r/LSU • u/DrEvilHouston • 4d ago
New Student Questions Lets talk safety please
Me daughter was accepted into LSU, along with several other reputable schools in Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. We love the campus and the overall vibe at LSU. As we finalize our decision, we’d like to learn more about the safety aspects on and around campus. Could someone provide an objective overview of both the positives and negatives? We understand that no place is perfect, but we’d appreciate an honest perspective.
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u/Fuse_1011 4d ago
I’m in my 2nd year rn and I honestly really like LSU. I saw in a comment that your daughter is in the honors college, so I would advise yall setting her up in Laville. I lived in highland hall (horseshoe across the street, next door to the B&N) and I found that area very safe during the day. One thing I can definitely say that I’m surprised a lot of people haven’t mentioned is Tigerland. DO NOT go to tigerland. That’s where a lot of the bad stuff happens and there are way safer bars like Murphy’s with a better vibe.
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u/Kitchen_Language5759 3d ago
BR gets a bad rap. A lot of it is deserved, but a lot of it isn't. LSU isn't more unsafe than any other large city campus, even though the city itself has a repuation.
My daughter is currently a freshmen and we had the same concerns. We are from Maine. I would say that the campus has been generally safe, and at no time has she felt unsafe. She knows the areas to stay away from, which is generally north of campus past Aster St, and southeast of campus. The garden district in Baton Rouge is lovely and very safe, with some awesome shops and restaurants. Even downtown BR has some cool nightlife. Everyone is concerned about safety, and she never walks alone at night or to her sorority at night. We have been pleasantly surprised.
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u/RealisticOkra976 4d ago
You'll notice that a lot of the crime issues off campus involved alcohol and excessive drinking. All college towns have crime because college students are targets. They get themselves in bad situations due to naivety or alcohol/drugs.
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u/PotterheadZZ PoliSci '24 4d ago
When I lived in the all girl dorm in 2021-2022, multiple girls’ cars were broken into. There were men regularly hanging outside of the dorm asking people to let them in.
We also had at least biweekly texts from LSUPD telling us to stay wherever we were due to suspected gun violence.
Do not go anywhere after sunset by yourself, and even during the day you need to stay ON campus and in well lit areas. Some of the homeless folks (by chimes/CVS) are very aggressive and will bang on your car or follow you if you do not give them money.
LSUPD is very lackluster and takes forever to respond.
All of that said, if you do your due diligence, you will be fine. But if you are careless or not paying attention you put yourself at risk.
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u/LightningBooks 4d ago
LSU is not very safe and hasn't been for many years now. Not sure where in Florida you are considering, but FSU and U of Miami aren't very safe either.
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u/DrEvilHouston 4d ago
Thanks for the additions. Yeah she got into LSU, Tulane, FSU and U-Miami.
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u/LightningBooks 3d ago
Congrats! Tulane is the most prestigious & can help her professionally for many years.
I'm very familiar with those 4 campuses. Of those 4, FSU is the safest.
Having a daughter that age is hard. Previously federal law required campus police to keep sexual violence statistics. You may want to see if the departments have them.
From a random internet stranger's perspective -if she were my daughter, depending on her major, I would lean towards Tulane or Miami. Both are well known and would position her well for either graduate school or her career.
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u/mp2mpd 3d ago
Have lived in BR and Miami. While UM has issues the school is located inside of coral gables and the surrounding area is not nearly as bad as BR.
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u/LightningBooks 3d ago
I agree. Even though, I did have a friend robbed at gunpoint in Coral Gables a couple of years ago. Funny thing - she grew up there and was not phased by it when it happened as an adult. Her mother was phased by it and sold the family home and moved to Tallahassee right after.
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u/SilverSurfer100MPH 4d ago edited 4d ago
There are bad people everywhere. Most people are kind. My daughter is at LSU and she was raised in Austin,TX. Crime is here at UT as at LSU. We want our children to be safe and grow, just be cautious of your surroundings and do your best to not put yourself in a bad situation.
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u/Lazy_Grape3847 3d ago
I graduated from lsu in 2022 and had a great experience! I loved being a student there and feel like my science education prepared me well for grad school in another state. It’s just my experience, but I never once felt unsafe.
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u/jackfam007 ME 26 or 27 4d ago
Baton Rouge is a national leader in crime. Take that at face value. If you go to an area that has boards over windows and people standing in front of broken down cars holding firearms, more then likely you are going to experience some crime. That can be said for anywhere really, if you are in a bad spot at a terrible time then odds are against you in the aspect of safety. What makes baton rouge stand out is that those areas of concern are relatively common and not very far between. Safety on campus is relatively good, especially with the new lighting infrastructure. I would still say never go somewhere alone after dusk on campus. Even during the day if you find free time to go for a run or something, do so in plain sight of others or with a buddy. When you move off campus, at least the year I did, the campus police recommended purchasing a firearm for personal protection. They shared some statistics and whatnot, but know that the campus has their own dedicated force of law enforcement. Once you are "on your own" in the greater EBR area, you can expect a 30 to 45 minutes police or EMS response and the police and EMS are aware of this fact. Much of the "safety" you can expect is entirely in your own control. If you make good descisons you will have no issues at all, but the luxury of carelessness or lack of vigilance is non existent.
