Current student can answer questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Richmond
61

<p>Legend, yes, UR has a rugby team, which was linked. From personal experience (URRFC alum), it is the source of some of my best memories from college. The guys are a great bunch, it's an active club, a great way to meet people freshman year, and a fun social outlet. I would highly recommend it. I had never played the game before college and a roomate convinced me to go out for the team (I played football in high school). My freshman year, the club was in bad shape, but through my four years we went from DIII up to DII and we were the first DIII team to ever beat a DI team. We qualified for the state tournament my junior and senior year and have played at MARFU (a regional tournament to qualify for nationals) the past three years. </p>

<p>rmatai, superfacial diversity is somewhat limited. If you look around, you may be disappointed, but I found that there was a ton of diversity with my friends. My friends were from all over the country (world for that matter), had various religious beliefs, came from various levels of wealth and had various colors of skin. It's up to each individual person to find the diversity, as it may not be as apparent as just looking at skin tones. This past year's freshman class was the most diverse ever in the school's history, and there has been a big push to recruit a more diverse student body, so I think it's a trend you're likely to see continuing. </p>

<p>As for the school size, I went to a high school with 1,500 guys, so UR was a nice size for me. I felt like I knew most everyone in my class by junior year, but at graduation, I realized I only recognized about half my class or so. I really do wonder how I missed all those people during my four years, but I didn't make it out to the library as much as I should have, so perhaps that explains it.</p>

<p>Also, I wanted to extend a welcome to RCDeanJoe. The Deans at UR are a huge asset to the school and Joe is the new men's Dean at UR. I had the chance to meet you at the young alum tent at tailgate one week -- I was in the throwback UR jersey.</p>

62

<p>The campus is beautiful and their admissions people (including student tour guides) put on a great sales pitch. Please, don't get taken in by the beauty of the campus. The truth is, they're all trying to sell you on the school. It's way overpriced. The food is absolutely horrible--chicken EVERY night. The male freshman dorm is horrible--like a dungeon. Mold was growing out of the vents. They turn the airconditioning off at will--was 92 degrees in my son's room. If you're not a drunk or in a frat, there is nothing to do on campus. They boast about a large number of clubs but most are inactive. Five kids would show up to the College Republicans meetings!!! No one shows up to basketball games. Movies on Sundays consist of a video shown on a TV. You're stuck on a campus with nothing to do. Nothing within walking distance. Campus shuttle is a joke--holds about 12 kids and rarely shows up. Football games are off campus so unless you have a car or know someone with a car, forget about it. Clicks galore, bigotted rich snobs who walk around in their North Face denali's. If you're from NY, I suggest going to school in the Northeast. No diversity down there. Nicest kids were the international students. Save your money and stay up North. You'll be much happier. Trust me. Son transferred out after a year and came back north. Loves his public university in New York where the everything is better and one third of the price.</p>

63

<p>The campus life is terrible. If you don't join a frat or drink hard core, there isn't anything to do on campus. School spirit is pathetic. Single sex dorms are ridiculous. They try to tell you that it doesn't matter socially but it does. The only thing good about the school are the professors. There is a website online that shows safety/crime statistics. Check it out and look up University of Richmond. For a small school they have a very high number of alcohol related incidents. Do the research and you'll find it.</p>

64

<p>NYsmile, Thanks a lot for this information. I did get some information through an aquaintance whose son attended and transferred at the end of one year. I still wanted to keep an open mind, but some of the social issues that you wrote about were also told to me. This student, who came from the NE, also transferred to a school in the NE, but to a private U.</p>

65

<p>website is <a href="http://www.securityoncampus%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.securityoncampus&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

66

<p>Son went there and after a month he knew he had to get out of there. He managed to hang in and finish out the year with straight A's. He now goes to a SUNY and loves everything about it. The kids are nice, classes are great, food is good, packed ice hockey games, so much to do. 1/3 of the price. Of the 5 kids from his NY school that went to Virginia colleges, 4 transferred out after a year.</p>

