Hi - are Spiders in Session still available. I clicked on the link recently and get a 503 Error Portal is inactive message. Will be visiting with my son on 9/18 and he is very interested in doing this. He’s done the campus tour and Spider Chat previously. Thanks for any insight.
Looks like they start up again in mid-September.
Is there any town area you can walk to from campus?
@momtogkc Unfortunately, there isn’t really anything you can walk to from campus because of the campus layout. There isn’t really any safe pedestrian route to off campus.
@guineagirl96 Not even a coffee shop or pizza place? That’s too bad. Thank you for the answer though!
The campus is in a suburban location. If you don’t have a car, it’s not expensive at all to use a ride share service to visit Carytown or the strip malls closer to campus.
When I visited the campus for the first time with my D, we registered for the campus tour. She received a voucher for a free meal in the campus dining hall and I received a 50 percent off coupon if I recall after the completion of the tour. We agree that it’s important to also visit the surrounding area, but if you’re visiting the campus, we highly recommend you experience a meal at the on-campus dining hall if you have the time.
They have a good shuttle system, though. My daughter has already used the shuttles multiple times to go to the Shops at Willow Lawn, Short Pump Town Center and Carytown.
https://transportation.richmond.edu/bus-shuttle/index.html
Was told by U of R alums that their cafeteria food is really good and community folks would go there to eat.
My essay is about chemistry but I want to major in business. For the sake of uniformity I was thinking of putting I undecided and chemistry in the intended majors tab. Will this affect anything if I actually want to major in business when I get there (if I get in)
No. It’s a liberal arts college and you can’t even declare a major until sophomore year. My S went in thinking maybe PPEL maybe pre-Med, now thinking business. All you need to do is meet the requirements (3 classes and GPA min) to declare business.
@carolineandrea as @havenoidea said, the major you select should not matter. Declaring a business major (or any major) doesn’t happen until your sophomore year. That said, the fact that your essay is about a subject you don’t want to major in (at least, at this time) is absolutely not a problem. UR values students that have varied interests and encourages students to explore as many subjects as they’d like during their time there. Many students end up with multiple majors and/or minors (I myself was a double major, double minor, and my application essays had nothing to do with either of my majors). If you want to major in business, I would put business as your major of interest.
@citymama9 Re: Acceptance rates of Early Decision applicants at UR, the only numbers I’ve seen released are those for 2017-2018 (last year’s freshmen). Acc. to their Common Data Set numbers, they received 674 ED applications and accepted 333 - which is a 49% acceptance rate. (Pretty big boost over Regular Decision!) I have not seen them release stats for ED1 vs ED2, nor separate the ‘stats’ of accepted ED accepted students from those of the general group of accepted students. Here is a link to UR’s most recent Common Data Set numbers / stats / info. https://ifx.richmond.edu/pdfs/CDS2017-18.pdf
I have a few questions. First, how is the pre-med program? Are there a lot of opportunities for research and are the science professors good? Also, how is the alumni network. And lastly, how competitive is the Richmond Scholars program? Are they all Ivy League level, HYPSM level, or would they even be considered strong candidates among among students at top schools?
A parent’s perspective: I attended accepted student’s day science presentation last year and thought the faculty were amazing: smart, funny, approachable. They talked about the research the were doing with students. Bc there are only undergrads, there are great research opportunities. 2 of the new Endeavors (1st yr living/learning community) were in Biology this yr, and our S has a great professor (background PhD Duke) who has had them over for dinner. The school actually has a free MCAT program for students. My S decided against medicine but I could definitely recommend it for premed.
We hear the alumni network is great. We experienced this 1st hand during move in when eating at a restaurant in Richmond. An alum who had recently relocated to Richmond heard us talking, ended up giving us her business card just in case we needed anything (we live across country)! And she said she regularly had spiders intern for her.
Re, Richmond Scholars, I can’t say for sure what stats would need to be now that they’ve made it a new program with less Scholars but fullride plus. S got Presidential this past yr with 34 ACT/1520 ACT, ~ 3.8 UW GPA (8 APs (no fluff kind)), lots of state level awards, really unusual/high level ECs, a national level award. But, he slacked off 1st semester senior yr (had 2 lowish Bs and rest low As) and I’ve always wondered if he might have gotten the Scholars had he just kept up his grades. But I don’t know. Maybe someone who received Scholars this year could chime in?
are Freshman allowed to have cars on campus?
@FrozenMaineMom Yes, any student can apply for/purchase a parking pass. They are assigned to specific lots based on which dorm they are in.
@guineagirl96, @MON824, and all others who have responded to questions: Thanks so much for your dedication to this thread; it’s been super helpful. My daughter’s application is in and we’re now waiting patiently for a decision. 
Good luck to your daughter @bettzke1 ! I believe it was Tom Petty who said the waiting is the hardest part. I have a sophomore spider and I’m happy to answer any remaining questions you might have, here or directly.
As I’m waiting “patiently”, can someone remind me what Richmond is looking for? Are they as holistic as they say or are they really looking for the highest stats?
@citymama9 I don’t know how admissions decisions are made specifically, but my D18 chose Richmond over a couple of higher ranked schools (as if that really matters) after an EA acceptance and she is very confident that she made the right decision.
She had a 33 ACT and a 3.75/4.4–around 8 or 9 AP’s-- a few B’s, (one C!) certainly not the perfect student but very bright and hardworking.
We are from CA, which I think helped, and she also went to two college fairs and “checked in” with the regional admissions person-who was very nice.
Her friends at UR are a great fit for her, with a wide range of backgrounds and interests.
Good luck to you and your child in this difficult but exciting time!