What is the reason that students typically take additional courses? Is it so they can get ahead complete gen eds and go on to do major courses and possibly double major? I’ve read that a lot of students at UR tend to double major and/or double minor? Why is this so often/frequent to happen at UR?
Well, 4 units at UR is the equivalent of 14 credits, which is a considered a light load. You also need to average more than 4 units a semester in order to graduate in 4 years, since 35 units are required for graduation. However, 5 units is the equivalent of 17.5 credits, which is on the heavier side at most colleges, but is actually considered the normal load at UR. I’d say whether most students take 4 or 5 academic classes depends on whether they want an easier or harder semester (and also dependent on things like course rotation/availability and whether they are taking a really hard course- if you’re taking the hardest course in your major that semester, for example, you may only want to take 4 classes), and then may also take other things that count for credit (also, note that while most courses are 1 unit, there are courses that are worth 0, .25, .5, 1, and 2 units, as well as occasionally other values). I can’t speak for all students, but 5 academic courses is a challenging but very doable schedule that allows you ample room for electives and exploring your interests, while still fulfilling requirements.
The reason I always overloaded is because I’m a double major, double minor, so I needed to take 5 academic classes a semester in order to graduate in 4 years. But I’m also really involved in music, so I take a couple sets of lessons and ensembles for credit each semester, which adds to my number of units. So the overload for me is never to register for more academic classes, but rather allow room to register for my music commitments while still take a full max academic load. It’s actually not that easy to get a dean override on your credit cap, as you must present the dean with the list of courses you want to take and a justification for why you want/need to take each course. They then decide whether your reasons are good enough, and whether, based on your previous academic performance, they think you can handle the schedule. I only took 6 academic classes once, and that was because two of them were only .5 unit courses (one of which was required for my major, so I paired it with a .5 unit elective). I actually spread my gen eds out and am doing one now, and one next semester (I did one second semester junior year, COM 2 second semester sophomore year, and the rest, besides FYS, were covered by AP credit or duplicated with requirements in my majors/minors). Many people actually hold off on completing many of their gen eds until junior/senior year.
I think the reason double majors and/or double minors are so frequent at UR is that the degree requirements are really flexible and people have varied interests. You have a lot of electives outside your major and gen eds, so you can use those to fulfill another major and/or minors. When it’s possible without having to take a more than normal workload, why wouldn’t you do it if you have interest in those areas? My breakdown of academic courses (excluding courses I got transfer credit for, courses that count for more than one category, and music ensembles/lessons) ended up being 6 gen eds, 9 for math major, 8.5 for CS major, 4 for the music minor (also requires lesson/ensemble units that I don’t consider academic classes), 6 for the dance minor, and 5.5 pure electives, for a total of 39 academic units. That’s 5 units a semester (which is a normal load), except for my last semester (next semester) where I’m only taking 4 academic units, because I actually only need 3 more courses to graduate and there’s only one elective that I wanted to take and would fit with my schedule.
A little demonstration of the flexibility of the degree requirements: majors require 9-18.5 units (usually in the 10-12 range), minors require 5-10 units (most are in the 5-6 range), and then gen eds are up to 12 units. So even if you had to take all 12 gen eds and the most involved major, you’d still have about 5 courses left over to meet the minimum required to graduate, assuming you had no courses that count for multiple requirements (which usually is not the case), enough to minor in many areas.
How do roomates work at Richmond?
As an RD applicant last year, I got started with this stuff around June/July. You’ll be directed to a Facebook group where you can potentially meet some other first-year students. Later, you are prompted to complete a personal information survey so that you can get put with somebody you would probably like (and who doesn’t do things too radically different). You specify preferred residence types: gendered, co-ed, or doesn’t matter (special accommodations also available for selection). From what I’ve gathered, the difference in experience between choosing one over another is extremely insignificant, and I’d personally pick doesn’t matter again.
For roommates, if you want to, you can specify exactly who you want to room with, and they will accommodate as best as they can. You will have ample opportunity to connect via the Facebook group and people will advertise themselves, but note that only a small group try to sell themselves for rooming. If you don’t select a person by name, they’ll select one for you (and they’re surprisingly good at picking good fits as far as I see). The system will give you their Richmond email and you’ll have to work together to get stuff sorted out.
