<p>Well, now that I've been accepted, I'm actually debating starting in the summer. I know everyone is going to say "enjoy your last summer out of HS", but I really do want to start in the summer. I will be able to acclimate myself with the campus before all the other students arrive and they mayhem begins. However, I have a few questions about what the summer session will be like.</p>
<p>Firstly, what do students do regarding housing? Would I be able to stay in a dorm during the summer and be on a meal plan? I honestly wouldn't even mind getting an apartment for the 3 months (or however long it lasts). But, obviously, a dorm would be much easier.</p>
<p>Secondly - a job. The main reason I would choose not to attend the summer session is work. My parents are not paying for my college in its entirety and I want to accumulate as much money as possible before the school year starts. Is it easy to find a job on campus that I would be able to hold through the school year?</p>
<p>Finally - school. I've heard rumors that classes during the summer session are much harder than during the regular school year. Has anyone heard anything about the difficulty of the summer classes? I don't mind them being challenging, but if they're going to be impossible it's just not worth it.</p>
<p>UVAorBUST, I’m an incoming transfer student (applying under guaranteed admissions). I can’t really help you out with summer information, but if you do decide to do it, I may be subletting my apartment while I intern in another part of the state. So if you need a place, I’d be glad to let you come check out mine!!</p>
<p>I think there’s a lot to be said for coming when all the other first-years do and participating in the orientation activities for new students. Everybody will be excited and looking to make friends. When I started grad school, I took advantage of a free ride and showed up a week before things got going, not knowing a soul. It was a rather alienating experience.</p>
<p>The summer session isn’t much like “normal” UVA. The faculty are a mix of regular faculty members who want a bit of extra income (often because their kids are in college!), advanced graduate students, and adjuncts who work at UVA only in the summer. Students take only 1 or 2 classes, which meet every day for three weeks–it’s not necessarily harder, but is more intense than a regular semester class. The students are a mix of upperclass UVA students and people from other schools spending the summer in Charlottesville. I don’t believe you can live in the dorms, which are being painted/renovated or rented out for conferences and camps over the summer; most summer session attendees sublet apartments near Grounds.</p>
<p>By the time you pay for housing (off-campus), food (there is no meal plan), and courses I think it would more advantageous for you financially to take courses closer to home.</p>
<p>By the way, the mayhem-so to speak-is what bonds you all together.</p>
<p>I honestly think if you started in the summer when C’Ville is empty and you are holed up in an apartment or nearly vacant dorm, that the picture you have created in your mind about UVa will look nothing like reality. I completely agree with others…the excitement of the first few weeks is what will bond you together for the next four years.</p>
<p>UVAorBust: We all know you are super excited…and we are sincerely very happy for you. Wait and start with the other first years for the reasons already posted. August 2011 will get here quicker than you think!</p>
<p>You can stay in dorms if you are registered for summer session. Honestly, it is cheaper to sublet for the summer. You can get places much cheaper than dorms since people are desperate to have part of their rent paid.</p>
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<p>If you are not work study, you may need to branch out into the town. It would be easier if you said what kind of work you are willing to do (would you work in the dining hall? Would you work in retail or dining outside of UVA? etc). I held a job all 5 years (2 jobs for 3 years). One was downtown and one was through UVA, neither were work study.</p>
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<p>Classes during the summer are notoriously easier because of the time crunch. That said, you can’t work or do anything else if you are taking a class and expecting a stellar grade. I took a 3000 level math class with my friend. I was not working and got an A+. She was working at got a B at best. It was all about the 3 hours a night you had to put into the class.</p>
<p>I have to second the comment about Summer Session being easier. There is a time crunch, but at the same time, it (and maybe one other class) are the only courses you are working on…“easier” than being concerned with 4-5 at the same time! </p>
<p>Ultimately, I think it depends on the course and the instructor in many cases…I took the undergrad Sociology degree requirements during summer session, and the 300 level (now 3000 level) courses on Statistics and Research Methods were definitely taught with more depth and rigor than my most recent semester-long graduate level courses in the same area…I also took a popular Amer. Gov’t class (Mass Media with Freedman) over the summer, but we read just as much during those three weeks as during a 500 level traditional semester seminar.</p>
<p>Once you enroll, you should be able to view the syllabi for many courses (summer, included?) on SIS/collab/whatever it is that replaced Toolkit :)</p>
I’m looking forward to the mayhem.</p>