JUST GOT THE CALL! UR 2021!!!
@Syrupandpancakes Congratulations! I am so happy for you. See you on campus! 
@guineagirl96 What’s one thing/item from your freshman year that you wished that you kept? Or what do you advise freshmen to keep to remember their year. I know at JMU it was the “mapa” I believe it was called. Others can feel free to chime in as well.
@TheYellowBiscuit Haha, I’m probably not the best person to ask, as I keep pretty much everything. I’m not sure there’s anything that all freshmen at UR receive, other than the class t-shirt.
@nopoto457 VCU and UR are very different schools socially, academically, and campus wise. UR’s campus is self-contained, with lots of events on campus, while VCU buildings are spread all across downtown Richmond. Of course, students from UR go downtown for events and concerts and other things, some of which are hosted by VCU, but they’re generally not going there to hang out with VCU students. They’re going there because the nightclubs, performance venues, shops, etc are downtown, and they’re going with their friends from UR.
@dragonmom3 The theater department performs a musical every other year in the spring (we did Godspell this spring and spring 2015 was Funny Girl). Musical Theater is also part of the annual student-run New Faces performance in the fall, which features a cast of students who have never been in a department production, primarily freshmen (I was in the cast my sophomore year, last year was assistant choreographer, and am applying to be music director for this fall).
@guineagirl96 Thanks so much for offering your insight! My son loved U of Richmond, and is looking for a school with clear school spirit. He wants a student body that is enthusiastic about sports (preferably not just one sport), and kids walking around in school tee shirts, etc. He likes the community feel that comes with a spirited vibe. Do you think Richmond fits this description?
@mom2thrie While not all students are into the sports (personally, I don’t attend games; a lot of people attend the basketball games I hear), there definitely is a lot of school spirit! You definitely see a lot of people walking around in school tee shirts and jackets/sweatshirts; that’s probably half of the shirts I wear (from different extracurriculars, organizations, and also just general UR ones)!
Thank you!! I think as much as anything, he’s looking for the sense of community that comes when a majority of the campus is looking towards the same event and excited to represent the school. Are there campus-wide activities that get most people out of their dorms and all involved in the same things?
@mom2thrie There aren’t many things that are completely campus-wide activities for everyone (pig roast and the homecoming concert, as well as the events during welcome week and family weekend come to mind). There are big events for specific class years by residential college, though, such as Westhampton Proclamation for freshman and senior women (freshmen write letters to the senior selves and sign the honor pledge, seniors receive their letters, among other things), Investiture for freshmen men (signing the honor pledge, idk what else they do), Ring Dance for junior women and invited guests (basically a huge debutante ball where you receive your class ring; families often come down for it), etc.
my son is a freshman at UR and he grew up in the crazy DC area. THERE’s TONS to Do at UR and because UR has a lot of funding, if a student has an Idea for a program or activity the college is supportive to make it happen. My son was accepted to 13 schools, he is extremely happy he chose UR
my son is a freshman now at UR. He says the sense of community and bonding is strong! he has friends who chose schools like University or Pittsburgh, Maryland College Park and Ohio State and they are having a really hard time and most want to come home. my son is so happy he chose UR instead of a Big State School
Does anyone know if they tailgate at U of Richmond? Do the football games get a big turnout?
Yes, there are tailgates at UR before the football games! No idea about the turnout for games though- I’m not into sports, so I don’t go to games.
@citymama9 Someone helpfully posted this article when I asked a school spirit question in a different thread. It sounds like tailgating is alive and well, though I suspect it is Greek dominated.
Here’s an article about tailgating this year: http://www.thecollegianur.com/article/2017/09/revamped-student-tailgate-aims-to-increase-football-game-attendance
@mom2thrie Thanks so much!
Real quick before I get to my questions: WOW! This is such an amazing source of information about Richmond, especially as someone who probably won’t be able to see campus before I apply this has been so incredibly helpful - pretty sure this has convinced me to EDII, so thanks to everyone who has contributed to this, especially @guineagirl96
Post-college my hope is to enter the world of either international politics (i.e. UN) or international nonprofits; I’ve spent half of my life in a different country, so I’m not too interested in American politics, although I’m not dismissing it as a possibility. I’m debating between Richmond and American University in DC. I don’t expect Richmond to match the internship and connection opportunities American would give me, but Richmond has everything else I’m looking for which is why I’m probably applying ED as an International Studies major with a World Diplomacy concentration. I know Richmond has internship opportunities during the summer in DC but in terms of my major/what I’m interested in, what kind of opportunities (i.e. internships, excursions, etc.) do they offer during the school year? Is there anything in that department that sets Richmond apart from other schools? Honestly, if nobody has an answer to those questions, I’ll take any bit of info from a current student about the International Studies major, or even the Political Science major.