Hope this helps
Hello everyone!
Excited to announce that I am the new Forum Champion for University of Richmond (and Math/CS majors forum), which means on College Confidential, I’ll be a go-to person for info on the school on college confidential. Note that this is a role I was selected for by College Confidential and that, while I am a (soon to be!) alumni, my responses here are my own opinions and knowledge and that I am not an employee or official representative of the school.
I look forward to helping everyone in this new role!
@guineagirl96 Congrats. Have you graduated yet? What are you doing next?
@londondad thanks! Graduation is tomorrow! I’ve accepted my dream job as a mathematician and computer scientist for the government, which I’ll start in about a month.
Great! Congrats!
Congratulations, guineagirl96!! Thank you for all your posts thus far. Our S18 is an incoming Spider, and your insights helped with that decision!
@guineagirl96 Do you know an approximate time when is the University of Richmond will be done offering spots on their waitlist. And do you know how many spots are available for this year’s waitlist?
@Dragslaya123 No idea, unfortunately. It varies a lot from year to year based on how many people commit to attending.
i’ve been taken off the waitlist and committed, and i was wondering how to accept the financial award. do i just need to fill out the physical forms sent to me by mail and fax it to the financial office? does anyone know when the due date is for waitlist people? im mildly freaking about because the paper says by may 1st, but i’m assuming that’s for regular people.
@dangjamja I would assume so, but you can call the financial aid office to be sure.
My daughter is considering several schools to do ED. I’m just trying to find out what kind of stats are needed for U of Richmond. It’s hard knowing from the website since they include everyone. Any idea? Thanks so much.
@citymama9 I’m not aware of ED stats being higher or lower than the overall stats, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t.
Two places where you can look at the overall stats are the student profile: https://admissions.richmond.edu/studentprofile/index.html and the common data set (part C is the relevant section): https://ifx.richmond.edu/pdfs/CDS_SectionC.PDF The common data set is particularly helpful, because it tells you exactly what percentage of admitted students had scores within a certain range.
Thank you so much. ED usually has higher acceptance rates, but I have heard that so many schools have gotten so much more competitive than the previous year or two so what is on the Common Data Set might already be obsolete. In your opinion what do you think Richmond values most in an applicant? Also, since you dance, do you think Richmond needs/wants seriously trained dancers to minor in dance? Again, thank you very much. @guineagirl96
@citymama9 Apologies for the delay in responding- I was out of town. I think Richmond values students that have demonstrated they have a passion or have made a commitment to an activity/field, but also excel in other fields. They really like having seriously trained dancers in the dance company, University Dancers (UD), and/or the minor! Students that are on scholarship for dance (of which, there are full rides available as part of the Richmond Scholars program, in addition to smaller department scholarships) are usually required to be in UD and at least minor in dance. The program is really welcoming to people of all backgrounds, including those that with extensive experience and training, and you can major or minor in dance without being in UD and you can also be in UD without being a dance major or minor.
Thank you so much. I’m sorry for seeing this so late. You’re always so helpful!!
Can you tell me what kind of committment is needed for Univ Dancers? Hours per week etc? Also what kind of dancing? Thanks again.
@citymama9 I wasn’t in UD (conflicted with my music rehearsals) so my hours may be off, but it is a significant time commitment. I believe the estimate they put out is 20-25 hours per week in the fall, which increases in the spring depending on how many pieces you are cast in for the main stage concert. I’ve heard the estimate from actually company members being actually a bit lower in the fall, as it depends on how many rehearsals you have. At least 10 hours a week seems to be a fair low-end estimate. The company is primarily a modern/contemporary company. Company class is 3 times a week (1.5 hours each) and are ballet, modern, and jazz, if I remember correctly. Pieces can be very varied for the concert- usually, modern/contemporary, ballet, and jazz are all represented, and I’ve also seen hip-hop and tap pieces over the years.
Thanks so much for the info. Very helpful!