Southern Illinois University — Local services in Carbondale

After visiting about 7 schools, I decided to go with SIU. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The campus and the entire Southern Illinois area has some of the most beautiful areas I've seen - especially in the fall. National parks, lakes, one of the largest rec centers in the country. Yes, Carbondale is a little dirty but the campus and surrounding SO ILL area is filled with things to do and see (Google Giant City, Little Grand Canyon, Garden of the Gods).

For academics, I majored in marketing. I wish the curriculum was a little more ahead of the game (I do search engine optimization but at SIU I learned very little about Google Analytics, SEO, WordPress, HTML, website design or online marketing while attending classes - maybe they had different classes, I'm not sure). My experience was learning more traditional marketing (nothing hands-on about online marketing). The professors are AWESOME but I do hope they update the courses to where the industry is going - the internet.

My #1 suggestion would be to get involved in the small business development center. They have tons of workshops, knowledgeable people, and opportunities for real life applications. Joining Saluki CEO or another student organization is a MUST for networking and getting involved in something where you will actually get a job after college.

Though most people may not have this experience (and hopefully you don't), Dr. Perkins from the Student Health Center literally saved my life. I was really sick and when they did blood tests to learn how sick I was (staff infection), the doctor drove me in his own personal car to Carbondale Memorial Hospital and demanded I get immediate surgery. I'm alive now because of it. Thank you Dr. Perkins.

The whole experience was a ride and at the end of the day, I'm really glad I went to SIU. It's a solid choice - just go to your classes, take advantage of the awesome library they have, and get involved with student organizations - you'll be golden. Hope that helps somebody...

I dropped out of SIU, and I regret nothing. This institution is not getting a single cent from me, and I will never recommend going there to anyone. I have never felt so frustrated by a University in my life. I went to them in June with questions about my Financial Aid. I went to the Department of Education in June as well. I went in person, left calls, and messages. I didn't receive a response via phone or email, and I would get different answers from different people in person. They were completely unhelpful. Suddenly, a week before school starts, I'm told I did paperwork wrong (and I did it according to the instructions of people in their office). I get it done. Now, almost 2 weeks into the school year, I'm finding out there is ANOTHER issue with my paperwork. I fixed the problem and sent it over. They said it would take 4-5 business days to process. The problem is that the deadline for a lot of this stuff is Friday. If I had been relayed the correct information in June when I asked, none of this would have happened. Not to mention, there are a ton of technical problems with their online system, and they are trying to charge me more money to use their glitchy online platform for digital textbooks (which I opted out of, but is not showing on my bill). I'm over it. I will NEVER recommend SIU for your higher education. There are far superior schools that...

The school and education aren't bad but they're not great either. socially it was a great school back in the 90's. And I never really had any issues with the SIU to speak of. However I am back for the 2015-16 school year to finish a second degree and have had some pretty unreal problems. Namely with the financial aid. They have miss directed me a half dozen times this semester alone. And it's simple things like; What is my aid is going to be and what am I eligible for. The most fitting word for the workers in this department is "Incompetent". They are simply to lazy to do due diligence. To push one more button and give us, the customer, the correct answer. This of course caused me a lot of problems and hurt my grades. Which to me is unacceptable. If you are looking at SIUC then just make sure the financial aid department gives you the full picture by asking them a lot of questions. Especially if you are a...