<p>No, my son does.</p>
<p>Cons of Richmond:</p>
<ol>
<li> Educational Experience
At Richmond, it's limited. First, the school is so insular that going to Richmond is more like a second go at high school instead of college. The professors at Richmond are so-so and their involvement with students is no different that at any of the other fine educational institutions you could go to with the numbers required at Richmond. Richmond boasts about its unique leadership school and study abroad opportunities. News flash - Leadership Studies doesn't mean anything to anyone looking at your resume and every college in the land offers study abroad - for far, far less than 42k per year.</li>
</ol>
<p>Price
Educational quality ties into price. Richmond has nothing unique that makes the price worthwhile. Regardless of what people say, the school is not recognized as a strong academic school generally. It's not on par with the top LAC schools - and never will be. Additionally, I'm not really sure of anything the school does to really help its students succeed after graduation. Many other schools have far superior career services and alumni networks to help new graduates.</p>
<p>Sports
They are god awful at Richmond.</p>
<p>Facilities
Not worth the price. No matter how nice they are, it doesn't change the fact that you're stuck out in the middle of the woods at a what feels like an insane asylum set way back in the woods where nobody will find it.</p>
<p>The Students
The student body at Richmond is boring, generally dull, and homogeneous.</p>
<p>In general -
The options you have with the numbers to get into Richmond are vast. There are so many better schools out there that have something special to offer, and those should be investigated. At its core, Richmond is just an expensive mediocre academics school with a pretty campus. As a parent or a student, I'd want to get a lot more with my college education.</p>
<p>URDefect-i think your just bitter.
So i guess ill take the time to post something.
Here is the way I look at it. If you go to richmond expect to work. The classes are TOUGH, but you will learn so much here its amazing. The teachers do care (you can always go and ask them for extra help), and the class sizes are small. It feels kinda highschool-ish at times, but thats ok. If you want a school thats close nit and academically rigorous, Richmond is the school for you. But if you are looking for a school thats more focused on the social aspect of college, richmond might not be for you. Just make sure you take a visit-a full visit-weekday and weekends. And dont just take the tour, explore on your own; go up and talk to a richmond student, we will be more than willing answer any of your questions.
Well, thats about it.</p>
<p>My son was offered a scholarship at both Villanova and at Richmond. He decided on Richmond because he felt the academics were better and they had a better acceptance rate in medical school. In addition, my daughter graduated from Richmond in 07 and was offered a great job at a local insurance firm. All in all Richmond has the edge unless the religion factor plays a part in your decision.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that I am the parent, not the student, but I feel there are very few cons regarding UR. My daughter graduated in 07 and was offered a great job, even before graduating. My son is now a freshman and is being offered every opportunity. It is a very hands on school. If you have a problem there is always someone to talk to you. I just got back from family weekend and I could not have been more pleased. If I had to come up with cons I would say that its reputation is not up to the level of education one receives at Richmond. I think that this will change with the new president. He seems to be doing a great job and is very well respected.</p>
<p>I am currently leaning toward Richmond but can't decide between Colgate, Wake Forest, and UNC-Chapel Hill for economics. Suggestions?</p>
<p>Take into consideration the size and student population. If you feel that a slightly larger school will give you more options academically as well as socially, then strongly lean that way. If you feel that a small school (with a homogeneous student population of under 3,000) is your thing, then lean more that way.</p>
<p>James, I was an econ major and I would strongly recommend UR for the program. The B-school (as well as UR in general) have a lot of momentum right now. The B-school expansion will be complete after your freshman year (it breaks ground in a couple of weeks). While I can't find the individual rankings right now, Businessweek ranked UR's econ program in the top 10 for undergrad b-schools. I would strongly recommend contacting a couple of the professors (Dean and Dolon would both be strong choices (aka Drs. Death and Doom -- difficult professors, but very good) and ask away. </p>