67

<p>nysmile, I have a son who goes to a public school and Va and he loves it.</p>

68

<p>northeastmom, Glad to hear he's happy. I can only speak from our experience with U. or R. Campus life there was horrible in every way but the admissions office sells it well. I just want kids from the northeast to really think about what it is that they like about the place. I don't want them to base their choice on the landscape of the campus or on the sales pitch of the admissions. They are very good at selling the place. Truth is, it's nothing like what they say. Kids are more interested in the status of the Richmond logo than the school spirit. So glad he's out of there.</p>

69

<p>Thanks, nysmile. I just sent a PM to you. Also, I very glad to learn that your son found a place where he is happy too!</p>

70

<p>Ouch! Really? You're brutal, ladies. NJ or Long Island? Betting not Buffalo. Can you lend any substance to your vitrol? It's evident your offsprung did not like UR. Can you share why, specifics? food? mold? talked funny? what was it?</p>

71

<p>whistle Pig, I never had a child there, but was interested in this school. I am not trying to be brutal. I would like to learn about the social culture at this school. Yes, I am from NJ. I can tell you that the person I know who had a son there said that he had a lot of trouble making friends, and it is not because he has problems being social. His childhood and teen years were spent in a suburban area, and he received public school education. He just felt socially quite uncomfortable and unhappy. He also felt that he needed something "larger", but I never heard why.</p>

72

<p>Whistle Pig, the campus is isolated and without a car, you're stuck. It wouldn't be so bad if the school spent some of the outrageous tuition on improving the student campus life and activities but other than joining a frat and drinking hardcore or studying in the library, there is nothing to do on the campus. The professors are very good and in my opinion, that's the only good thing about the school. First impression of the school was extremely high-we bought into the whole beautiful campus and top tier sales pitch. Truth is, don't believe what they tell you at the information sessions. The dorms are very dingy, majority of the kids are spoiled rich kids, there is no diversity, boring campus, nothing to do on campus on weekends, clubs are "on paper" only with poor participation, despite what they say--lack of coed dorms does change the dynamics of the social life. One way to describe it---after searching for the best piece of fruit on the apple tree, you think you've found it, you pick it off the tree, bite into it, and it's full of worms.</p>

73

<p>They may choose not to enter this spitting contest, but you've made some serious allegations and ones that should be of genuine concern to anyones considering UR for themselves or their students.</p>

<p>I'm hoping that UR Admissions might lend some insight to this. And I'm hoping that you might lend some assurance that this is more about UR than yoUR student.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, much of this might be like a beauty contest in which that gorgeous gal from Wyoming is asked if she's for or against world peace ... and she opens her mouth? :confused: And I was so impressed with her gams or whatevers, that we failed to talk about anything of real substance until after we'd decided to get married. Or it maybe simply a function that I see Miss Wyoming as more attractive in her bathing suit than Miss West Virginia. Or it may be that I'm really honked that Miss Wherevershe'sfrom spurned my advances? Who knows. </p>

<p>Can we fetch this back to a more productive tone with substance without abandoning the concerns and what initiated this disillusionment, especially after being initially enamored?</p>

74

<p>As a parent, I would like to learn about the social dynamics on a campus that my son might consider. I think it is fair for someone whose child has attended and transferred to tell us why that happened. Every college will have a number of students who transfer. I just happen to know of only one student who attended UR and he transferred. I do know of alumni who attended and graduated, but that was 30 years ago. The only thing that I heard about from him was how wealthy so many families of students were at that time, yet he was not one of the wealthy. He did go on to a law school and is successful today.</p>

75

<p>Whistle pig, You keep asking about concerns yet our concerns and first hand experiences have been laid out in each post. If you were a parent, you would understand the value of what I've posted. My only suggestion was for parents from the northeast, with bright, athletic, and well rounded kids that have gone through the public school system to re-evaluate why they are so enamored with the school before committing to it. If your kid has gone through the public school system in the northeast, they may find the social dynamics down there somewhat odd. It might be great for some but I have first hand knowledge that more of these kids transfer out in order to attend more diverse, larger, and more active campuses.</p>

