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Southern Methodist University (SMU)

I am of course in a fraternity or sorority but I know a few guys who are not. They can't be bothered because boarding school up East was enough like a fraternity and they are much more concerned with "touring" with Phish or Widespread Panic. I really only hang out at the Green Elephant, but I never seem to get there before 1:00. I go to the football games but only because my sorority or fraternity makes me go to rush the freshmen and I will take as many flash photos as I can. It is a blinding mass of georgeous blondes wearing Prada and BCBG so I must also look my best. I'll dress in Harold's head to toe. Dad is a CEO, and I am pretty sure that most of my friends father's are also. Well some are lawyers now that I think about it. Speaking of Dad, I hope he buys me a new Land Cruiser because my BMW is getting pretty dated. People say that we think we are better than everyone else, just like the popular T-shirt said, "SMU: we are not snobs, we're just better than you."
I'm a Mustang.

By Takanawajoe (Takanawajoe) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 03:52 am: Edit

SMU slang......

”THE BOULEVARD”: SMU’s often-ridiculed attempt at real tailgating. School spirit is in short supply, so the boulevard essentially serves as a frat boy’s dream: lots of cheap bear hard bought at 9 a.m. that morning and girls roaming around doing their best to look great. Other campus organizations make attempts at renting their own tents for tailgating, but the boulevard is Greek dominated.

”THE BUBBLE”: “The Bubble” refers to the plastic world of big allowances, expensive cars, and “it” restaurants that are shielded from suburban sprawl and the rougher Dallas neighborhoods. Sadly, some SMU students never leave The Bubble, for fear of exposure to a real world. Often defined as the part of Dallas bounded by the Tollway to the west, Greenville to the east, Park Lane to the north and Deep Ellum and Uptown to the south. Some restrict The Bubble's perimeter even further, meaning only the Park Cities.

"DROPPED": Antiquated procedure that sends sorority girls screaming with joy and leaves fraternity men white with fear. Here is how it goes: boy loves girl (or so she has made him believe), girl loves boy; girl and boy too young to get engaged so boy “drops” girl, meaning she will now wear his fraternity letters around her neck for all the world to see. Basically a “pre-engagement,” but few actually get married. Has evolved into yet another excuse for guys to get drunk and beat up the “sellout” who dropped the girl, and sorority women to stand around lighting candles and crying tears of joy for the girl who nabbed the man.

”THE ELEPHANT“: A favorite SMU bar, the Green Elephant Bar and Grille is busiest between midnight and closing time. Late nights here are an SMU “Who’s Who” -- you simply never know who you will run into, but you are bound to see someone. A rite of passage, the "Green E" is strict on ID’s, so is almost exclusively a haunt of juniors and seniors.

”FACE BOOK”: Printed at the beginning of each year, the book shows the names and faces of the freshman class. Quickly picked up by the Greeks and used as a rush tactic. For the sororities, this means adding more pictures to their ever-growing arsenal of CIA-like info, and for the fraternities it means checking out the new crop of freshman girls and occasionally looking up a male rushee in order to remember his name. Countless counterfeit Xeroxed copies float around each year.

”GDI”: An SMU student not in a fraternity or sorority. GDI’s ("god-damned independents") are the people who decide Greek life just isn’t for them. Despite this, they often show up at fraternity and sorority parties to join in the revelry. Species can be annoying if they become overly critical of the powerful Greek system.

”LATE NIGHT”: The glorious hours after 2 a.m. (that awful time the bars close) could be called an “after-party.” Can happen at any domain that has a good supply of alcohol and lots of folks to consume it. Often the scene of scandal and shame, but nonetheless an excellent time.

”MRS. DEGREE”: Reference to female students for whom getting engaged by their senior year is at least as important as graduating.

”PARIS”: Not the city of lights, but almost. This is the nickname for Paris Vendome, the ultra-hip restaurant and bar in the ultra-hip restaurant and bar Mecca known as the West Village. Trendy joint, featuring frozen Cosmos for the sorority gal clad in her best designer look. If someone says, “Meet me at Paris,” don’t forget your credit card, your attitude, and your very hippest look.

”PARKIES”: People from Highland Park or who went to HP schools. Those people who never left "The Bubble” (see above). They grew up in HP, they went to HP High School (or an acceptable private school alternative, of course), and now they are going to SMU. Likely to end up in HP forever, which for them, is pure bliss.

