Indiana University-Bloomington Top Questions

The football and basketball games are huge! They do cost money though, which is a bummer for people like me who are on a tight budget. I love the soccer games though. They're free and the games are awesome! People party a lot, especially during the school year. But not everyone is actually partying.

Living in dorms Freshman year has a lot of downsides, but the good thing is you are all in it together and thus forced to make friends. Football season and tailgating are some of the best times of the year. Where you decide to move to Sophomore year often determines your social life. People living in Greek housing and in trendy apartment complexes near the bars downtown tend to party more than those living far from campus. The library is the center of campus activity at night and can even be kind of fun sometimes when there are a lot of people there studying, such as during finals week. Little 5 is the climax of the year, but due to the influx of students from other universities and increased security patrol, the weeknights are far more fun than the actual weekend. The bars are sometimes actually more fun during the week due to drink specials.

IUB has always been known for their basketball team. The team is a big part of the social life for many students. Also, in the fall, tailgating at the football games is a huge deal! We love tailgating! Even though our football team may not be the best, we support them every Saturday by parading to the Woodlawn fields across from the stadium and showing off our Hoosier pride (especially when Purdue comes). As well as these mainstream American sports, our soccer team is one of the best in nation, 7 time NCAA champions, and they are always fun to watch, and it's free to go! Aside from sports, we have a lot of great entertainment that comes through here. This coming fall Bill Cosby will perform stand-up comedy, and also the musical Sweeny Todd and a lot more. The past year had showings of Rent and Riverdance, to name just a few. Of course, the most important Social Event that happens once a year, every year, is the infamous Little 500 bike race. It truly is the greatest college weekend in the nation. Everyone is in Bloomington during this week! Many students from other universities come to share in the partying and festivities. There are popular musical groups that come every year during this Little 5 week. It is basically a week long party, and the best thing is that it usualy occurs when the weather is getting warm. It's a nice change from the dreary winter.

Go out and meet people. Seriously, these are the people who get to know you without your parents influence. These people will stick around. Don't be afraid to make poor choices because you learn from your mistakes.

I'm not personally involved in any groups at IUB because I'm engrossed in study and practice (as well as some socializing!). However, there are always tons of groups advertised on sidewalks, bulletin boards, etc. I'm sure one could join anything! Fraternities and sororities dominate the campus. Their stereotypes do too. I always feel surrounded by them when I'm outside of the music school. If you're awake at 2am on a Tuesday, you're probably writing a paper or finishing a huge assingment that you procrastinated starting until three hours ago.

You need to get involved if you're really going to love you college experience. This statement applies to anywhere you go, not just IU. Leave your XBox 360 at home unless you want to meet other by having Halo tournaments. Go find places to meet people by seeking out ways you can explore your own interests. If you love music, chances are you can find someone you truly relate to at a concert with your favorite genre. Simply by associating with people of interests you have or would like to have, you will become connected.

Intramurals, yeah I'm too lazy to spell check that by now, but they're awesome. Any sport you want, seriously, even ping pong. Tons of different divisionss, for beginners, former college athlete quitter, to dorm and frat rivalries. You can play ultimate frisbee at 2 AM outside the library if you want, somebody will have a glow in the dark frisbee and it will take about 10 mins to get enough passer-bys to play. There's clubs for everything. IU has an awesome music scene, new bands form everyday and rock every night. There's a great film group that meets weekly and shows the classics at a Classic Hollywood Era Theater. Downtown is full of food, fun, and hobo's who didn't graduate in the 70's.

Freshman year you will most likely live in a dorm. I highly encourage this and that you go pot-luck and get a random roomie. You will learn so much about yourself and how to treat others in a dorm room. You will meet SO many people and everyone is different. If you go into a dorm with a chosen roomie, lets say a friend from high school, that may work out for you as it did for me, but the real interesting experience comes from going random. Many people who are friends before they move in together do not come out of freshman year still friends. Things can go awry. You might not know your friend as much as you thought... Social life is great at IU. There are countless clubs, intramurals, and activities to get involved with. You can learn about these acitivities very simply: most are advertised on the sidewalks in chalk! And of course, there are many parties on the weekends, but not all students choose to attend these and it is widely accepted for you to just do whatever you want.

Living in the dorms or joining fraternities or sororities is probably the best way to meet new friends when first coming to a school. Most of the people I'm still friends with now are friends I met through friends while living in a dorm. The basketball games are still probably the most popular athletic event here on campus, since IU has always been a basketball school. There are a lot of "diehard" fans who attend almost every game. I don't know what the popular clubs or groups on campus are because I never hear about them. There are some small groups that try to get students to donate to local organizations or vote or whatnot, and those are usually mentioned in the Indiana Daily Student. I don't know the names of any groups, though.

There is never a dull moment at IU, whether it is fraternity parties, house parties, plays, the bars. There is always something to do it just depends on what you are interested in, there is something for everyone.