions

What is the stereotype of students at East Tennessee State University? Is this stereotype accurate?

Alessandra

There is no one specific stereotype of students at ETSU. Yes, there are frat kids, geeks, girly girls, foreign students and much much more. There are all types of people who attend ETSU from adult students to foreign exchange students; it is a very diverse campus. This a great thing because there are students just like you and students completely different than you who you can meet. It's amazing to have so many different types of people in one place; it broadens one's horizon to experience diversity.

Alisha

The biggest stereotype is that everyone from this area of the country is illiterate, has a thick southern accent, and doesn't wear shoes. This is not accurate. While there is a small accent in this area, we are not as dumb as people believe.

Michael

We have a large variety of students and it is impossible to place any individual into a stereotype.

Michael

We have a large variety of students and a single "stereotype" does not exist.

Michael

We have a large variety of students and a single "stereotype" does not exist. Stereotypes should not be used to classify individuals as they can cause false misconceptions and over generalization which are false and can lead to bigotry. What are some common stereotypes of the students at your school? Humans

Michael

We have a large variety of students and a single "stereotype" does not exist. Stereotypes should not be used to classify individuals as they can cause false misconceptions and over generalization which are false and can lead to bigotry. What are some common stereotypes of the students at your school? Humans

Adam

I would say our campus has a variety of stereotypes, some fitting, most not. We have everything from your average campus stereotype of "frat boys" to "nerds." The truth is our campus has every walk of life. People don't try to live up to any particular stereotype on our campus, some people just like to marginalize others into a certain stereotype. ETSU has so much to offer to everyone, I guarantee you will fit right in.

Adam

I would say our campus has a variety of stereotypes, some fitting, most not. We have everything from your average campus stereotype of "frat boys" to "nerds." The truth is our campus has every walk of life. People don't try to live up to any particular stereotype on our campus, some people just like to marginalize others into a certain stereotype. ETSU has so much to offer to everyone, I guarantee you will fit right in.

Nick

Most people think that students at ETSU are from the tri-state area or are from another Appalachian area which is false. We have many states from all states and many international students. I don't believe there are many stereotypes that identify most of the students at ETSU. We embrace and welcome diversity among our students; therefore we have students from all walks of life, races, cultural heritage, international students, etc. We have Buccaneer pride when it comes to our athletics, but we don't embrace the jock stereotype. Only a small percentage of our students are in fraternities and sororities; most everyone is active in one or more of our other 200 organizations on campus. Drugs and alcohol aren't welcome; and our Psychology department's research on student use of these substances proves that use is minimal. We like academically oriented students, who also engage themselves in extracurricular activities. I would welcome the geek stereotype, but its not a representation of all the students.

Ruth

Because ETSU is located in the beautiful mountains of north-eastern Tennessee, the student body would most likely get stereotyped as back-woods or dumb rednecks. This is far from accurate! We have students from many different states and many different countries. We have a very large asian exchange student population as well as many african american and european students. We are known for our medical programs such as our college of medicine, college of pharmacy, college of physical therapy, and college of nursing. Because we are so focused on the health sciences, our undergraduate science classes and science majors are academically stringent and our students are mostly hard-working bright individuals who are interested in pursuing challenging majors and careers.