<p>Yayyyy!!! It’s so exciting to have accepted students starting to post questions!! I’ll do my best to help out with answering them as well. Background info on me: I’m a first year OOS Echols scholar involved in a variety of extracurricular activities, including greek life.</p>
<p>First, I just want to agree with what AnneD123 said about housing- where you live will not have a huge effect on your first year experience. I know people in every dorm who love where they live for different reasons.</p>
<p>Regarding friendliness/competition- I’d say that UVA is an extremely friendly place! I had a great time visiting DOTL last year, and the positive atmosphere is one factor that really influenced my decision to come to school here. I’m in lots of classes where collaboration is encouraged, and students are constantly helping each other out by sharing notes if someone misses class, studying together for exams, etc. This even includes my experiences in honors chemistry classes, which are filled with pre-med students who have a reputation for being cutthroat at many universities.</p>
<p>I went through recruitment and joined a sorority this semester and it’s been a great decision for me, but I know many people who went through rush and didn’t pledge or decided not to rush and the fact that they aren’t involved in greek life hasn’t impacted their lives much at all. Recruitment and the first semester of membership is a significant time commitment, but many activities are optional and I’ve been able to fit it in while taking 16 credits, playing a club sport, and staying involved in other activities as well.</p>
<p>I hope this has been helpful!! Keep asking questions :)</p>
<p>uvabound: Don’t worry about having no idea about your major! I was/am exactly the same way, and MANY first years are. The great thing about UVa is that you don’t have to declare until the end of your fourth semester, so you have tons of time to figure it out. For your first semester, I would suggest taking classes that sound interesting to you. I wouldn’t worry about requirements right off the bat; you’ll have plenty of time to fulfill those in the next four years. My first semester, I took Global Sustainability (a really great class if you’re interested in volunteer work or environmental issues), Astronomy, Musical Theatre History, Intro to Drawing, and a University Seminar. USEMs are 1-2 credit classes that are reserved for first and second years. They are small, seminar based classes that focus on a specific topic, and it looks like there are some pretty interesting ones coming up next semester. Also, at orientation, all the orientation leaders make a huge list of fun classes they’ve taken. So don’t worry; you will definitely be able to find more than enough classes that interest you!
If you guys don’t know about this, [UVa</a> Class Schedule for Fall 2011 (Unofficial. Lou’s List)](<a href=“http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/mySIS/CS2/index.php?Semester=1118]UVa”>http://rabi.phys.virginia.edu/mySIS/CS2/index.php?Semester=1118) Lou’s List will become your best friend! It’s basically a searchable database of all the classes being offered in a given semester; much more navigable than SIS!</p>
<p>Students should be aware of their area requirements and prerequisites for possible majors, in addition to taking courses they find interesting. </p>
<p>Keep up the good work, AnneD. You are giving out great advice! For those students thinking of UVa this is what students there are really like. Anne is a great representative of what you will encounter if you chose UVa.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, how difficult is it to balance school work and a social life at UVa? I’ve been admitted into another state university (UGA…ranked #1 in partying by the Princeton Review last year) and I have no doubt that I’ll be able to maintain great grades while having a blast if I were to attend UGA. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that UVa excels academically…but I’m a bit worried about the social aspects of the school (for me this would include partying).</p>
<p>I guess this question will provide a less subjective answer:
How many hours do you spend a week studying?</p>
<p>I just find it pretty hard to believe that students at UVa find the time to party while maintaining good grades.</p>
<p>At UVa, we tend to go by the old chliche, work hard, play hard. During the week, people are pretty serious about their studying; there are legitimately people in Clemons library for all of the 24 hours it’s open. But on the weekend (which starts on Thursday for a lot of people) there is so much going on in terms of parties and other social events that, if you want to take a break from the books you can, (and most do). I’m not an excessive partier, though so maybe someone else can tackle this question more thoroughly?</p>
<p>In terms of amount of time studying, it depends on the classes you take. I’m in an architecture class this semester that requires over 15 hours of work outside of class a week. Most classes will require maybe 3-5 hours of reading, etc per week.</p>
<p>Finally, I want to share with you guys this spectacular video project. It was written, filmed, directed and acted completely by UVa students. This is a seriously talented bunch of kids and we’re aiming to have more videos come out in the future! [YouTube</a> - Thomas Jefferson: The Musical](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube) Take a look at this and our previous videos! Enjoy!</p>
<p>I graduated last spring with an econ major. I had on average about 5 hours of homework a week and would spend maybe 3 more studying. In addition, I probably had about 5-6 more hours of reading a week that I usually didn’t do. Those numbers are for all classes combined and average in “crunch time” - projects, papers, and exams . Gradewise, I did fine (3.5ish).</p>
<p>Your workload will depend on the classes you take and how much energy you want to put into them. As long as you don’t pick a difficult or time consuming major and carefully select your professors, it is not hard at all to balance school and other things.</p>
<p>Just a caveat for the Class of 2015, though. For Classes after 2010, the requirements for an Econ major were changed substantially. At least to me, the requirements for an Econ major now look substantially harder than those that were listed for students starting at UVa in Fall 2006 or earlier. If you are considering Econ, or are viewing it as your fall back if you are not accepted to McIntire (i.e., Comm School) after second year, I’d take a look at the Econ requirements.</p>