<p>PS--your tone and attitude in your postings are exactly what I'm trying to explain to parents about the personality of the student population there. Entitlement and lack of respect for others who aren't exactly like you.</p>

76

<p>Well, I'm going to try to stay out of a spitting contest with my reply, so without further ado, my reply to your "thoughts."</p>

<p>Our food is horrible? While having somewhat limited selections in terms of locations, the dining hall food, from what I heard from visitors from other schools, is quite good compared to their schools. I enjoyed the food I had on a Notre Dame visit better, but I was at UR prior to the dining hall receiving a complete facelift. This link will show you some awards that our dining services has won. University</a> of Richmond Dining Services</p>

<p>I'm curious which freshman male dorm you're referring to, as I never saw mold in my four years, and currently all of the dorms are being renovated.</p>

<p>Nothing to do on campus? With 220 organizations, that's hard to fathom. In fact, looking at the Calendar on campus, which doesn't include a lot of the ongoings (group meetings, club sports practices/competitions, greek happenings, etc.), the week of 1/21 (the first regular back to school week), there is a women's home basketball game, a forum on the elections, an english department lecture, four speakers, the Richmond Men's chorus is performing, a swim meet, a men's basketball game, and a presentation on 100 years of Broadway, featuring the finest moments from the past century of Broadway productions. Sounds like a little bit of everything for any liking and is a pretty typical week. </p>

<p>The clubs/committes I was involved with were pretty active, but I will say that the students are pretty apathetic regarding politics. Again, not sure what organizations your son was involved with, but if they're not very active, why not take the lead and build the club up? I took a club from 30 members my freshman year to over 500 (1 in 6 students on campus) by the time I graduated. </p>

<p>While I was there, movies were shown Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights in the commons on the 110" projection screen, or on a 60" big screen. Not sure what more you could ask for. </p>

<p>Basketball student attendance has been down, but the team has had a number of losing seasons in a row. The team is 7-6 this year, and last night won their third consecutive game by beating Virginia Tech, so I imagine that more students will come out for the games after break. Football has been good the last several years, and we had over 1,200 students out for games (which is 40% of our students -- how many schools can say that?). Obviously those students didn't have an issue with having a car to get to the game. It's especially not a problem since the fraternities run shuttle cars back and forth to the game starting 3 hours in advance. Not sure why your son elected not to use that route since it's free and readily available if none of his friends had a car (which is hard to imagine since all freshmen are allowed to have cars on campus, which is becoming more and more rare at colleges around the country). </p>

<p>The Spider Shuttle, which is what I'm guessing you're referring to, runs to the nearest strip center, which contains several fast food choices, a Stabuck's, a CVS, Blockbuster, a grocer, a bank and a dry cleaner, in addition to the three largest/nicest malls in Richmond. It will also take you to Cary Town, which is a botique shopping area near the football stadium (yet another way to get to the games...) and a Walmart. Below is a link to the schedule. Looks to me like it's pretty regular on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Also, there is a GRTC bus stop on campus. There's also a bus stop on campus that runs down Grove St., which is walking distance to Carytown and the turnaround is downtown, so you can get to the bars. Again, I'm not sure why your son didn't have any friends with cars, as most students were fine with lending out their cars to friends as long as they paid for gas money. University</a> of Richmond - Commons Posting Policy</p>

<p>As for single sex dorms, your son had two choices for housing that were coed. Considering the fact that the girls dorms are literally a 20 step walk from the guys dorms, with unlimited access from 9am or so until 2am, I'm not sure why your son was having issues meeting ladies. </p>

<p>As for the drinking, sure it's prevelant on campus - it's college, but if you think that 300 citations for drinking is a lot for a school, then I have to laugh. Bucknell, a peer academic institution with fewer students according to your website had 486 alcohol related citations last year.</p>

