Reviews

The Gen. Ed. classes are all enjoyable and my major classes were taught by teachers who knew their subjects very well.

The residents halls are all nice and the college offers a lot of activities such as weekly movie nights in Buzzard Hall. However, Charleston is a small town with a limited selection of restaurants and stores. Walmart is the main store college students go to.

A nice four year college for students looking to teach or still trying to figure out there major. One of if not the cheapest state schools in Illinois and an overall nice campus and community

Get involved early on, Eastern has a lot of clubs, activities and intramural sports for people to join. It really helps to get involved in something down here even it is just getting to really know the people on your floor. Since Charleston is a small town there is not much to do and Eastern is definitely a get out of it what you put into it school.

Looking for a moderate sized school with a very friendly and welcoming environment. Interested in pursuing a career in teaching or still undecided. Wanting to go to a state school but not spend a ton of money for four years of college.

I am currently enrolled in mostly General Education classes, and for me it wasn't hard to transfer to college classes from high school. The classes here are fun and enjoyable, I like a lot of my teachers.

Although Charleston is a small town and there's not much to do in it, Eastern makes up for that. There's a lot to do on campus that is fun and cheap. It's easy to make friends here, and it would be very helpful to make plenty of them. A lot of the time when there's nothing going on my friends and I have the greatest time hanging out, and we usually end up doing the stupidest things.

In my eyes Eastern is definitely better than a lot of schools. Here we don't buy our books, we are able to rent them for around 200 bucks a year. THAT'S IT!!!! We get all of our books for 200 bucks all year, but of course we have to return them. Also there's a shuttle bus that takes us around Charleston to stores and stuff. Eastern is a lot cheaper than the schools my friends have gone to.

Be friendly! The people here are, it will be a lot easier to make friends and enjoy your time here. Join clubs and intramural sports too. It helps because after classes you have a lot of down time. DON'T PROCRASTINATE ON HOMEWORK...get it done when it is assigned. Trust me, getting your homework done early will be the greatest habit you could have.

Eastern is great for students that have a fun and exciting life, but not overly exciting. Eastern is a great campus, there are cool parties to go to and many formal events to attend. There are plenty of things to do. EIU is great for students that like to party, but it's also great for students that are more laid back and reserved.

The instructors aren't strangers to the students out here; they help A LOT. Lots of office hours. Lots of help outside of class, along with extra practice, etc.

There are so many extracurricular activities and volunteer opportunities, especially within the residence halls. The students basically run the campus with all of the leadership positions and jobs given to us.

Don't have to pay for our textbooks - we can rent them for an easy $9.99/credit hour. So, for 15 hours, you pay less than $200. It's an amazing deal. Plus, tuition is pretty cheap for the quality of education you get here.

Definitely think about making EIU one of your college choices. You won't regret it. I never will.

Education majors, Student Affairs majors, Business majors

I really enjoy EIU. The classes that I'm taking are really interesting. I am currently a freshmen and have already taken 4 classes for my major. I think that is really nice to already be starting to get involved with what I actually want to do and not just taking gen eds. However, the gen eds that I am taking are really interesting, such as the evolution of jazz and rock and introduction to sociology.

I love being at Eastern. Although I do miss my family sometimes, I have a great time. While there's not a whole lot to do around the town, you can find something to do on campus. With my friends, we go bowling, watch a movie in our residence hall basement, have game nights. Plus our Resident Advisor on our floor does fun activities once a month. There's never a dull moment.

I believe Eastern is a really good value. When I first visited, the tour guide said that Eastern is one of the cheapest state schools in Illinois (for in-state residents). But its still a good value. Plus renting our books instead of buying them is a huge plus. Instead of buying big bulky textbooks that could be up to $80, we rent them for about $10 a credit hour, so if you only take 15 credit hours, your books only cost you just below $150.

I would highly advise coming to visit Eastern. The school itself is large with about 10,000 undergraduates but the campus feels small and you do get to know people quickly. Very seldom to I ever walk to class and not see someone I know. Visiting campus is the best way to know what school is right for you.

Yes...I love living on campus and my teachers are great. Just remember if you need help in a class ask for help!!!! GO TO OFFICE HOURS!!!!!!!1

Yes I was home sick the first year. However, the more you spend here the better it become. My tip is as a freshmen try not to go home every weekend only once a month if you HAVE TOO... It will be easier for you to get use to it if you do not keep going home.

College is a lot of money but it is totally worth it. Get loans and pay it off you need to and it is the cheapest school in IL. I love it here you will too.

Like I said before go to office hours for you classes. If your teacher knows your name and your face you will for sure do better in the class. Also make sure you go to class and do your homework on time. But you have to make sure you leave time to have fun. Also one big thing that saved me at school is when you are signing up for your own classes take your time. You want to make sure you get all the teachers and time you want and do not stress out over it. It will all work out and make sure you use the website; ratemyprofessor.com. Most of the time your teachers will be on their and other students that took that teacher will tell you about the class and about the teacher. However, sometimes they are right on but other times they could be wrong so just stick with your gut.

The campus offers a lot of various activities that suit many different people.

One of Eastern strongest point is the tuition and how it is locked in for the rest of your years there.

Be sure to put school work and grades first because then everything else will fall into place a lot easier.

