@guineagirl96 I’m certain there are those who do not party (there is everywhere) but falling somewhere between the two extremes may not be the right fit for her at UR. Others may be okay with that, that’s great. It’s an excellent school I have no doubts, which is why this is such a difficult decision. Best wishes to all.
We recently went to Realize Richmond and while very impressed with the academics, research opportunities, etc., I left with the same concern about the social/non-academic opportunities. It seemed like admin was having to try too hard to provide alternative activities to the frat parties and that they were very limited. No pressure to party is great, but what are the active alternatives? I also had trouble gauging the school spirit for teams and the involvement in intramurals and clubs. Any insight would be appreciated. 5 days and counting.
@twinsmom15 There are plenty of events on campus. Students can attend all games on campus. We also have many substance-free groups. The biggest one is probably CA alternatives (name is changing to SpiderNights). They host huge events that lots of people attend. This year, CA alternatives hosted events like carnival nights, game board nights, international trivia, and open mic nights. Students can also get discounted tickets for all events hosted by the Modlin center for the arts (these are free if you are a richmond scholar). There are also first fridays, which are usually theater productions that you can attend downtown once a month. I don’t know most of the clubs and such on campus because most of my involvement is with the music and theater and dance departments, but a lot of the clubs host gatherings. I know some of my friends are involved with InterVarsity (its a Cristian group) and they host weekend retreats.
Most of the students excelled in their high school. Admitted students are generally in the top 20% of their high school class. Our valedictorian goes there. As a student, I do remember the parties but UR definitely is not a party school and its students study just as hard. You can usually find students studying the library Sunday through Thursday evening, taking a break Friday and Saturday nights. UR students are very ambitious, overachievers who like to be involved in a lot of activities. Since 76% of the accepted students this year were in the top 10%, I’d say the panel was probably very well representative of the university.
Clubs are prevalent during orientation in August but your suggestion to include it on Experience Richmond is a valid one. She will have plenty of time to explore clubs when she arrives in August.
Your daughter, in my opinion, will love UR.
@guineagirl96 Thanks for the info about SpiderNights - I was concerned the alternative to frat parties was a lot of weekend nights bored in the dorm - not the full college experience I want for my child. Do you have any friends who are involved in intramurals/club sports who might speak to how easy/difficult it is to join in?
@twinsmom15 I have friends that do crew and play quidditch (the latter we are the state champions for). As far as I know, most of the club sports/intramurals will take anyone who wants to play. If they do have try outs, they seem to be very chill, since I don’t know of anyone personally who wanted to play and wasn’t allowed.
I’m a student in greek life here too. Intramurals are fun and easy to join with a variety of sports like floor hockey, squash, volleyball, soccer, football, and basketball. They’re pretty big amongst greek life as all the different fraternities and sororities like competing. During basketball intramurals the gyms will be packed with kids watching. It’s like 5 bucks to enter intramurals and all you need to do is find kids to make a team which is pretty easy.
For social life I’ll be honest from my experience people def like to go out here thursday-saturday which is average for most schools. There’s downtowns on Thursday, then off campus and lodge parties on Friday and Saturday. There always open to everyone and there’s no exclusivity here. If your not into partying there’s definitely a good amount of people here who don’t go out that often you just gotta find them. The city of richmond is also a pretty awesome place that I’ve learned to appreciate once my friends started getting cars and we could venture out. The james river is def a spot people should check out.