<p>Okay Folks, give it to me. The good, the bad and the ugly. I prefer any comments be based on recent (within the last 10 years) experience.
Thanks!</p>
<p>H and I met there over 20 years ago, so our information is way out of date. I did not graduate from ODU but H did and, if I do say so myself, I think he turned out okay. </p>
<p>Are you familiar with Norfolk?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Are you familiar with Norfolk?
[quote]
It’s a Navy town. LOL.</p>
<p>Have you visited the school yet? We were not impress with the school when we visited with son two years ago. While there were were newly built dorm, the majority of the housing is old. They were also across a major street that separates the campus. We also got the feeling that it was a “commuter” school and they were trying to change that perception.</p>
<p>I know someone who is a rising senior there. It is very much a commuter school.</p>
<p>Academically, the life sciences departments seem well enough, particularly marine science. As for campus aesthetics, not horrid but not fantastic either. Lots of concrete. Yes, I noticed the that there’s a major road to cross to access some campus facilities.</p>
<p>Northern Virginian students refer to it as OverDose University. This is of course just anecdotal tom-foolery but it is a cause for concern when those same students view Radford as more academically focused than ODU. </p>
<p>I think it takes a mature student with focus and ability to eliminate social distractions to get the most out of these kind of schools.</p>
<p>JustAMomof4,Norfolk is certainly much more than a Navy town! Sorry you have such a poor perception of a great city!</p>
<p>What made you think that being a Navy town leads me to having a poor perception of Norfolk? Truth is - I have never been to Norfolk so I don’t have any perception of it.
Enlighten me, please.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the posts and the several PM’s I got.</p>
<p>UPDATE:</p>
<p>Visited Old Dominion on Friday and Saturday. We had a great time, wonderful tour and a nice visit in Norfolk.
Old Dominion is certainly expanding and there is a lot of new construction. They have build some beautiful new dorms and with 4000 students living on campus, I would not call it a commuter school.
It was quite hot but there are a lot of large shade trees that made it more comfortable.<br>
Hampton Blvd does bisect the campus. Most of the classrooms are on one side of it. While there was traffic, including some trucks, the traffic lights made crossing easy. The 10 year old Convocation center is right on Hampton Blvd and hosts basketball games as well as concerts. The University village is right near there on campus with small stores, restaurants and coffee shops.<br>
I thought the campus was quite pretty, I guess my standards have gotten quite low in my old age ;).
It is right on the water and they have a sailing center where students can check out boats to sail.
Thanks again to you all! I definitely get the feeling that ODU is a growing school that is coming into it’s own.</p>
<p>To clarify my comment about ODU being a commuter school: the person I know who goes there says the campus empties out on weekends–many students are local and they go home for Saturday and Sunday. She got lonely on weekends.</p>
<p>possibly not relevant, but they are starting their football team backup next year, and are going to have a 20,000 person sold out stadium every week.</p>
<p>wuggroe, I’m surprised to hear that. When I attend ODU 20 years ago, there were a lot of us who stayed in the dorms nearly every weekend. I wonder if perhaps it varies by dorm.</p>
<p>92% of the students are from Virginia. Anytime you have a school where the vast majority are “local” (within a couple of hours) they will periodically go home. If most students go home every other weekend or even once a month, it can “feel” empty. Doesn’t mean there is nothing to do or that it is empty. Perception is not always reality.</p>
<p>I should add to the above that ODU is a very diverse campus. 60% of students are white and 24% are African American. For someone who is looking for diversity this may be a good school to explore.</p>
<p>ODU is definitely and up and coming school. Their campus environment, academic programs, reputation and selectivity seem to rise every year. Its a modern somewhat urban campus with newer architecture, but pretty nice. I live near the campus and it has changed dramatically over the last 5 or 6 years. Sold out football games of over 20,000 fans (many students) highlight the fall and students enjoy beach parties at the ocean front in the spring and summer from what I hear. Being in a more urban area is good for internship opportunities too, especially so since ODU is strongest in the science and technology fields. Its a good school, definitely changing to a residential campus. Comparable to GMU and VCU only with a much nicer campus than VCU and close to the beach.</p>
<p>I’ll probably get slammed here and say that ODU isn’t on par with GMU. I have no recent knowledge of VCU so I won’t step there. As far as the campus, we were there last spring for the state science fair. We stayed overnight at a decent hotel right near the convention center and ‘walking street’. We were woken many times during the night by sirens. When we walked over to the local fast rood restaurant to grab a late bite S2 & he friend honestly made a few comments about the safety. I sat for many hours on the walking street as parents are not allowed in during a majority of the day during judging. People watching gives you an interesting perspective. I was not impressed. I was uneasy about some things. We didn’t leave wanting to ‘formally tour the campus’. It is the only other school in VA that offers aero engineering (UVa & VT) so it would have been nice to have a ‘safety’ in state. My son commented that this was an unsafety. For a student that doesn’t like to be far from home, his safety is now 15hrs from home - because he’d rather be there than ODU.
