can i get in?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Richmond
1

<p>hi... i'm hoping someone can give me some insight. i'm a junior, white female from oklahoma. i go to a private school, probably the best in the state. i visited richmond over spring break, and have talked with numerous reps from the school, and i LOVE it. i posted this in the "what are my chances" thread, but i thought people here would know more about the school.</p>

<p>STATS
gpa- 3.33 ish
rank- school doesn't rank
PSAT- 201
SAT- 2100 (680 math, 710 verbal, 710 writing)
will take SAT IIs in french, us history, literature, and possibly math 2
ACT- 33
courses- my school doesn't offer honors, unfortunately, but will graduate with 6 APs
9th- english, french 2, geometry, bio (usually a soph. class), world history
10th- english, french 3, alg 2, acc chem (equivalent to an honors class), art
11th- AP us hist, AP french 4, english, genetics, pre calc
12th- AP euro, AP gov, AP english, AP french 5, independent art study</p>

<p>ECs
4 years of french club (hope to be president next year), 4 years of pep club, 4 years community club, 2 years JSA
4 years basketball team
either high honor roll or honor roll each trimester at school
9th- school award for "integrity, honesty, positive social interaction, and conscientious application of effort in academics and school activities"
various art awards
attended nat'l young leaders conference in DC
nat'l honor roll, who's who
various communitry service, missions trips, etc
babysitting job in the summer (i doubt that counts)
worked as receptionist in dentist office
i may be forgetting some...</p>

<p>that's all that i can think to put. i have several teachers who will write me good recs, and essay writing is my strength, so i should be able to write a good app essay.</p>

2

<p>You seem to be very well rounded. I think you have a great shot. And don't stress about it, because in all honesty, richmond isn't THAT competitive to get into. If you absolutely love it, save yourself a lot of stress senior year and apply early decision. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>thanks... i hadn't thought about ED, that's definitely something to think about. i talked to my GC about it (my school has sent several kids to richmond in the past) and he told me that they all had similar stats but lower test scores. so i'm trying to be optimistic. at least i'm not trying to get into harvard or something like so many people seem to be on this site.</p>

4

<p>Richmond is a fine school but please understand that it jacked the tuition substantially for the incoming class (from $31,000 +/- to $40,500 +/-).</p>

<p>The press release issued by Richmond announcing the sharp tuition increase claimed the "adjustment" placed it in line with its academic peers. The press release identified Richmond's academic peers to include Duke & Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Get real: no one, but no one at either Duke or Dartmouth considers Richmond (a/k/a "RICHmen") to be an academic peer.</p>

<p>University of Richmond is not a great college of university.</p>

5

<p>otis- thanks for your reply. i've heard about the tuition increase, and that does seem odd. but regardless of price, i want to go to the school that i feel is right for me. i don't care if it's at the same level as schools like duke. richmond is a very good school, sure it's no ivy league, but that's not what i'm looking for. when i visited there, it just felt right. i may change my mind by the time i apply to schools, but as of now i think it's the place for me.</p>

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<p>i think you have a pretty good chance i had almost the same gpa with higher test scores. write a good essay and you should get in, and just to clarify otis it is no walk in the park anymore. admission rate will be below 40%, lower than wake forest, emory and a few other good schools.</p>

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<p>farb...just so you know...I called the Wake Forest admissions office earlier last month and they said that their admission rate for the incoming class is something like 36%...and Emory's admission rate for last year's class was 38% (couldn't find information about current stats yet).</p>

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<p>saying UR is not a great university is ridiculous...they are moving up the ranks every year and now that they will be ranked with national liberal arts schools, they will really be able to establish national prestige...I assure all of you considering UR, you are getting your money's worth as far as academics</p>

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<p>observer, maybe, i got into wake this year as well. but i doubt it moved up from 47% to 36% in one or two years. and im sure emory is harder to get into</p>

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<p>whitwilson_ncsu:</p>

<p>Do you truly believe that Richmond is a "great" university? [you wrote: "saying UR is not a great university is ridiculous..."].</p>

<p>Whether the University of Richmond is a "great" university depends upon how you define the word "great".</p>

<p>Please see Merriam- Webster definition of "great": chief or preeminent over others.</p>

<p>With that definition do you still believe that Richmond is "great"?</p>

<p>Is Richmond a good Master's University? Definitely yes.</p>

<p>Is Richmond a very good Master's University? Probably yes.</p>

<p>Is Richmond a "great" University? Absolutely not.</p>

<p>Any way you slice it Richmond is not a preeminent University. For that matter it is not even the preeminent University in the state of Virginia [see: UVA]</p>

<p>What are examples of preeminent/ "great" Universities?
In no particular order: Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Princeton, Cal Teck, MIT, UPenn, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, UChicago, to name just a few.</p>