<p>The new requirements don’t seem that much harder. From what it looks like, you now have to get at least a C+ instead of a vanilla C in certain courses. Other than that, it looks like a class in either econometrics or regression is now required. I took one of these anyway and would guess that at least half of econ majors would too without the requirement. I think the total number of credits for the major is the same or very similar.</p>
<p>I’d say that the C+ vs C issue is probably going to hurt the most students. There are some “dumb people” (they’re not really dumb, just not nearly as smart) that get into UVa and this could prevent them from majoring in econ. For the vast majority of UVa students however, these changes don’t mean too much.</p>
<p>I am REALLY interested in Hereford dorms now, it seems like the perfect place. I just wanted to get some more detailed opinions from people in this forum. Anyone ever go there to hang out with friends or anything? I just wanna hear like personal experience and feel of the area. Location seriously isn’t that big of a difference if you look at the map, it might be like 5 minutes more than Alderman, right?</p>
<p>Aside from location (which is usually everyone’s biggest complaint), Hereford has a reputation for being sterile and cold (the building has a/c and traditional cinder-block style walls). However, many rooms are singles if that is important to you. It also sits a bit uphill, but it’s really not terrible.</p>
<p>Do you happen to know if Echols Scholars have to be housed in one dorm, and if so, do they have to have roommates or is it possible to live in singles? I don’t know what housing situation I would prefer, I’m just curious to see what the options would be. Thanks.</p>
<p>I think Hereford’s rep is generally that it’s a lot of “loners” who live there because they want a single. I’m not trying to insult anyone living there or anything, that’s just how I’ve heard people describe it. Keep in mind that even though it’s only 5 minutes away from Alderman (but, I would venture to say somewhere around 10-15 minutes from OHill), that’s still 10-15 MORE minutes to central grounds. There are always buses though, and people who have lived in Hereford and Gooch/Dillard are very well acquainted with the bus routes. People say that the architecture makes the dorms look and feel like a prison; I disagree, I think the buildings are lovely, but at the same time they have small windows and the exposed cinderblock that does sort of give off a cold feeling. Despite all that though, it’s a GORGEOUS location, and since it’s on top of a hill the views are so beautiful. I would love to wake up every morning and see that out my window. I don’t want to discourage you at all from living there, wofbharatj, if you think you’d like it! Residential colleges have a lot of unique advantages and I encourage everyone to at least look into them!</p>
<p>How easily were you able to go about signing up for classes your first year, and how are they with taking your AP Credit? I can find a list of classes accepted on the Arts&Sciences website, but is that the same for all of the schools (like, will SEAS accept my physics/chem/calc scores?). I know that it’s done during orientation, and I’m not sure if collegeboard will even get back to me score-wise by then. </p>
<p>Also, even though I’m in SEAS, I want to keep playing flute and participating in ensembles. Does anyone have any experience with the music department and auditions for different groups/private lessons and whatnot?</p>
<p>I read a study that said it is healthier for first year students to live with a roommate. it is too easy for a student to hide their problems if they have a single.</p>
<p>Violetterose, auditions for the various musical groups are very early in the fall semester. Symphony and the chamber music ensembles might be appropriate for you. Go to the Music Dept. in Old Cabell Hall for a schedule when you get to Grounds. You can take private lessons (1/2 or 1 hour/week, for 1/2 or 1 credit per term) on one of two levels. The lower level is P/F and is appropriate for recreational or casual players who want to improve their skills but don’t have a ton of time for practice. The higher level is for more advanced players. It requires a jury each term and is graded. Students in the higher level are eligible for lesson scholarships–private music lessons aren’t covered by regular tuition. Some students with financial need may qualify for scholarship help at the lower level as well, but the higher-level kids get preference.</p>
<p>There are a limited number of teachers, so if you play a popular instrument you may have to audition for lessons and be accepted by the teacher. I know there are always more people wanting to take violin and piano than UVA has qualified performance faculty to teach them. For flute, it depends on the semester.</p>
<p>Many students from the Engineering School take music lessons (and music courses, for that matter). I know at least one kid who managed to finish a music major while doing an engineering degree too, but I don’t think that’s very common.</p>
<p>hey everyone! i know this is kind of off topic from what is being discussed, but i was just wondering how much first years spend each month roughly? (besides tuition/housing/books/etc.) i’m considering working during college, but i don’t really know if i’ll absolutely need to. anyways, thanks!</p>
<p>How hard do you feel it is to maintain a 3.5+ GPA at UVA? I’m planning on pursuing pre-med so my GPA will have to be top notch and I’ve heard that UVA courses are extremely challenging. Any advice?</p>
<p>I’m not a first year, but hopefully I can respond to a few of the questions –</p>
<p>FallenAngel9: The Echols (and Rodmans) are housed together in a set of honors dorms, near O’Hill. Scholars generally are required to live there, unless they have a good reason not to. All the rooms are doubles, and you can request an honors or non-honors roommate (the non-honors roommates are brought into the honors dorms)</p>
<p>Violetterose: I’m surprised the SEAS AP policy isn’t on the web site – I searched and couldn’t find it either. The policies are different from the college. Most of the humanities credits are accepted the same, but the technical classes are different. I’m not 100% sure if only 5s are accepted and not 4s, but I know that a 5 on the AP Chem will get you credit for two semesters of chemistry (and you can place out of lab by showing the department your lab notebook), a 5 on the AP Physics C will get you out of the physics class that corresponds to the exam you took (but you still need to take the lab here), and a 5 on the Calc BC will get you out of Calc I and II.</p>