<p>I'm sorry your experience at UR wasn't a positive one, but based on the information you gave, it looks like it wasn't a good fit from the beginning, especially if your child is happier at a SUNY. Perhaps not enough due diligence on your part? Happy your son found a better place for himself.</p>

<p>Oh, and a lot of those "bigotted, rich snobs walking around in their North Face Denali's" are from NY/NJ, as 655 students are from those two states. </p>

<p>Again, based on what you posted, it sounds like your son didn't explore his options to get off campus if needed, or find out what was going on around campus or take the initiative to get involved in the things he was interested in in a big way. Can't blame the university for that...</p>

77

<p>It all sounds so nice from an admissions person but the truth is, this is not the experience that many students have on that campus. It is boring there. Yes drinking is common on all campuses and that's fine and fun. What I'm talking about is hard core liquor binges and rooms with full bars. Yes, I've seen it. Everything that I've posted is honest and was our experience. This forum is to inform people of personal experiences on various campuses. You have the right to disagree but please respect other people's experiences and opinions. I've done my job in giving parents true information about OUR experience with U of R. I'm happy you love your school and are committed to it. That's the way it should be. I just want parent's to have the opportunity to hear about our first hand experience and let them look into it further by talking to a variety of students that have experienced life on the campus. They should talk with kids not associated with the admissions office. Also, it's rather rude to assume that my son just sat back and did nothing. Don't assume. As I said, this was our experience and we felt it important to share it with other parents. Thank you.</p>

78

<p>While all these perceptions and anecdotes about personal experience are most interesting, they are just that. But when these mommies start talking about "many students", "It is boring", and other sweeping generalizations, well it loses much of its credibility aside from being an ax grinding ceremony, imo. It would be easy to suggest that like Forrest Gump noted well, "boring is as boring does." Or something like that.</p>

<p>But the real point again is these harsh, sweeping generalizations have no evidence. In fact, the evidence as shown by returning student rates, prof satisfaction ratings, student quality of life issues (as revealed in the Princeton Review and other pubs) suggests quite the contrary to what these 2 enlightening ladies from the NE are suggesting. btw, I'm from the NE too. </p>

<p>Indeed it can be valuable hearing about these less than happy people who really are angry for whatever reasons at UR ... maybe feel they've been sold or perhaps have been suckered into buying a bill of goods? ... but the reality as reported broadly and carefully suggests their observations are for the most part, just that. Theirs. Thanks for sharing.</p>

<p>P.S. the financial aid data would clearly reveal that in fact many, perhaps most of the student body are not even close to being upper or upper middle class. I know lots of church mice types who wear very expensive jeans and popped collar shirts. Mine don't, btw, altho they'd like to. And lastly, I'd hate to think I judged someone so negatively simply because their old man made a few bucks more ... make that a whole bunch more bucks ... than me. I'm not at all that insecure, and fully confident my offspring can and will make their way even among the "filthy" rich.</p>

79

<p>It is not about insecurity, but about being accepted among one's peers. Spider thanks for posting your viewpoint. There are rich snobs in NY and NJ too. Perhaps some of them were from the NE as well as the south. I would feel uncomfortable with my son surrounded in that situation, whether they come from VA, NY, NJ, or any other state. I am sure that type of student body would not be a good fit for my son. Is this a large portion of the student body on this campus?</p>

80

<p>smile, I'm in no way associated with our admissions department. Trust me, I don't envy the job they have to do. In fact, when I was in school, I wasn't even an admissions rep. </p>

<p>I don't mind if UR wasn't for your son at all, because it's not for everyone. I do mind though that some points that were brought up as reasons for his discontent are generally false, or issues perhaps with your son's lack of effort rather than the school's lack of provisions. Sure, there are negatives about the school, including some of the people, but your generalizations and misinformed remarks on several topics didn't sit well with me. This forum is for the exchanging of experiences and not all are going to be roses (mine sure wasn't), but it's one thing to share those and another to paint with a brush a mile wide and say the university lacks in several areas, when I provided factual evidence to the contrary. </p>

<p>Again, I'm happy your son found a better place to continue his education.</p>