I am a second year student looking to transfer out after this year is completed. The two stars are achieved for certain aspects such as the faculty- most are from the Midwest and are pretty helpful, some facilities are new, and it's the best university in South Dakota as far as prestige goes. As for the missing three, it is conversely the worst university in South Dakota. Only certain departments get the majority of funding for a college (animal science gets most of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences), so if you are not in that program, you're going to have a rough time.
I start to lose my patience with the school when they build brand new facilities for programs like animal science and agronomy but horticulture has not had anything new since 1971 (When Rollie Fingers was still pitching). This year, they spent thousands moving the multicultural centre from the basement of the union to the upper floor, just to be politically correct; I am yet to meet a Jewish person here or any Hispanics for that matter, so I am unsure of how well that multicultural centre is working. They seem to really only care superficially about different cultures, as everyone from Dr. Dunn, the president, down to the RAs (called "CAs" here to be more PC) and most students from the Upper Midwest can be close-minded and intolerant of even other American cultures. Due to this fact, I identify more with the international students at times than the other American students, which is saying something. Lastly, if you are not used to small towns and cold winters, you are likely to have a bad time here. Brookings is OK for South Dakota and the Upper Midwest, but there are much better college town out there, even Mitchell.
Sidewalks are always in disrepair, snow is never shoveled, it is considered a walking campus and town despite being in the tundra essentially, and there is no good way to get out of town if you do not have a car like myself, so that plus students going home every weekend (and it is like a ghost town on three-day weekends) leads to a "being trapped" feeling. Lots of fraud and waste! Reminds me of how the federal government operates sometimes. Despite the lower sticker price, note that it is low for a reason. Perhaps raise tuition a little more, and give the students a little more say, admin has spent a little too much time in academia as the saying goes for their own good. I will be sailing to warmer seas soon enough. Cheers.