Marquette University Top Questions

There isn't a particular stereotype. The school is really diverse.

The entire University is made up of white kids who come from affluent families or are the children of MU Alumni. Amongst the rich white kids are the basketball players who are held higher than anyone. And everyone is from Chicago-land.

Because Marquette is a private Jesuit university, it is assumed that all of the students that are enrolled here all come from wealthy families. But that is far from the truth. Many of Marquette's students receive scholarships, grants, and loans to cover the cost of attendance.

Since we are a private institution and many of our students are from suburban areas, a common stereotype is that Marquette students come from predominantly wealthy families. However, this stereotype is generally false. In fact, over 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our students receive financial aid. Although you will find students who are wealthy, most are from hard-working middle class families.

Having grown up in a suburb of Milwaukee, where Marquette is located, I was well aware of the many stereotypes at MU. First and perhaps most noticeably, is the "midwestern-ness" of Marquette. An overwhelming amount of students are from the state of Wisconsin, the Chicago area, and other midwestern states. However, it has been seen even since I enrolled in 2008 that it has become a destination school for students across the nation. Being a private school, MU is typically seen as a "snobby, Catholic school." While it is more expensive than many state schools, MU has been rated as a top school and ranked highly for its reasonable tuition. While the school does emphasize a Catholic, and especially Jesuit tradition, MU is very accepted of different backgrounds. While Marquette is not perhaps the most diverse or liberal school, it is definitely a great instution that is constantly trying to evolve and improve itself.

I think a common stereotype at Marquette, as with most private universities, is that everyone here is rich. I have found this to be very inaccurate!! Obviously Marquette is expensive but more than 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Marquette students have received some type of Financial Aid. In my experience at Marquette I have found so many students(myself included) who worked their butts off in High School in order to be awarded academic scholarships and grants to attend Marquette. I know for myself, if it weren't for the scholarships I received, my Marquette education wouldn't have been possible. We are not all here on our parent's money, quite the opposite in fact!! Most of us worked very hard to be able to put ourselves through a private school because we know a Marquette education is worth it!

I would say that there are many stereotypes attached to the average Marquette student. For one, many people believe that it is primarily a school for upper middle-class, white kids from the suburbs of Chicago and Wisconsin with a Catholic upbringing. This is not concise. Though many students do come from Chicagoland and throughout the state of Wisconsin, there is a growing number of students of minority and differing religions from the East and West Coasts. There is another stereotype that most Marquette students are very friendly, involved in multiple student organizations and committed to service and this definitely holds true for the majority of the student body.

As a student at Marquette, you will experience a vast array of people and their "sterotypes." Students at Marquette cannot be pegged as one group or separate groups. As a school that has about 8,000 undergrads, our stereotypes range just as much as our students. You will find preps, jocks, Frat guys, not so fratty guys, Lax peeps, Geeks, Engin-nerds, the asian kids, hipsters and everything else under the sun. The wonderful thing about all these types of people is that we all live with one another and make it work. I personally am a bit preppy and hipster-ish, but have a ton of friends that are geeks, or fratty. Do our stereotypes fit our school? Yes. There isn't a doubt in my mind that we don't fit our stereotypes, but as I mentioned before, the greatest thing about them is that there are so many that it inevitably doesn't matter.

There are some really great parties here but there is enough stuff to do on the weekend that if you don't want to drink that you don't have to and you won't feel bad about it. As far as drugs go, the worst it really gets is weed and it is a small minority. There are a lot of athletes here on campus but it isn't the stereotypes you expected in high school. The frats are here, but they aren't at all exclusive in terms of being able to socialize with other people. It is just a small amount of the student population ~7{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} or so.