<p>How's Political Science?</p>
<p>James, can't speak much on polysci, as I didn't take any courses, but UR's polysci department has a nice (relatively) new building (2003/4) as its home. It has programs in place to allow for interning with VA legislators (since Richmond is the capital of VA) and there is an eight week program for interning in DC as well. </p>
<p>Here is the link to the Polysci home page. University</a> of Richmond School of Arts & Sciences: Political Science</p>
<p>thanks!!!!</p>
<p>Honestly, From what I heard is that U richmonds campus is so far from the rest of the city and there is no point of going there if you dont own a car. Is it this true? Because Ive lived in a suburb that is like in the middle of no where and is really far from basically civilization.</p>
<p>It's in the western suburbs. Part of campus is in Henrico Co., but the majority is in the city of Richmond (in VA, cities are not officially part of any counties). It's a 15 minute drive downtown, so if that's in the middle of nowhere, then I assume you're used to urban living. The most popular places for the students to go is Cary St. which is 10 minutes away, Stony Point Mall, a five minute drive, Short Pump Town Center, a ten minute drive, or downtown to the bars, which again is just a 15 minute drive. The closest grocery, gas station, off campus quick eats, pharmacy is about a minute drive from campus. </p>
<p>It helps to have a car, but a good number of freshmen have them, so chances are your friends can take you anywhere you want to go, and a good number of people are willing to let you borrow their car as long as you pay for gas. I didn't have a car until my senior year but it was never an issue for me or my friends to get off campus if we ever wanted to. </p>
<p>I even created a little map for you.
A is UR
B is Downtown
C is StonyPoint
D is Short Pump
E is Cary St.
F is the Ukrop's Shopping Center</p>
<p>Thanks for mapping those locations, Spider05. That’s useful for out-of-state prospective students. </p>
<p>It appears that the Spider Shuttle only goes to Carytown, Ukrop’s, and Short Pump. Does anybody have an opinion about how convenient the shuttles are to use to go to those places? Is it usually better to take a car?</p>
<p>the only con for me (personally) is URichmond doesn't have an engineering program :'(</p>
<p>WhiteWind, the only problem with the shuttle is that sometimes a lot of people will decide to take the shuttle and obviously they can't all fit. The way to make sure you get on is to be one of the first people there waiting. But as far as pick up/drop off times, the shuttle is always very dependable. It's certainly more convenient to have a car, because then you can come and go as you please, rather than adhere to a timed schedule, but they time the drop off/pick ups at good time increments so you're not rushed or waiting for a long time. Basically, it's nice because it's free transportation :)</p>
<p>Also, nobody really takes the bus here, but UR does provide free bus passes to all students so we can ride the bus for free. Our route basically just goes into the city by VCU, if you ever needed to get there. (Me & my friend ended up taking the bus once).</p>
<p>Static, have you seen UR's 3-1-1, 3-2, etc. programs? There's a couple that let you get your bachelor's in whatever at Richmond (probably chemistry or math or computer science or something along those lines) AND a masters in engineering in only five years - this is specifically available at UVA and VCU. Depending on how important it is to you to spend your whole 4 years at Richmond, it could be a really good option. Here is a link:</p>
<p>kelliebm, you may have just changed my life lol. thanks so much!</p>
<p>re-added my transcript request to U Richmond... oh my gosh, I really hope it's not too late for the "Richmond scholars" deadline</p>
<p>I'll add to what Kelliebm says about engineering at UR. There are actually 5 partner institutions--UVa, VCU, Va Tech, Columbia and George Washington. So you'll go to UR for the first three years and then to a partner for the final 2. You end up with two degrees, one from UR and the other from the partner. In some cases is is two bachelors degrees (BS from UR and B Engineering from partner) in others in is a bachelors and a masters in engineering. If you'd like to talk to the professor who coordinates these programs, let me know and I'll get you the appropriate contact information. </p>
<p>It is NOT too late for the Richmond Scholars deadline!</p>
<p>thanks a lot :D</p>
<p>I am a committed ED incoming freshman, and am thinking about bringing a bike to UR to get to downtown easily. Is this a common practice? I would probably plan on riding the bus in the wintertime, but I am curious if biking is a norm around campus.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>