<p>Are there any of the aforementioned Universities that you believe to be an academic peer of the University of RICH-men?</p>

<p>I stand by my statement that the University of Richmond is a "fine school" but please do not confuse it with a "great" University as you previously stated.</p>

<p>Do you really believe that someone should turn down an Ivy for Richmond?</p>

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<p>I believe people should turn down ivies for most schools. But that's just me because I think the best educations come in cmall class sizes. For me, the undergraduate experience is better elsewhere. The professors at Ivies are first rate, as are the programs, the facilities and just about everything else. However, professors are useless if you don't have one on one contact with them. The facilities and programs are great, but do you really want to deal with a TA? (From experience, that's a no)</p>

<p>I'm not saying Richmond is as good, it's not. In fact, it was, academically, near the bottom of my college list, above Holy Cross and Connecticut College. With that said, no one posting here is looking at Richmond as a University. We're looking at the college, the undergraduate experience. As you're most likely aware, its classification is changing next year to be considered with the LACs. That is a much more accurate portrayal of the school, in my mind. With 3000 students and a small number of graduate students, along with it only being a Master's University, it has no business being placed with Harvard, Texas, Stanford. Those schools are much bigger and actually publish national research and papers. Richmond does not, not because it's a bad school but because it's different from the afortementioned schools. Its undergraduate program and curriculum is quite good, probably better than you give it credit for.</p>

<p>It's better than a "fine school". It's not a Great University...yet. However, with its endowment growing the way it is and the recent initiatives into "improving" (aka perfecting its image for potential students. ie. new health center, library renovations, aiding the quad), a case can certainly be made for its potential. </p>

<p>I'd also like it noted for the record that Richmond has a very strong business program.</p>

<p>Lastly, if you ever call it the University of RICH-men again...</p>

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<p>farb...I am just telling you what the admissions office told me...this was a record year for them in applications so their acceptance rate initially was genuinely 36%. I asked them about the discrepancy from last year to this year and apparently they had to increase their class size by about 100 students (10%) and they did not know this until the middle of the application cycle. So, they had not recruited for more students essentially. It kind of threw things out of whack from what they told me in the whole acceptance rate thing.</p>

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<p>What the hell is your problem Otis. Do you really have enough spare time on your hands you feel compelled to write things like </p>

<p>"Please see Merriam- Webster definition of "great": chief or preeminent over others."</p>

<p>Really, who cites Merriam-Webster?</p>

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<p>Ummmmm...IamTheRanking...that was not me you are talking about...i think that is Otis...</p>

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<p>My mistake Obvserver.</p>

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<p>IAmTheRainKng,</p>

<p>Please read the informative post by "Kossitan" and I believe you may better understand that the position expressed by some in this thread that Richmond is a "great" University is not correct. </p>

<p>As written by Kossitan, Richmond is not a University but more of a LAC in the mold of Colgate University. </p>

<p>I regret that you found it offensive that I reminded posters of the meaning of the word "great" but some posters in this thread have trivialized the word. </p>

<p>Finally I would disagree with Kossitan's sweeping assumption that all student that attend an Ivy will have TA's.
[Kossitan's quote: The professors at Ivies are first rate.... professors are useless if you don't have one on one contact with them. The facilities and programs are great, but do you really want to deal with a TA? (From experience, that's a no)].</p>

<p>My understanding is that TA's are not commonly used to teach undergrads at Brown and Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Thank you for participating in this discussion.</p>

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<p>If we have this "great or not" discussion about UR in 10-20 years, my side of the argument will likely have more substantive data...UR is a great school right now and well on its way to becoming top-notch...give it 10-20 years...</p>

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<p>IAm...no worries.</p>

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<p>Otis, you are correct about the TAs at Dartmouth. (In fact, in drafting my response earlier I planned [before I deleted it] to mention Dartmouth as an Ivy I would consider.) You are also right that Brown uses TAs less than comparable schools--and particularly other Ivies. However, many, if not most, students will encounter at least a few TAs in their time there.</p>

<p>I also believe that most students that attend an Ivy will have a fair number of TAs during their four years. Both of my friends at Harvard had a TA in each of their classes first semester, as did my friends at Columbia and Yale.</p>

<p>I can't speak for anyone else, but I do not find TAs conducive to aiding my education. That's why I didn't apply to any large schools, especially Ivies. (and the fact that I wouldn't have gotten in--but there are confounding reasons for that outcome.)</p>

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<p>Otis- Richmond modeled itself on Haverford College after receiving its grant from E. Claiborne Robins. Richmond spends more money per student than almost eveyr college and university in the country, with the exception of the majority of the Ivies</p>