I only hear great stuff so I was wondering what is not so wonderful. Thanks so much.
As a parent, I really have nothing to complain about. UR has been really good to my kids and gave/giving them personalized, broadening educations on our state school budget.
I know both my kids wish the school was more diverse. I know they’ve had frustrations in class discussing the “real world” with classmates in 200 dollar flip flops, having never held a job in their life and dismissing the poor as lazy. I know that they sometimes feel the economic gap despite us being a financially stable family. They both found their people though and that’s important.
Thank you so much for responding @turtletime Looking at the stats it looks like lots get financial aid, but I would imagine it’s an overall wealthy school. Also, it seems like there is a sizeable minority population compared to other similar schools. I guess numbers don’t tell everything. Thanks again
I’m a parent of a senior at UR. When she was a freshman, she told us that in her female only freshman dorm, there seemed to be a lot of underage drinking and some students were taken to an ER with alcohol intoxication. I think most of that is a reflection on society as a whole where the students come from. I don’t know how much more the college can do other than what they are doing, which involves substance abuse education and offering substance free floors in dorms. I don’t think most people would want to attend a college with a prison-like atmosphere in order to avoid substance abuse problems. I don’t believe this is a problem unique to UR, though.
I have tried to visit our D at least once a year while classes are is in session if I have business in the area. My understanding is that maids clean the common areas inside the dorms. As a college graduate myself, I wouldn’t expect most college dorms to be pristine and clean like military dorms would be, but I was shocked at some of the messes I saw that dorm residents left in the common areas for the maids to clean up. Again, I think this is more of a reflection on society as a whole where students come from. I know the students are very busy, so it’s great that they have maids to clean up the common areas, but I also believe adult dorm residents should take a reasonable level of responsibility to clean up after themselves and not leave behind disgusting messes for maids to clean up.
Despite these shortcomings, we are very pleased our D chose UR and was offered admission there. With the small classes, she has gotten to know her faculty quite well and vice versa, something that is much harder to do in colleges with much larger classes. Sometimes our D wishes the university was larger and had more students, but I think the campus and student population size is close to optimum for a positive undergraduate academic study experience.
She has made lifelong friends there and all indications are she is getting a very high quality education in a safe, supportive atmosphere on a beautiful campus with high quality facilities conducive to learning and personal development.
Our D hasn’t had her own car while at UR, but that hasn’t been a problem. The campus is very walkable and a reasonable distance from the Richmond International Airport, the nearest Amtrak station, and shopping. She uses Uber or Lyft or shares a ride with her friends when the campus shuttle isn’t available or practical.
@ARTCC Thank you !!
Both of our UR grads had truly wonderful experiences at UR. The small classes, engaging professors, strong academics, excellent facilities and food (the dining hall is especially awesome!), lovely campus, convenient travel, and lots to do in the Richmond area are just a few highlights.
As pointed out by @turtletime , both Ds were also occasionally put off by wealthy student flaunting vast collections of designer bags/clothes, fancy cars, large allowances, and expensive vacation plans, etc., but the vast majority of UR students are very down to earth, and there are students from a wide range of financial circumstances. Our Ds both had part time on campus jobs to pay for their personal expenses/entertainment, no cars (but did not really need one), no designer wardrobes etc. (neither really cared about that), and both had very nice, diverse friend groups.
From a parents perspective, the only negative I can think of is that the newer Gateway apartments for upperclassmen on campus only provide elevator access for a very limited number of apartments for physically challenged students. It made moving in/out one of my Ds with a lot of “stuff” a bit of a challenge, as she lived on the fourth floor, and we really got a work out on those stairs!
@mamag2855 Thanks for your response!
@citymama9 Just keep in mind that wishing a place was more diverse doesn’t mean the school isn’t better in that regard than others. Pretty much all the higher ranked LAC’s have this issue. When your classes are 8 people, one clueless prince or princess has a strong voice but like others have said, it doesn’t mean everyone, or even most were like that. You just need to be prepared. That’s all.
do you think the class of 2023 would be more diverse? i’m a black and hispanic female from connecticut who was recently accepted and i’m a little bit scared
So, we live in the SW. We were actually impressed by the diversity at UR. We love that there is an AA president and diversity in faculty and administration, and student body (way more than where we live) for such a small school. It was far better in this regard than other schools we looked at, and it also promotes economic diversity with great financial aid policies. Our S doesn’t wear designer clothes, doesn’t own a car, and is starting a job this semester, and has lots of friends (many frat kids, some others, but point being that they obviously don’t care about his clothing brands!).