Hello there Hoos,
I’ve recently been accepted to UVA EA and I’m super excited about all the academic opportunities UVA possesses. As an OOS male, I was especially attracted by McIntire where I plan to pursue a degree in Finance. However, despite it’s supreme academics, I am a bit worried about the social scene at UVA. I’m under the impression it is heavily Greek, and while I myself don’t look down upon/judge those in the greek system, I’m not a drinker nor a smoker so Greek life isn’t for me. I was just wondering exactly to what extent Greek life dominates the social scene and if someone like myself who has little interest in “partying” in that sense would be comfortable on the grounds.
Thanks ahead of time!
About 30% of students are in Greek orgs. That means 70% of the students are not in Greek orgs.
There are hundreds of clubs and orgs at UVa and there are always tons of events and activities happening. Do some browsing here (use the “category” menu on the left to narrow the 1021 options down): https://atuva.student.virginia.edu/organizations
To steal a phrase from the students, “you do you.”
Thanks Dean J! I’ll be sure to check out that link in depth! Are there any current/former students here who could share their experience?
I also do not drink and was not involved in greek life.
There is a mailing list called Hoos Sober which lists sober events (sports, clubs, performances, etc) throughout the week. There is a $3 movie theater in Newcomb Hall. 500+ active clubs. I was involved in my dorm (Brown College), the anime club, two choirs, I worked 2 jobs (1 through UVA, 1 through Charlottesville City), and got my masters in 5 years. I never felt excluded. None of my friends were in the greek system. They went to house parties on the corner mostly. I went to one frat party (engineering frat – I did know many students in that) as the designated driver, lol.
Oh wow I’d never heard of “Hoos Sober”. Thank you @hazelorb, that’s the kind of insight I’m looking for. That all seems really cool and it’s good to know people actually have fun and are involved outside of the greek system.
Most students drink here; the Greek students are very arrogant, discriminatory, and act like spoiled brats.
Also, you’re not guaranteed a transfer into McIntire, and most likely won’t get in. The acceptance rate looks high, but that’s because most people choose not to apply because they know they won’t get in. I would go somewhere you’re sure you can do what you want, as UVA likes to limit its students.
Also, Hoos Sober is rarely ever updated, maybe once a month, and it only has very boring events no one would ever want to go to.
Ants, it’s clear that you are unhappy and I wish that wasn’t the case, but I think you are being really unfair to to these students who are craving more information. Sweeping generalizations about the 30% that join Greek orgs aren’t fair. Unloading your unhappiness on a student asking some honest questions isn’t fair.
What one student considers boring might be fun for some of the other 15,000 students who are here. Walk by any bulletin board on Grounds and you’re apt to find a bunch of fliers for events that don’t interest you and a bunch that look interesting. Sign up for some listserves at the club fair and your inbox will be flooded with invitations to different events.
Yes, McIntire is small and selective, but there are plenty of non-McIntire students who get jobs in the corporate world. That’s not the only route to a career in the financial sector.
Keep an open mind about the fraternities and sororities. There is a great deal of diversity, including an Asian Fraternity, African-American Fraternities, etc. If you hate the first couple houses you visit, keep walking, and you will likely find some houses that are the complete opposite of what you just experienced.
Both of my kids had no intention of pledging, but they did, and they really really appreciate the experience.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to base my decision off of the opinion of any one person…good or bad. I’m just gather as much information as possible so I can be confident in the decision I ultimately do make. In regards to the selectivity of McIntire, I’m well aware. However, anything worth having it hard to get and I’m willing and ready to work for acceptance into the School of Commerce if UVA is where I end up. Call it a bit naive, but if I set a goal for myself academically then I have confidence I will achieve it.
The selectivity of McIntire pays off. My son complains that many of the recruiters who come onto UVa mainly want to talk to the McIntire students.
1600m, my response was quite curt, and I apologize for that. However; I was in the same position as you last year (but was not planning to be business student). UVA is built for a specific type of person: people who drink the Kool Aid about Jefferson and Honor and fraternities and things of that sort. Other students are left out. And at least 33% of the school is greek. It’s actually closer to 40% after the first-years pledge, UVA takes the statistics before that happens.
If you ask most students if they like UVA, and if you give them time to answer honestly instead of just in the street on the way to class, the majority, unless they’re the type of student I explained above, will say that disliked it at first, and many continue to dislike it and just want to get their degree and leave.
Some Hoos Sober events may not be boring to others, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s rarely updated and doesn’t show many events that are happening.
And I wouldn’t be so confident about getting into McIntire: at least a fourth of the class is pre-comm when they enter, they think they can do it like you do, and very, very few are accepted. The school really should be made larger.
@antsovergrass I appreciate your honesty, really. A lot of what you’re saying I’ve heard/seen from other UVA students before so I believe your opinion is founded in experience. I think I’m just going to have to visit, get a feel for the grounds, talk to more students, etc. before I decide anything. If there are any other UVA students out there I’d love to hear your take as well.