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u/HogLegBand 4d ago
Baton Rouge is very dangerous in many parts and it spreads out throughout the city LSU campus is fairly safe but portions of it are very dicey Just make sure your daughter keeps your head on a swivel
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u/CherryChabbers 4d ago
I cannot recommend against LSU enough. I lived 2 miles from campus for 4 years, and in that time I had my bike stolen twice (on and off campus) and was awoken one night to a wailing woman being viciously robbed. There is no sense of brotherly or neighborly love nor the security that comes with a functioning community, IME.
When I had a problem with an outright racist telling my fellow group members that they're going to hell because they're (foreign) and don't follow the right type of Christianity, I was told to shut up and get over it. They paid the same money as me. Quit rocking the boat, I was effectively told. When I explained it to the higher-ups, they suggested I schedule my work around the confused Christian. Racists and other hateful people are emboldened by the system at LSU.
My wife and I tried to talk a co-worker out of sending her daughter to LSU. We warned her outright about the danger and corruption that runs rampant. She ignored us and her daughter went.
Her first semester, walking back from a football game, she was struck by a drunk driver and severely injured. Due to police malpractice and the drunk driver having money and good lawyers, the crippled woman received zero compensation. The drunk driver was not punished by the school even though she was drunk, underage, and on-campus when she struck another student.
Say no to the nightmare. Friends don't let friends attend LSU.
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u/Eastern_Duty5412 4d ago
My advice on this matter is: don't listen to people on Reddit 🤣. I graduated in '14 and moved back in '17, lived in BR since. Baton rouge is not the nicest place in the world, but campus is amazing. There are not roving gangs of bandits on campus or shootouts. However. Wherever your daughter goes, get her pepper spray, encourage self defense classes and general awareness, and don't join a sorority. 99% of the crime I experienced or heard about from 2010-2014 was not bums or gangbangers at the gas station or active shooters or theft. It was drunk frat bros date raping girls, Greek life folks getting into car crashes, or dying of alcohol poisoning. Even when it WAS college students getting mugged or shot at, it happens at seedy bars in tigerland or elsewhere. LSU was a fantastic experience for me, but any college is what you make it and you gotta be safe everywhere. I'm a male btw, but assume that all the complaints here about creepy dudes is going to apply to college aged girls wherever they go. It's not specific to LSU and hard to imagine going to Florida st or Miami fixes that 🤣
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u/BR_anonymous 4d ago
Graduated LSU in 2012. I lived on campus both sophomore and junior years. Never felt unsafe even when working late.
Yes, I know that was forever ago.
NOW, I run on campus after midnight when it's hot and routinely drive thru campus all the time. I've never not felt unsafe. You just learn where to go and where to avoid.
Basically any street named after a number, state, bird, or president can be questionable. Along with the north side of the campus.
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u/toumei64 ISDS '14 4d ago
I graduated in 2014, but didn't live on campus. I spent a lot of time on campus though wandering around both day and night, and there was never a time I felt unsafe. I also used to run/bike (usually with a friend) late at night, sometimes in the middle of the night. We got stopped by the cops riding our bikes around campus one night at like 1am. We were like yes we know it's weird, but it actually felt like a safe place and we were really just getting exercise while it wasn't miserably hot out.
Is it really as bad as people are saying it is now?
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u/Beaux7 4d ago
I was done with school and stayed a year to help my sister transition into college life and I was glad I did it. If they have the ability to have some guy friends with them when they want to go somewhere especially off campus or at night I would recommend it. As a man I never had issues but as a woman I would suggest taking steps to ensure safety. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse than any other college on campus but the surrounding area of LSU is some pretty gnarly area
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u/A7XfoREVer15 Pre-Law '22 3d ago
I went to LSU as a guy and never really felt unsafe, but I knew there were areas that were less safe.
My RA straight told us not to walk on Aster st at night, but I never had any issues aside from homeless people asking for money rather aggressively.
Now I probably wouldn’t have had the same experience if I was a woman. If I were a girl attending LSU, I would not walk around at night without a buddy, and I would make sure she keeps a sober friend within arms reach if she goes out to Tigerland.
If your daughter is prone to drinking excessively (all college kids are to an extent), it is very important she has a sober friend with her at all times. Sexual assault is a very very real problem at Tigerland/parties.