”PIG RUN”: The sprinting of white-clad freshman ladies on Bid Day in January. The run takes place right after the girls get their bids and flee from Hughes-Trigg Student Center to their new “home.” Fraternity men still stumbling from the night before usually come out for the show. Some women find this humiliating, others exhilarating.

”PONY”: As if some SMU students didn’t have enough plastic money, this is the nickname for Pony Express, which can now be used at area restaurants as well as on-campus locations.

”PRE-PARTY”: You know that guy who has been drinking since everyone else was working out or taking showers or still getting ready or eating or something else? That’s the pre-party guy. Pre-party is simply drinking before the party starts, sometimes long before the party starts.


”TRASH-CAN PUNCH”: The stuff moms warn their daughters about before they come to college. Each fraternity has their own version, but most consist of vodka, grain alcohol, a 12-pack of beer, and lots of Kool-Aid or lemonade mix. Sound delicious?

”WALK OF SHAME”: Can be done by both girls and guys, but guys usually don’t really care about the shame part. This is when you spend the night with a certain someone (too often, someone you just met that night) and then have to stumble your way home in the morning wearing the clothes from the night before. (A girl wearing a full formal gown, heels and all, walking home at 10 a.m. the next morning is a sorry sight.)

By Takanawajoe (Takanawajoe) on Monday, April 19, 2004 - 06:52 pm: Edit

SMU is at 50% acceptance rate......

Nicole Vierira, 18, is going to college in the fall, but she's not sure where.

Nicole, a senior at Arlington Bowie High School, recently received disappointing news – a denial letter from her No. 1 college choice, the University of Oklahoma.

"I really had my heart set on OU," Nicole said.

An increasing number of students like Nicole seeking admission to the nation's colleges are receiving rejection letters this month, as admissions officers find the flood of applications has forced them to become more selective.

And high school counselors say part of their job this time of year is advising students how to deal with and lessen the pain of rejection.

April is typically the month when students learn if they've been accepted to the college of their choice, said Beth Hancock, a counselor at Arlington High.

"Demographics tell us there are a growing number of college-bound high school graduates for the next seven to 10 years," said Ron Moss, executive director of enrollment services and dean of admissions for Southern Methodist University.

"There continues to be a growth in the number of students applying to schools, but more schools aren't being created," Mr. Moss said.

At SMU, applications from first-time freshmen reached 7,000 for the upcoming fall semester. Of those, 3,500 will be accepted. The other half of the applicants will be denied or put on a wait list, he added.

By Bck118 (Bck118) on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 11:35 am: Edit

What is your problem with SMU, you just keep stereotyping it and acting like its a bad thing. I was ready to go to SMU next year, however Im going to USC now, but i still think its a great schooland would probably be going there if Film wasn't my career objective. The people at SMU are amazing, they are sooo nice and they weren't stuck up to me at ALL (much nicer and welcoming then any kids i've met while going to school here in LA), however i think i would fit in pretty well and fit the "demographic." I think it is the perfect school for the right person, and it offers tons of great opportunities, and they have an amazing campus. Out of all the schools i visited, when i went to SMU i felt it was the right place for me right away, even more so than USC.

Do you go there or something? I think these post aren't helpful and are offensive to people that want to go to SMU or have worked very hard in high school to attend SMU. If you don't like it, transfer.

By Bck118 (Bck118) on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 11:44 am: Edit

hahaha the bubble thing is funny, when i visited with my parents, we agreed that there wasn't much outside of Park cities...and I was like yah i wouldn't want to leave that area anyway. But for someone coming from Los Angeles or NYC, Park Cities and Downtown D, Turtle Creek, etc are already sooooo suburban, but they are closest to offering the kind of culture, restaurants, night life and variety that we have in a big city. When you get out by Wacco, even Irving texas is scarry for ana outsider.

By Takanawajoe (Takanawajoe) on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 06:45 pm: Edit

I actually like SMU. My brother is in his second year there. The academics are improving due to the top 10% rule pushing kids out of UT. They are pouring a ton of money into buildings to upgrade the campus.

But it IS a conservative, Republican, rich-kid kind of place. It takes a certain person to be happy there.

I am an engineering type and will go to RPI or Rochester.

By Wheresyourpride (Wheresyourpride) on Monday, April 26, 2004 - 10:56 pm: Edit

I'm going to SMU next fall...I chose it over a number of schools because I love it so much. I have stayed over night there several times and I found that students there were not stuck up at ALL. Sure, there were BMWs and Mercedes, but really, you'll find snobby people wherever you go to school. The people that I stayed and interacted with could not have been more down to earth. SMU is an excellent school and has something for everyone!

