James Madison University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: International Affairs
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Female

Summary

I’m in a sorority and I’m on an intramural soccer team.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public high school near Philadelphia, PA with a graduating class of about 430 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: International Affairs
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I’m in a sorority and I’m on an intramural soccer team.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
They have both helped me make friends and build a community I can live in.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Most of the time it’s a lot of reading and essays. I have to take a language, which takes a lot of time and effort. The bulk of my grade comes from exams and assigned homework.
Is there anything you feel that your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
In general, JMU has a career and academic planning resource called CAP, which I was able to go to with all of my questions. I have had trouble getting in touch with my new advisor, but I think that is more of an isolated incident.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
For my major, it’s not very competitive. I don’t have to worry about if I’m going to get accepted into the major, or if I’ll get into certain classes. This allows people to work together more, as opposed to trying to be better than other people.
How accessible are your professors?
Aside from my advisor, they’re all very accessible. There have been times that I’ve emailed them at 9 PM on a weekday and they’ve gotten back to me. Going to office hours is highly encouraged.
Do you feel that people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yeah, absolutely. I took an international relations class and it all focused around different schools of thought such as liberalism, Marxism, and constructivism. People would always debate about it, and I see that in my other classes as well. It’s very diverse in terms of thought.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choices?
So far, I’m very happy with it. I really wanted to travel and see more of the world, so I thought this would be a good place to start.

Reasons to Attend

1) Southern hospitality is real down here. Everyone smiles at each other. It’s welcoming when you walk on campus.
2) The football games are the highlight of the week.
3) There are hundreds of clubs, so you’ll find something to do, and you will find your friends.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) Sometimes it can feel overwhelming because the school is big. In my case, I came in knowing one person. Everyone I spoke to came in with other people from their high school.
2) In terms of who you’re friends with, it tends to be high school-like. There are popular people on campus, and everyone knows who they are. It can feel stupid sometimes because of that.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Weaver Hall with one roommate but four other suitemates
Sophomore: Greek row in my sorority house with one roommate
How was transitioning from your hometown to Harrisonburg, VA in terms of location?
It was hard at first. My roommate and I were polar opposites and didn’t get along, which made it hard. After the first semester, things were a lot better because I started making other friends. A lot of my friends are from Virginia and work at a calmer pace than I’m used to, so that was a transition too. [76% of students are from Virginia.]
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
On-campus, I feel completely safe. Off-campus, there are police everywhere, especially downtown. If you stay in places with student housing, it’s completely fine.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I like going out with my sorority. We have parties on the weekends, but during the weekdays I like going to the gym, walk through the arboretum, or go downtown. We have turf fields where you can go to hang out. Thursday and Friday nights are the same, you’ll go to a random party. On Saturday, there will sometimes be a party during the day.
What is the impact of Greek life on the weekend options at JMU?
It’s a major part of it. They are basically the ones that throw all the parties. Club sports tend to throw parties too. There are certain parties that you can only get into if you’re in certain sororities, which can be annoying.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
The University Programming Board will put on movies in a theater on campus and there will be certain events going on in the gym. On Halloween, they’ll set up an escape room or show scary movies. You can go out to dinner in Harrisonburg, or just stay in and do whatever.
How happy are you with the weekend options at JMU? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m very happy with it. It does get a little repetitive sometimes, but I do like it. I like spending time with my friends and would be happy doing anything with them.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
My roommate this year is one of my best friends, and we met through the sorority. Some of my other best friends lived down the hall from me freshman year. I met more friends through mutual friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene at JMU?
It’s a very positive social scene. You have to put yourself out there and have to want to go out and make friends doing new things. Some people weren’t happy because they said they weren’t making friends, but it was really because they weren’t putting themselves out there or go out on the weekend. You have to put effort into it, but you can find friends no matter what.
To what extent do people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
I want to be more optimistic. People tend to make friends with people who they’re more similar to, and you can see them on campus. I want to say people make friends outside of their sexual orientation or race, but you don’t see it as much as you’d hope to. [The undergraduate population is 6.7% Hispanic, 5% Black, 75% White, and 5% Asian.]
How do you like the size of JMU? How has that impacted your experience? [JMU has about 20,000 undergraduates.]
I love the size. I think it’s the perfect size where you can see all the friends you want, but you’ll also see people you don’t know. Getting from building to building is at most a 20-minute walk.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
I have so many friends who are not in Greek life, which is important. If you only have one type of friends it’s not good. It’s super common for people in Greek life to have friends not in Greek life.

Careers

What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They’ve been extremely helpful. I changed my major this semester, and they talked me through the whole thing. They helped me figure out what I wanted to do, find a new major, and help me plan out my classes.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
We had to use a statistics software for a statistics class. In other classes, we use Excel and PowerPoint for presentations.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how accommodating was the office to your needs?
The office is very willing to help, but sometimes when the student doesn’t know what’s going on, they wait until we figure out what we need. You need to go to them asking for a specific thing, and then they’ll help you from there.