<p>For those of you attending Villanova, what are the pros and cons from what you have experienced thus far?</p>
<p>Pros:
Mostly good professors
Nice campus
Reasonable amount of work
Good food
The overall academics are good</p>
<p>Cons:
Villanofun-sometimes true
Sophomore dorms are bad
Some people are not so
Hard to get off campus sometimes</p>
<p>Overall I like it though</p>
<p>How far are the freshman dorms from campus? And how big are the dorms?</p>
<p>I am the parent of a freshman who also had a daughter who graduated in '05. Most freshman are housed on South Campus with their own dining hall (although they can eat anywhere). It's not too far from the main campus. It's great if you are a business major and have to head over to Bartley Hall. If you are referring to room size, they are pretty small. Standard dorm room fare. My middle child attended Franklin and Marshall and Nova's rooms are nicer than the older dorms there (I believe they have built newer dorms since then.) There are a few freshman who are housed on Main Campus, but the advantage to that is they are right in the middle of everything. The disadvantage is they are somewhat removed from the rest of their class. My son has started to study at Bartley at night because he is in the business school and it's closest to where he lives. He has complained that the AC in his dorm doesn't function to his liking and his internet sometimes doesn't work at night. Oh, and the food is a little disappointing. Otherwise, he LOVES Villanova.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman here at Nova. The freshman dorms vary by hall, if you are in St. Monica and Katherine, they are actually very spacious. So far, I can honestly say that I have found no cons here at villaSOfun. I guess the one kind of bad thing that ive noticed so far is that the big parties are off campus and you have to take a cab but that could just be because the year just started.</p>
<p>PROS
School spirit
Beautiful campus
great professors
great people
Everyone genuinely cares about each other here
SOoooo many opportunities to get involved on campus
Great location (Went into a dance club at philly last weekend, King of prussia mall which is 2nd largest mall in country and villanova provides free shuttles, bowling, and so many other things nearby)
Lots of food opportunities, nearby places accept the wildcard. </p>
<p>Yea so I am not going to go into much detail unless someone PMs me i will give a personal response. But I absolutely love it here! Some people are worried about the religious aspect, but i feel that religion is what you make of it here.</p>
<p>Another freshman here. Stanford is pretty cramped in comparison to St. Monica and Katharine, but life is what you make of it, and it can be comfortably be set up.</p>
<p>Big parties are off campus- many people wait for cabs on Fridays and Saturday nights...</p>
<p>I'll agree with all of the pros.</p>
<p>The food? It is pretty decent. You'll still want home food and have take out cravings, but it's much better than "oh my god, what kind of meat is THAT?!?!?". Soda, whole, skim, 2% and chocolate milk are availible 24/7. Meal plans are all you can eat before leaving the dining room. Rules dictate that you aren't supposed to take food out, but I've seen plenty of people do it for themselves (I don't...). I recommend the unlimited meal plan, as it lets you pop in the dining hall for a snack. Also, you still get 2 meal plan expresses per day, which convert a meal into a $ value. Personally, I think this is great, as you can get candy, chips, sandwiches or coffee at Holy grounds if you aren't going to use it at one of the other a la carte locations. Helps keep snacks in the fridge. </p>
<p>Nova is pretty big. Most places will take take-out to your dorm, and quite a few places are setup to take the Wildcard (student ID) restricted debit. Usually you can even include the tip.</p>
<p>Everyone is great here. </p>
<p>The internet has been slightly off in Bartley at night (it started when the power went out during the remnants of tropical storm Gustav). Also, the A/C has been off a bit- some rooms are frigid on the warmest A/C setting, and some rooms are kind of warm on the coldest setting. However, they're having maintenence come in. The laptop program is great- tech support at Vasey Hall is free and helpful.</p>
<p>Bartley and Falvey Library are great places to study. Stanford, not so much...</p>
<p>I'm a freshman in the business school. You can PM me with whatever questions you want.</p>
<p>Oh, and on the religion thing- they don't expect you to convert ;) Sunday mass is pretty big, even among the non-religious students (just as a community thing) but completely optional. There are certain values (honesty, learning spirit, etc.) that carry over but by no means are you forced to be religious.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses... anyone else?</p>
