Jenna Crowe

Staff Writer

This time of year, the ISU Residence Hall Association is conducting its Resident Assistant reviews. But it’s important for students to review ISU as a whole, not just their RAs.

A website called MyPlan.com gives the general public a way to compare various colleges and universities throughout the U.S. The statistics used include topics such as student housing, the student body’s political affiliation as well as the attractiveness of the students attending.

In all reality, these statistics are meaningless without actual student opinions to back them up.

The scores represent ratings collected from 12,263 MyPlan.com users in the past three years, each of whom went to one of the colleges listed, and rated only their own college. This system is dynamic and is constantly updated as new users provide more data about their alma maters.

Detailed survey results for each and every college can be found in the community section of individual college profiles.

The first category is based on the overall satisfaction of the university. ISU is ranked 393 out of 610 schools, and the majority of students interviewed agree. One student said she was pleasantly surprised by ISU because she had always been told that because ISU is a smaller school, there would not be as many opportunities.

“There are more opportunities if you are proactive and go out there,” Abby White, an ISU freshman, said.

The next category focuses on campus setting, in which ISU ranks 515 out of 610. Some of the students surveyed agreed. One student said that it’s not too bad, but “there could be more touching up.”

The quality of student housing is third and ISU is 375 out of 607. It appears that students at ISU like the community that housing provides, but there is upkeep that needs to occur in some of the dorms.

ISU is 337 out of 608 when it comes to the resources and facilities offered for students and 414 out of 609 in safety.

Another category MyPlan.com examines is whether or not the college in question is a “party school.” ISU is currently 286 out of 503 when it comes to partying, which might come as a surprise to some. Students seem to think the opposite, mainly because ISU is a dry campus, meaning that no alcohol is allowed on campus grounds.

“You have to seek out a party to find one,” White said.

MyPlan.com also looks at the Greek life available to students. Many know that the University of Idaho, which is ranked 71 out of 502, is the place to go if you want the entire fraternity or sorority experience of living in a house.

ISU is not known for its Greek life and this fact is supported by the students and by MyPlan.com, which ranks ISU as 312 out of 502.

“There aren’t really any promotions for Greek life on campus,” Brennan Rogers, an ISU sophomore said.

MyPlan.com even looks at how attractive the current students are. ISU is currently ranked 69 out of 503 in this category. One student said that it’s understandable since many students seem to be committed to physical fitness, but most were shocked.

“I didn’t think we’d rank that high,” Rogers said.

Overall, ISU lives in the middle ground when it came to these categories, making it the average American college.