Eastern is a comforting and welcoming environment for students from all walks of life. Campus is easy to navigate and has some pretty awesome sunsets. Resources provided to students are helpful.

Nothing really, it's pretty easy to figure out. Show up for class and you're pretty much set.

Pushes you hard enough without killing you.

You get used to living with other people for a while, but people are great about being considerate.

There is a great variety of food offered and it's pretty decent too.

There are always events happening on campus with different groups putting on different activities. The town also has things for students to do. There are various places to go to for food or just to hang out.

Students love to sit on the steps just outside the fine arts centre -it's great for hanging out or doing work and also a prime spot for chalk advertising.

Serious about school but also knows how to relax and have fun. Prefers quieter, not so urban pace.

There are over 230 registered student organizations, with everything from Harry Potter Club, to Game of Thrones Club, to the Equestrian Club to French Club. Students also have the option of starting their own club if they do not find anything that fits them.

I do not participate but Greeks are active on campus with academic, service and social sororities and fraternities.

Campus police are always on duty, and there are emergency poles around campus. Eastern is one of the safest college towns in the U.S.

The most underrated university I've looked into as a student and an athlete. The town that surrounds the school is yes, very small, but there's a lot more out there than you would think; I personally come from a big city such as Chicago, and I was worried that Charleston wouldn't have the stores and restaurants that I'm used to; however, they actually have them all, except for Target. EIU is a 10/10 for me, but everyone has a school for them; EIU is a small and humbling school with big opportunities.

If you're looking into fields such as Physical Education or becoming a Teacher and you're looking at schools in the Midwest, make sure you visit EIU for sure!

EIU has its "Pine Honors" program, which limits its classroom sizes to 18 people. If you're looking for a good education, you can definitely find it here.

There are 11 different halls to dorm in!! Whatever kind of dorming you're looking for; you should be able to find it here.

With 11 different halls, there are over 11 cafeterias to eat in, each cafeteria with different foods and styles in it everyday. I personally enjoy the cafeteria food; they have a diverse selection of foods every day.

In the school campus, there's a bowling alley where students can bowl for only $1, in addition there's of course the rec center with ping pong tables and gyms and pool tables and etc. Outside of the school, there are several very large parks/forest preserves where any number of activities can be done from hunting to fishing to hiking to biking or running. Outside of the campus there are also arcades and movie theatres. It wont be difficult to find fun around EIU.

$1 bowling!! EIU is also known as being one of the most inexpensive schools in the state of Illinois. And there are two separate Dollar Tree stores in just a 2 mile radius of the school!

There's one location on the campus where if you stand on this certain space and face a certain direction, the sound of your voice is amplified and echoes. I know it doesn't sound impressive, but its more interesting than you'd think!

Students looking for a more personal university experience where you're not a small, unnoticed fish in a big pond.

I'm personally entering EIU as a student-athlete and that's actually one of my top reasons for deciding to enroll into EIU; because the clubs and activities impressed me so much with their community and resources.

Over 30 Greek life related programs.

EIU is actually known as one of the safest schools in the nation.

Eastern is a very well rounded school. everyone is genuinely very positive. and just expect to have fun.

just come with an open mind.

get involved learn about your community

people who want more of a calmer more relaxed element.

feel free to try new ones you might surprise yourself.

Eastern is a very small university. The professors care about teaching over research. The community is very safe and caring.

Join a club and make ties. The best thing you can do at Eastern is make friends since there is a lack of actual physical activities students can do around Charleston.

The honors college is very challenging and helps student look at the world critically from many points of views. Normal classes do the same, just with a larger amount of students.

The school has cut building service workers and janitors. The bathrooms and laundry rooms are not up-kept. The RA's tend to do their job and will make sure they help you if you need anything.

There is not a lot of variety when it comes to food. The people in the dining hall are not very helpful when it comes to asking questions. They seem that they could care less about the students eating there.

Join greek life or a school club. I would say even start a club with people if you can't find one you like. When it come's to fun things to do around Charleston, there aren't many options. There is Fox Ridge State Park and many pizza places. If you want to do anything like see a movie or go shopping at a clothing store you must drive to Mattoon which is about ten miles away.

Eastern is extremely cheap for the education our students are getting. It is one of the cheapest universities in Illinois and it plans to stay that way. The best part about Eastern is the book rental, it is a quick, easy, and cheap process rather than students having to find and purchase every book. There is a one time rental fee which saves students lots of money.

The school has puppies on the quad during finals week. There are people who pass around free food in the library on finals week as well. Eastern also has a spring concert every year that is discounted to students.

Students who love a small school setting will like Eastern. There is not a single day that goes by where you don't see a familiar face. You will get to know people within just a few days of being there. It's a very close community.

Fun activities include ballroom dancing, spanish club, german club, and much more. There are bible studies and clubs for specific departments. Anyone can be involved if they want to be.

Greek life is absolutely huge at Eastern! There are many houses for every type of person. There are academic sororities and fraternities and there are social ones. There is a place for everyone. Greek court is beautiful.

There are light poles located very close to each other on campus. Every area is well lit and walking home at night isn't a problem. The response time is 30 seconds when an emergency pole is activated, the Charleston and EIU police do a great job to keep the campus safe.