<p>I am a freshman year, and I personally love it. I live in Katharine Hall which is quite spacious, but I've also seen dorm rooms in Mcguire (the all boys dorm), Caughlin (the all girls dorm) and stanford. While they aren't as spacios as the rooms in Katharine and St. Monica, the furniture can be rearranged to make the room feel/look larger. Some people even choose to bunk their beds to allow for more floor space. The food here is not bad, although slightly repetitive. The Spit (the dining hall on south campus) always has a waffle bar, pizza, cereal, cappucino, soda, hot chocolate, lemonade, water, sandwiches/wraps, fresh fruit & yogurt, salad bar, pasta, and ready-made chinese food. The market on south (or the "sparket") makes pizzas, nachos, smoothies, milkshakes, iced coffees & wraps in addition to selling things like medicine, soap, cases of water, cookies, potato chips, pretzels, goldfish, frozen meals, lunchables, drinks, starbucks coffees and other things. I have the alternate meal plan which allows me 180 meals per semester & i believe 250$ in points. Points are the most important thing here, in my opinion. You use points at the market, and at The Exchange in Bartley (unless you opt to pay the $250 it costs to upgrade your meal plan to include MPE's at the Exchange). Everyone here is very welcoming and warm. The environment is great, the campus is beautiful. It's a very safe and secure bubble. Public Safety offers escorts if you are walking across campus late at night. The health services building is open 24/7 and they are always more than friendly. The library is amazing. I can't think of one negative thing to say about Villanova.</p>
<p>i visited last week as a recruited athlete and here are some things i observed:</p>
<p>i stayed in mcguire and the rooms were nice with A/C but stanford seems like a more social dorm. mcguire seemed a little more relaxed tho. the food at the spit was pretty good with decent variety. the walk from south campus to main isnt too bad....the only bad thing is that parties are off campus and you have to take a cab which can be expensive. other than that it was a good trip....most students seem cool and down to earth with the exception of a few kids from jersey and new england that i met.</p>
<p>Anyone know anything about the engineering program at nova? What kind of kids are there in engineering? Do the professors give the students personal attention when they need it and let students in on their research? How hands-on is the curriculum? I'm looking at several schools like Villanova and Dartmouth that have kind of a smaller, more intimate atmosphere in their engineering schools, and I'm trying to figure out what makes them unique.</p>
<p>I actually have quite a few friends (both girls & boys) who are engineering majors at Villanova. Obviously the course load is pretty intense, as to be expected at ANY engineering school, but they have all said that the profs are always there to help & while there is a lot of work, it is managable.</p>
<p>might as well give this a bump for all the newly accepted students…</p>
<p>i got accepted as a biology major, but now i’m reconsidering w/ this economy i kinda want a professional degree so i can actually make some $ out of undergrad already… cuz bio major can’t really do anything but go to grad school… how hard is it to chance majors? i wanna do it now but i don’t want them to like… rescind me. i assume it’s hard to transfer into business… but staying within arts and sciences… could i transfer without much headache?</p>
<p>im kinda wondering the same thing. im assuming freshman year is kind of a general studies thing but i kinda have changed my mind. i’d really like to major in marketing now.</p>
<p>ive heard it is extremely difficult to transfer into VSB…
even heard they re-evaluate you, but could just be a rumor</p>
<p>It is, that’s true… VSB is nearly impossible to transfer into, especially because it’s the most competitive school at Nova.</p>
<p>my brother was able to transfer into mendoza at Notre Dame without any problem at all. and that is a much better school, with a much better business program. How could Nova be that much different?</p>
<p>Perhaps the schools at Villanova are separated by a larger gap than at other universities (like Notre Dame). Also, the demand for switching into VSB is really high, so, they can’t really let everyone switch into it… that would just encourage people to apply for as an engineering major or liberal arts major and then switch when they get on campus</p>
<p>does it matter if you are not catholic, will kids care?</p>
<p>what schools will i have no problem transferring into?</p>