How are UVA's academics?

<p>Hi guys! I'm a rising senior, getting ready to apply for colleges and stuff, so I was wondering if you could help me out.</p>

<p>Everyone pretty much knows that UVA's academics are pretty top notch. But no one seems to know or mention their sciences programs and courses. I know they have a lot of majors and minors in science, but I don't actually know how good they are compared to other schools.</p>

<p>I'm specifically interested in pursuing environmental science and engineering. But because I'm not quite set on going for those specific majors/minors, I was just wondering how their sciences are overall.</p>

<p>Thanks! =]</p>

<p>Well, engineering and science are separate schools at UVA, and you have to know when you apply whether you want to do engineering, or env sci / another non-engineering science (ie. you could do chemical engineering or chemistry, and you need to know before you apply that you would rather do engineering but you won’t declare your specific science major or engineering major for a year or so). You’ll either apply to the Engineering School or to the College of Arts and Sciences and transferring between the two is tricky because of the insane engineering school prereqs taken 1st yr (search the forums for more on that).</p>

<p>Now, how good the academics are is a really vague question. Do you mean in terms of:
-graudate school placement
-job placement
-academic intrigue and good professors (as a hs student you proly mean this?)
-courseload</p>

<p>For the first two obviously UVA does pretty well.
The “good professors” qualification is up for debate in any department at any school, but UVA (at least the math department) has a serious problem with foreign professors, as do all research universities (I hear it is a HUGE problem at UPenn, for example). If you’re just looking for a good ugrad education with no emphasis on grad school, you should seriously consider a LAC and not a research university.
The env sci dept ranges from really easy to insanely hard, as I have heard from friends either just taking classes or majoring. Engineering is ridiculously hard, search the forum for more about that.</p>

<p>One thing very cool about UVA sciences is that we have a huge observatory so the astronomy department, while small, is pretty cool - they offer a lot of non-math classes like Life Beyond Earth, etc.</p>

<p>Another thing to keep in mind is that there are a huge number of pre-med people so anyone in Bio/etc will have to deal with them. I have a friend in Curry with me who is then obviously not pre-med but she is a Bio major and I did ask her once about how it affected her major, I think she said she had become used to it and was glad she did not need to worry about getting an A in everything like all of her classmates.</p>

<p>We also have a more liberal artsy environmental science major, ETP (Environmental Thought and Practice), but apparently it is not as rigorous as the regular envi sci major (says a friend who was considering doing it and was urged against it). CVille is pretty green.</p>

<p>You can also design your own major. I knew a pre-med who was majoring in self created “Global Populations and Diseases” or something like that. Basically, Bio and Anthro, and some bioethics.</p>

<p>We also have a (ugrad) neuroscience and cog. sci program here.</p>

<p>I hope that helps you better define what exactly you want to know now. :)</p>

<p>Hazelorb: Are you a student in Curry? Do you know much about any of their graduate programs? I’m thinking about coming back to UVA for my Master’s. :)</p>

<p>I know a ton, I’m in the 5 year BA/MT program and I have a friend pursuing her PhD (Ed psych). I can tell you anything you want to know about admission, but it’s quite a bit less rigorous than other UVA grad schools. You only need ~1000 on the GRE (…lol). I can prove that with websites if anyone doesn’t take it for face value.</p>

<p>Wow, thanks to much! Your response was insanely in depth.</p>

<p>But I am sort of curious about the two environmental majors you mentioned (the regular environmental science major and the ETP). What exactly is the difference and pros/cons between the two? And how does UVA’s environmental science major compare with other schools on the grounds of graduate school placement and academic rigor and intrigue? Sorry, but it’s just hard to judge because it is a specific field and it’s hard to compare and determine its strengths and weaknesses. Thanks!</p>

<p>-a little side note: what does the WISE school special in? I always hear its name dropped here and there, but have no idea what the school is actually about. Thanks again!</p>

<p>UVA Wise is a satellite school located in Wise, VA. It’s a small school compared to the Main school and it doesn’t offer nearly as much in terms of academics as Main.</p>

<p>EnviroSci vs. ETP: Environmental Sciences is definitely more founded in the sciences, and ETP is more interdisciplinary and a little more based in theory. You will consider ethical issues, social/cultural issues, politics in addition to some of the foundational science courses.</p>

<p>I only know what I’ve read in the UVA catalog, but the Environmental Science major seems to have an emphasis on ecology over earth science. I see that you can study with an ‘Geoscience emphasis’ in EVSC at UVA, but it dosen’t seem to be the focus from what I read about the faculty’s research interests. That’s neither good nor bad, it just depends on the prospective undergraduate’s field of interest.</p>

<p>Here are some more links on ETP
[Cavalier</a> Daily](<a href=“http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/jan/31/lean-and-green/]Cavalier”>http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/jan/31/lean-and-green/)
virginia.edu/etp</p>

<p>Envi sci
[Department</a> of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, U.Va. | Undergraduate Program](<a href=“http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/undergraduate-programs/]Department”>http://www.evsc.virginia.edu/undergraduate-programs/)</p>

<p>I think exact differences can be highlighted by looking at the required courses in each major and seeing which one you think you would want to do more.</p>

<p>I think ETP is more well rounded / liberal artsy, but then less academically rigorous. I think for someone with a sole interest in environmental science and not the whole green culture/phenomenon/etc - ie, maybe you like geology or something but are not a huge conservation geek - then plain envi sci would be for you.</p>

<p>I don’t know about how it compares with other schools, but in general UVA sciences places pretty well (from students going PhD route at UVA itself, to schools like Penn State, also the Ivies, etc). I think it depends on the rigor of the program you make for yourself - do a senior thesis, take grad classes, etc. That is one of the benefits of going to a medium-large research university - there are lots of grad classes and active research going on. We just had a math post-doc solve a 50 year old problem.</p>

<p>Envi sci at UVA is one of the best in the country.</p>

<p>at first I thought this was a rhetorical question…</p>