I loved UVA from my first visit. I only ever knew 1 person at UVA who didn’t like it. Don’t make up statistics about me or any of my peers who loved UVA and had nothing to do with the greek system or Honor or UGuides etc. “Many” implies a majority… and with a high retention rate, I believe you are just making things up. I am not implying UVA is perfect, (don’t get me started on how I feel about Curry school…), but I would go again if I got to do it over (somehow I think you would not go again). Hoos Sober was updated weekly when I attended; I can’t attest to who updates it now or how frequently. I would agree that most people drink even if they are not involved in greek life (“Thirsty Thursday” is a grounds-wide saying) but I was happy enough sober. I did visit a dry campus and it kind of spooked me actually. Most people in the real world drink (just went out with colleagues today, no one cares that I don’t drink and because I didn’t go to college in a bubble I know how to handle being the only one sober at these events… as opposed to another sober colleague who did not even come because he does not know how to handle not drinking in a crowd of drinkers… I don’t go out to bar type events but this was a restaurant so I enjoyed it). Just FYI on life skills here…
I think you will find many students at many universities have trouble adjusting in the first month or so. It may seem that most other students have friends at college from their high school. You may run into some personality types that irritate you. Binge drinking can also contribute to bad feelings - remember alcohol can make feelings of depression much worse. Students can also get disappointed when they are not selected for a competitive activity.
However, college becomes much more enjoyable when you develop a good group of friends and find activities that meet your interests. A fraternity or sorority can certainly contribute to that sense of community. A fraternity or sorority also helps to hold together a group of friends over later decades.
My son loves UVA and is very happy there. He has an amazing group of friends and despite studying hard, finds plenty of time to go out, have fun and enjoy everything the university and Charlottesville has to offer. That said, he is not in a fraternity, had no interest in joining one and isn’t into the party scene. My son was lucky enough to meet his group of friends in his first year dorm, but he is also active in several clubs as well.
That is not actually true. Many implies a majority only when used as a noun. As an adjective it simply means a large number. 1000 students (just picking a number) out of 16k is nowhere near a majority (and is, in fact, a small minority) but it is still a large number and qualifies as many. Considering that I don’t see the word “many” in any of Ants posts, but that I do see “most”, I wonder if you didn’t mean to type that “most” implies a majority. Which is obviously true.
Anyway, my kid hates UVA but will graduate from there because of the prestige and the value of a degree from there. Retention rates are in no way indicative of happiness of a student body which is why I disagree with using that as a data point in some of these college rankings. They also use the percentage of students that graduate in a certain period of time (4 yrs, 6 yrs, etc). That too is, in my opinion, a poor data set to use in determining student satisfaction with a school. Graduation rates are more a function of how well prepared students are for college and how many credits etc they go in with. UVA has high grad rates because they admit very smart kids who are prepared for college academically (and, to a lesser extent, because they are more driven than the average college student) IMO.
I am also surprised you only kew one person who didn’t like UVA. I have known dozens (either told to me by the students themselves or their parents), and that is out of probably only a couple of hundred that I have asked. A HUGE number of parents told me their kids hated it the first year but gradually became ambivalent (and with some eventually liking it).
I also know a TON of kids who love UVA and think it is the greatest school ever, but in my many decades of talking to kids and parents about colleges I will say that I have never seen a school with as significant a percentage of students who did not like it. Is it possible that is because of a relatively small sample size? (e.g. a few hundred over the years) Sure, but I doubt it.
@TV4caster said, “Retention rates are in no way indicative of happiness of a student body.”
For this statement to be true, high retention rates and low retention rates would have to equally correlate to high happiness student bodies and low happiness student bodies. Your statement does not mention cause and effect, so there would need to be no correlation at all between retention and happiness for it to be correct.
I would not suggest happiness is the only factor affecting retention. But I’d need to see some support for your assertion that the two things are completely independent and unrelated. That would definitely be a counterintuitive result; the usual expectation is that it would be easily to retain students who are happy with their school, and harder to retain students who are unhappy with their school. Why is that expectation wrong?
No anecdotal evidence, please - just some controlled study showing happiness and retention are unrelated.
My son was recently accepted in the early admissions round. He is our oldest and we live in Virginia but did not grow up here (my husband and I are from the Midwest and West Coast). We have looked at UVA from afar all these years and now when it comes down to decision time for our son I worry about some of the things I hear about UVA in terms of the sense of elitism and “good old boy” Southern culture that I hear can permeate the campus. TV4caster, why does your child hate UVA and why do some of the other students dislike it as you mention? Thank you for any insight that can be provided for those of us who are not that familiar with UVA.
As a northerner, perhaps I can share?
I was extremely sensitive to the culture when I came here and vowed to only stay three years, perhaps because I had some preconceived notions about this being “the south.” Charlottesville is actually a place where you’ll find north and south blend pretty nicely (and my recruitment trips to the deep south remind me of that!).
Most of the student population is obviously from Virginia, but I think Virginia is a pretty interesting and eclectic state. My northern Virginia region is heavily represented in the Virginia group and that area is extremely eclectic in culture, ethnicity, and economics. In that area and at the beach, we have lots of government/military families, some of whom have spent time abroad because of job assignments. I’ll stop lest I sound like I work for the tourism board. Suffice it to say, while I will always have a fondness for New England, Charlottesville is a wonderful home. My three year stay has lasted a decade. 
There isn’t a school in the county that doesn’t have an unhappy student, but I think that visiting and really doing some in-person research can help a student ensure that they are choosing the environment where they feel comfortable and engaged. Come to Days on the Lawn. Stay overnight. Though I know TV4’s daughter has had some disappointments when it comes to trying out/applying to some things, he has talked about her having friends here, so she seems to have found a niche.
Thank you very much Dean J, we plan to do exactly that and attend DOTL and my son is making an overnight visit soon on his own to stay with some friends who attend UVA from his high school. So I am sure he will have a good feel about the culture after those experiences. I appreciate your insight.