We are not people that are sheltered and have never been exposed to cities. A week earlier I had walked alone to pick up a late night food order in downtown Atlanta. I didn’t feel unsafe in the least. He isn’t against urban campuses. We were in Atlanta to see GT. He’s grown up in suburban areas but has experience with cities. My point, this is not a sheltered child.
I’m sure people go there and have a great experience. It sounds like they are doing things to revitalize the campus which will be good. I am offering a different opinion (what our experience was), not what I think is fact for everyone. There is a difference. Please do not slam me saying I am trying to argue or negate what has been said. I am offering my opinion, that’s all.</p>
<p>
Did you notice the fire station right around the corner? ODU is after all in Norfolk and Norfolk is a city. Hampden Blvd is a busy thoroughfare. Hence the sirens, it’s a fact of life.
Could be a disadvantage but to read into this that the campus is ‘not safe’ is a stretch. </p>
<p>
Specifically? Perhaps it is because ODU is the most diverse universtiy in Virginia?
No college is for everyone; but you did not even take the tour. Did you talk to any students? You spent several hours ‘people watching’ and you fear for your son’s safety?
Send your son to GMU, it’s in a nice quiet suburban neighborhood in NoVa. Nothing ‘uneasy’ about that.</p>
<p>JustAMomOf4,
Perhaps I didn’t do a good job explaining myself. It is fair to point out the fire station. We watched out the window a bit after the first two and there were a mix of fire and police. This was simply our experience on one single weekend. I tried to make that clear.</p>
<p>To insinuate that my ‘people watching’ made me uncomfortable because of the diversity is something I find personally insulting. You are making an assumption here. What I found disturbing were the young, very underage, ‘white’ (since you brought up diversity) students who were nearby discussing their party the night before. They made no attempt to keep it between themselves, and they were not simply talking about alcohol. I understand drinking goes on to different extents on almost every campus. I didn’t need to hear about their drug use. The next group of students drove up and moved and empty keg from one trunk to another, again making not attempt to be discreet. The PDA during daylight hours in a public place was offensive. I was not at their party where if I see something I don’t like I should really just leave. I was sitting outside the campus bookstore/starbucks. My son made the comment that it was an ‘unsafety’, a play on words, however based on an overall feeling that it wasn’t a place he’d like to spend a lot of time.</p>
<p>My son will not being going to GMU, I simply stated that in my personal opinion their program was better. Please note I didn’t make a statement about VCU so I wasn’t trying to only go on personal knowledge.</p>
<p>Again, I believe that you jumped to a few conclusions (one regarding diversity that I find unfair…you know nothing about my feelings and experiences). I made it clear to quantify it was our experience, not what was an absolute ‘fact’ regarding the school.</p>
<p>Edit for typo above:</p>
<p>“Please note I didn’t make a statement about VCU so I wasn’t trying to only go on personal knowledge.”</p>
<p>This should read “…I WAS trying to only go on personal knowledge.”.</p>
<p>I wasn’t making a broad statement about the schools merits against other state universities that I do not have personal experience with, only one that I do. I find than to be more respectable that one who simply makes a broad statement without specific knowledge.</p>
<p>Blueiguana, if your student is interested in a Aerospace Engineering degree, double check the Virginia Tech program because I believe the only ABET accredited section of the VT Aerospace Engineering department is the graduate section. UVA and ODU have comprehensive AE programs, from B.S. through M.E.</p>