My second question is quick: I also want to be a Leadership Studies major - how hard is it to get into?
Once again, thanks to everyone who has helped in this thread, and if there’s anything anyone would like to share (since, as I said earlier, I won’t be visiting campus before applying) I’ll be more than happy to hear (read) it!
@HSSenior2018 glad you’re so interested in U o R! as a stem major myself, I do not know all of the details about international studies, however, I know enough to give you some help:
You mentioned feeling that American has better internship opportunities than U of R, and though I’m biased haha, I do believe that is false. There are many reasons why U of R students have fantastic internship opportunities: great reputation worldwide and especially in the RVa and DC area which are teeming with opportunities for young people, strong and involved alumni network who are eager to work with the newest generation of spiders, amazing career services office who assist you every step of the way to find and prepare you for opportunities (including resume revisions, mock interviews, business etiquette workshops, etc.), small undergraduate population and thus limited competition for internships. One of the best parts, too, is the Richmond Guarantee, which means if you get an unpaid internship, you can be reimbursed by the university up to $4000 for for your time. Literally the best of both worlds: internship credit/experience + MONEY!
Since you mentioned an interest in international studies, I just think its worth mentioning how AMAZING our study abroad program is. As a small school, our office is really able to work with each student individually to find the programs/opportunities that each student is looking for. You can go abroad to really any country for summers, semesters, multiple summers, multiple semesters, or really any combination. I also know of many students, from many disciplines, who have done internships while studying abroad which I think fits what you’re looking for perfectly!
Leaderships studies is another fantastic program we have here. During the fall semester of your sophomore year, you apply to be admitted to the program. This isn’t a hard application though, I believe it includes 1-2 SHORT, simple essay responses, maybe one or two recommendations, and proof that you took or are currently enrolled in LDST 101 or 102 (our two leadership studies intro level courses). I’ve spoken to one of the professors in the program and if I remember correctly, bout 70% of students who apply are admitted (really, the admissions processes isn’t meant to be competitive, its just to make sure that the people entering the program are genuinely interested in the program and show signs that they will be successful!). Basically, you shouldn’t worry about not getting into Jepson after you get into the school bc, unless you have some major red flags on your Jepson application, you’ll probably get in.
Lastly, since you said you can’t visit campus, I just need to tell you how beautiful our campus is. Trust me, every morning I wake up, look around campus, and think about how damn lucky I am to go to this school. Google our campus, search it on instagram, you need to see it. Hands down the prettiest campus I’ve ever visited (and trust me I’ve visited many).
Hi @HSSenior2018,
Apologies for the delay in responding (its been a busy end of semester).
I agree with pretty much all of what @nikuedu said.
The one thing I want to add is that at UR, international studies majors are actually required to study/intern abroad, since the school recognizes how important that experience is for developing your skills.
Hi all! I read online that UR doesn’t recommended that freshman take more than 4 or 4.5 units their first semester. With the first year seminar already taking 1 unit away, that means students only have about 3 units? Then if a student were to do one of foreign language courses to complete the general education requirement that’s 2 units. Is it common for freshman to only take 3 classes for first semester?
Or in general- how many units do students typically take a semester?
@softballGeek Yes, it is common for freshmen to take 3 classes their first semester if they choose to study a language that is an intensive 2 unit course (French, Spanish*, Italian, and Portuguese are the only intensive languages). But not all freshmen take a language course their first semester and many also take languages that are not intensive, since most languages actually aren’t (Spanish for advanced beginners, Arabic, Chinese, German, Greek, Japanese, Latin, Russian, and 300-level courses in all languages are one unit courses).
Most students take 4-4.5 units their first semester, and then 4-5.5 in following semesters. You can’t register for more than 5.5 units unless you get dean approval (which I’ve actually done every semester, including my first).