<p>So I've decided to attend UVA (wahoowa!), and I have a few questions that I couldn't answer through Google:</p>
<p>1) Is there a startup/entrepreneurial scene at UVA? </p>
<p>2) What are advantages/disadvantages to the Echols dorms?</p>
<p>3) What are your thoughts on taking a summer class before becoming a first year? (I'm thinking of taking Calc III since my school didn't offer multivariable and I want to catch up; in addition, I'd be more familiar with the campus and university)</p>
<p>4) What is CS at UVA like, especially for someone with little CS experience?</p>
<p>2 - someone else recently did a great post about this, search for it and reply back if you can’t find it</p>
<p>3 - people ask about this every year, search and reply back if you can’t find what you want to know. most people opt not to do it (this is your last summer with your friends, living situation is not that authentic, you are a smart person you will be just fine getting to know “grounds” and the university with all of the other first years). I took a class at a local college and it still transferred.</p>
<p>4 - I post threads about CS all the time… Take Cs1112 and go from there. Read some of my old posts (again just search) and then PM me or reply back here if you have more questions. I TA’d 1110, 1111, and 1112 so I can answer questions about that, and tutored 2110 for both 1110 and 1112 students so I can tell you how that transition went for both of the types (and have posted about it multiple times). Know that the department is in a bit of a crunch, they finally got permission to start seeking outside faculty but have put a freeze on non-eschool majors and all minors as far as I understand.</p>
<p>In addition to academic and social advantages, the Echols students are also housed in one of the newest residence halls, which is air conditioned. (some other first year residence halls are not air conditioned).</p>
<p>OP – search the UVa website for info on entrepreneurism at UVa. My impression is there is a HUGE emphasis on that all around the university. I met a professor this fall whose job is to incubate new business ideas. There are annual competitions open open to all students for venture capital. And, I believe I read that this is a priority of President Sullivan.</p>
<p>2: It doesn’t really matter since you don’t have a choice (unless they changed it in the past few years). Advantage: you’re housed with other Echols/Rodman students. I don’t think there are really any disadvantages; a few years ago the Echols dorms were kind of crappy, but they’ve since been demolished and as far as I know the new ones are nice.</p>
<p>Been ages since I was last on this site as a high schooler, but I’d figure I’d give back to these forums after four years of college.</p>
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<li><p>There’s actually a huge startup/entrepreneurial scene at UVA. There’s food trucks that park near the amphitheater on Grounds, and at least one of them is owned and managed by an undergrad I know. We have lots of entrepreneurs in the McIntire School of Commerce and E-trepreneurs in our Computer Science program. One friend of mine designed an app that has netted him thousands of dollars. Another friend of mine is a biomedical engineer who was on a team that won an entrepreneurship competition by designing a test for the whooping cough. (see [Entrepreneurship</a> Cup | U.Va. Innovation](<a href=“Select an installation profile | Drupal”>Select an installation profile | Drupal)). Highly popular physics professor Lou Bloomfield owns tons of patents and is a bit of a mad scientist/inventor entrepreneur.</p></li>
<li><p>Can’t really answer that one. I’m a fourth-year now and the first-year dorms have changed a lot since I was a first-year.</p></li>
<li><p>Meh, I’m an economics major with a heavy dose of mathematics to prepare me for graduate school, and I didn’t take Calc III until spring of my first year. So I don’t think you need to sacrifice what might be your last summer at home by taking classes.</p></li>
<li><p>CS at UVA is solid. It has become very popular and is growing faster than they can hire faculty, so I heard rumors that they are going to start making it more difficult to declare the major in order to keep class size in check, but I dunno.</p></li>
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