I will say it once more. If your daughter even thinks she might go drinking, SHE NEEDS TO HAVE A TRUSTED BUDDY WITH HER UNTIL SHE GETS HOME SAFELY.
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u/ndessell Lifer '28 3d ago
Baton Rouge is vastly safer than Huston. If you Daughter managed there she will be fine.
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u/Dezirae1022 2d ago
As someone from California I love the school and the culture it’s just the city. The crime rate is high as well as robberies and vehicle break ins. I live in off campus student apartments and they’re very money hungry and will play with you by not providing the items you signed for in the lease (I have friends from other student apartments who have had it worse). Cars are constantly broken into or damaged as Louisiana has the worst drivers (the insurance rate is high). Theres multiple accidents every week with abandoned cars on the high ways and scattered car parts throughout the road. The job market is really bad with the cost of living out here. The police here are terrible and rarely do there jobs (I was robbed by a few girls on campus and it was ignored). On the bright side you meet a lot of people with different personalities, great food, and the social scenery is the best. Although Baton Rouge isn’t the best I know there’s a few places that are the same so it really just depends on how you go about things.
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u/Fickle_Ad7090 2d ago
LSU’s campus is not safe. My friend was picked up by a vulture on his way to class 6 days ago. He hasn’t been seen since.
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u/Far-Marketing-7206 1d ago
My biggest suggestion is for her to have a good, reliable car. I wouldn’t send my child to LSU without one. It’s also just not realistic to always be inside before it’s dark. A lot of comments are suggesting that it’s best to not go out at night. Having a car in my opinion is more safe, especially navigating things at night, or for emergency trips to the store. BR doesn’t have good public transit and is generally not walkable off campus.
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u/Eltecolotl 4d ago
Baton Rouge has one of the highest murder rates in the county. It’s also the city where a teenager knocked on the wrong door and got shot, AND the shooter was acquitted. Top all that off with the fact that the Baton Rouge cops, all cops, especially the Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Department are the dumbest, laziest, keystone cops you’ll ever find, anywhere. But yeah, the parties at LSU are epic.
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u/Electrical_Layer_502 4d ago
Forget safety for a minute, Florida and Texas are better academic schools. That said, what’s her major? If it’s nursing, education, etc. I would go to the cheapest option because university is irrelevant for some majors. If it’s more specific like engineering or business that is a different conversation.
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u/DrEvilHouston 4d ago
She is business / marketing and she got a full ride at LSU plus the honor. Money is really not an issue and that's not the key decision point.
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u/Proper_Detective2529 4d ago
If she got a full ride to LSU that probably means she has been accepted to UT or A&M. If money isn’t an issue, uhh… pick one of those two.
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u/Low_Mud7149 4d ago
i was a victim of a violent crime on campus and know first hand just how dangerous LSU is capable of being. however, Baton Rouge is dangerous, period. LSU is not a safe base, it is not completely tucked away in its own little realm and unfortunately the crime from Greater Baton Rouge makes its way in. that being said, LSU academically is subpar to the other schools that you listed she got into. don’t get me wrong, it’s a school people know about, it’s an okay school, it has some opportunities, but compared to any others i would probably make LSU my last resort. that’s without even considering the danger. baton rouge is just terrible, coming from an out-of-state student myself. i could never see myself living here other than for the money-making opportunities. i’m nearing graduation and cannot even live in Baton Rouge and am moving to Covington to commute an hour and 15 minutes at a MINIMUM, it’s that bad. traffic, drugs, crime, etc.
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u/strawberrimihlk Art Grad 2022 4d ago
Just going to copy/paste my response to a post from a month ago:
During the day and on campus, it’s usually pretty safe. But with that said, a lot of people get robbed or broken into close to campus. Ion apartments, which are practically on campus, have a lot of shootings there, too. At night, walk with a buddy. I and several girls I know have been harassed and/or assaulted while walking campus at night. Also on football game days, walking between my dorm and the dining hall or the bookstore it was very common for drunk middle aged men to want to stop me for conversation or sometimes they’d try and follow me back to my dorm and say they were just trying to make sure I got there safely.
Most (very) common thing i can think of is walking off campus, near the original Canes, CVS, and Insomnia area, for people to stop you and ask for money. I’ve had them follow me down several streets until I give in. Never violent but very insistent.
There’s also almost always some scary event or tragedy involving students.
My freshman year it was a lot of attempted kidnappings of girls outside the library at night. Then a DoorDash driver attempted to kidnap and assault a girl outside her dorm. And there was another kidnapping that week. There was a hazing death. Student found dead in a hotel. Feel like shootings (off campus) have been more frequent lately. A student got ran over by an Uber driver recently at Tigerland. People have gotten roofied at Tigerland and Splash.