By Bck118 (Bck118) on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 01:12 pm: Edit

I agree with you, great choice. I kinda wish i was still going there, but mith mixed feelings have decided to go to USC. DOn't get me wrong i love USC too. Its just i had two great number one choices and it was a hard decision. You will have a great time, good luck next year!

By Takanawajoe (Takanawajoe) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 11:21 pm: Edit

From Texas Monthly magazine:

Best Traditions:
Football tailgating along the Bishop Boulevard curb
Celebration of Lights—students and the community gather around Dallas Hall for a campus lighting and the university president’s reading of the Christmas story

Best On-campus Housing:
Cockrell-McIntosh (coed)—suites
Virginia-Snider (honors, coed)—recently renovated suites
Morrison-McGinnis (coed)—recently renovated suites

Worst On-campus Housing:
Shuttles (coed)—old building, party dorm

Best On-campus Dining:
Hughes-Trigg Student Center food court

Worst On-campus Dining:
Mac’s Place, in McElvaney Hall
RFoC (Real Food on Campus), in Umphrey Lee

Best Places to Hang Out:
Hughes-Trigg Student Center
Starbucks or Café Express at nearby Mockingbird Station
Clubs in the Deep Ellum or Lower Greenville areas of Dallas
The Granada (an old movie-theater-turned-music-venue)
Lower Greenville restaurants

Best Classes:
Chemistry with Edward Biehl or Patty Wisian-Neilson
Economics with Thomas Osang or Mark Frost
English with Lee Gibson or Harold Knight
Oceanography with John Walther

You might have some preconceived notions about Southern Methodist University: rich-kid school, full of Abercrombie-esque fraternity boys and blond Lacoste-and-pearls-clad sorority girls tooling around in their Land Rovers. And the country-club-like campus, with the long, live-oak-lined drives, the stately Georgian buildings, and the gently undulating fountain sculpture that greets visitors at the front entrance, does little to eliminate that picture in your mind. But even with all the trappings, SMU defies some aspects of the stereotype. An SMU education can be fairly rigorous, especially for students who opt for one of the honors programs.

The basic requirements are grounded in the liberal arts, but a lot of students are of a “pre-professional” mind-set, and the most popular major is business (the Cox School of Business is topflight). Nearly 40 percent of the students are involved in Greek life, but fraternity and sorority parties are not as exclusionary as they can be at other schools. And the school requires a class that emphasizes the value of staying active on campus through student organizations (Student Foundation, a service group, and the Program Council, which sponsors and organizes student activities, are among the most popular).

Freshmen are required to live in dorms unless they’re commuters; the next year, they head to Greek houses or off campus to apartments in neighboring Highland Park. But perhaps because Dallas is such a sprawling city, they migrate back to campus for football games (even though the team is far from its glory days of the early eighties) and for events like the Tate Lecture Series, which attracts such A-list speakers as Vice President Dick Cheney. A lot of money and effort is expended to help students who are struggling in class or simply want to excel: The Learning Enhancement Center offers free tutoring, advising, and practice tests, among other resources, and the MustangTrak program at the Hegi Family Career Development Center prepares students for the job search and assists them with summer and post-graduate employment.

If you hear any complaints from SMU students, they’re no different from what you hear elsewhere: Athletes bemoan their separation from non-athletes in many aspects of campus life, sorority girls concede the occasional pettiness of the Greek system, art majors admit that it’s easy to get swept away in football frenzy. Everyone we talked to has a lot of pride in the school, and with good reason. SMU’s a great place to land—even if you don’t have a Land Rover.

STATS

Undergraduate Enrollment: 6,299
Yearly In-state Tuition and Fees: $25,358
Yearly Room and Board: $6,500
% of Students on Financial Aid: 79.2
Median SAT/ACT: 1130-1310/24-29*
% of African American Students: 5.8
% of Asian American Students: 6.5
% of Hispanic Students: 7.3
% of International Students: 4.1
Student/Teacher Ratio: 11:1
Number of Full-time Faculty: 565
Student Male/Female Ratio: 45/55
Greek System: Yes
% of Students Who Live on Campus?: 48
% of Students Who Graduate in Four Years: 56.3
% Who Graduate Overall: 70
% of Freshmen Who Return: 85.8
% Of Alumni Who Give $ to School: 16.4