<p>hi everyone. so i applied to villanova but i am really curious about the school itself.</p>
<p>i'm not a catholic (or a christian) so that i guess plays a big factor on whether it will be a completely different environment for me.</p>
<p>i'm from maryland, and here we are very very liberal. i've heard that majority of villanova students/faculty hold very conservative views however i am not sure about that and was wondering if anyone could clarify. </p>
<p>lastly, some people call it "villanofun" and i just want to hear from people who have friends at villanova, go/went to villanova, or have kids there whether the social/party scene is really that dry. i am very focused on my academics but i also like to go out and party to have fun.</p>
<p>please let me know if you have an answer to any of these questions
and i really dont know anything about the school so please dont be harsh in your answers
thanks you all loads</p>
<p>Hi! I’m a current student at Villanova and I’d be glad to answer some of your questions. Firstly, I don’t think your religion would affect your chances of getting into Villanova. Most of the kids here are pretty open-minded and the administration definitely does not shove religious views down your throat. Of course, it’s a Catholic university so in some of the core classes, you will be learning quite a bit about Christianity but I’d just take it as part of a liberal arts education. I’m not super religious myself, I don’t go to mass and I really don’t feel pressured to do anything I’m not comfortable with. </p>
<p>In terms of “Villanofun”, that’s such a misconception. Kids go to parties off-campus at other colleges like UPenn and Temple all the time and it’s pretty easy to get to by train or cab. Not only that, there are opportunities to party at upperclassmen’s houses/apartments off-campus if you get to know some upperclassmen (which really isn’t that hard because most people here are super friendly). Point is, the social/party scene is pretty decent. It’s there if you go looking, and you won’t feel like a loser if you just wanna stay in with a bunch of friends and watch a movie or something.</p>
<p>If something about Villanova has attracted you, apply and/or visit! The campus is beautiful, the people are fantastic and I absolutely love it here! Speaking as someone who had never visited the campus before I got in, I think I made a great choice. </p>
Yeah I was also mad concerned about the religion classes we had to take, but honestly, they’re like your typical english class. the professors, generally, know that not everyone is catholic.
Villanova does have a good mix of liberals and conservatives. I know freshman year there were a few ultra conservatives, but as people grow up and mature, students act less crazy about politics.
Yeah I mostly agree with the above answers. Villanova may be slightly more conservative than you’re average college, but it’s still a college. You’ll be able to find people here to go to environmental rallies and gender equality lectures with you.
VillaNoFun is ridiculous. Two trains on campus = full access to Philly bar scene without having to live in Philly
My son is a current student at Villanova and these are the same concerns he had. Despite being Catholic, we are liberal. He was assured by students that the university was not too conservative and that there was a good social scene but he has been disappointed by both.
He is still shocked by how many ultra conservatives he encounters. He has been lectured by fellow students for just speaking liberally in class. So, he has to be very careful what he says. And having a social life definitely means having to leave campus, which is difficult because only juniors and seniors are allowed to have cars on campus. All of the parties he has been invited to are off campus at upperclassmen apartments and these have been closed down by the apartment management. He has found the social life for guys is even harder. And everyone seems to keep to high school type cliques.
I have been on campus many times myself both at night and on weekends and I have found it to be a fairly boring place just in terms of campus life alone. Activities seem sporadic and it can seem like a ghost town at night.
@imthemomma I just wanted to comment on your statement that your son was “lectured by other students for speaking liberally.” It sounds as though your son is a freshman, which means he’s probably talking about his ACS class, a discussion based humanities class. When I took that class I experienced heated debates for sure, but I don’t think that “lectured” is the correct phrasing. The point of the class is for students to debate so that they can learn from each other. As a liberal student, I experienced like-minded students in both sections of the class, but the point is to learn from the students with different opinions.
As far as the social scene, it’s unfortunate that your son has not enjoyed it, but my experience three years ago was pretty positive. It has been discussed at length on other threads, but basically your social life is a function of how much effort you put into finding stuff to do. You can’t just walk to frat row like you would at a big state school, but it’s not as if parties are some closely guarded secret.
I’m sorry that you are not comfortable with my phrasing but your assumptions could not be more off base. My son is not a freshman, he loved his ACS class, students did (lecture, chastise, scold, insert your own synonym…) him for his beliefs. He was approached by fellow students either during dinner in the food halls, walking across campus or even once while studying in a lounge. These people wanted to either save his soul or tell him why he is going to hell, not have a friendly debate.
Digest that however you would like but those were his experiences. I was shocked myself. Since he does not go around expounding his own beliefs, he believes it is actually because of beliefs he expressed in ACS freshman year, as he found out later that a classmate had shared what he said in class with others outside of class.
He has learned to remain silent if people on campus bring up anything religious. In his experiences, he has said that while his classmates are extremely nice people, he has not found many tolerant people on campus. Maybe those are just the circles he has contact with and your experiences may be different. I am only relaying his experience and I would not presume to judge yours.
As far as the social scene, I did not say anywhere that it was a “closely guarded secret”. In fact, I said he was invited to parties but he found the party scene there, for a variety of reasons, could be difficult. I was simply saying that, in his experience, there is no social scene on campus. Therefore, you need to have access to off campus. Again your mileage may vary, but I can’t comment on your experience.
I can’t resist responding to this thread; I have not been on this forum in a while. My son is currently a junior at Vlllanova and has said everything “imthemomma” has expressed. His group of friends have expressed that the social life at Nova is nonexistent and many of them are counting the days to get out of there. In fact, we just took one of his friends, a presidential scholar, out to dinner and she admitted being unhappy with her experience at Nova (and she didn’t pay a dime!)
It is disappointing to me to hear any negative comments about Villanova because I went there and graduated in '89, but Villanova is not the same. We frequently visit and go to basketball games, and “imthemomma” is correct, the campus looks like a ghost town at night. Very different from the 80’s!
In my opinion Villanova is not for everyone. Spend a lot of time at the campus before committing. We actually talked our daughter out of even applying. I can’t pinpoint it, but the student body appears indifferent, not stuck up, just not engaged.
Thank you for your candid responses. When we visited for EA admitted students day, there was an amazing amount of energy in all that we attended. However, I got the sense that so much of what we saw was the Blue Key Society and the extra effort from those involved and upbeat kids. As with any college community, there will be different pockets of student involvement. My senior d is thinking long and hard about the choices she has. And along with the academic areas, she wants to be someplace that fits her.
The campus is nice, safe, and small. One issue is the campus is in the middle of a very rich fancy township. It is a love/hate relationship with the residents and police. The university provides much, but everybody wants the campus to be quiet and proper. The students are mostly rich, upper class white kids from the suburbs of PA and NJ. Think piano playing, geeky, BMW driving kids. Most people are friendly. Some people go to church, nobody cares if you don’t. The students are mostly into sports and hanging out with boyfriends/girlfriends. And most of the students are fairly close to their home, so many go back home to visit family and girlfriends/boyfriends on weekends. The workload is heavy for most, so there is not much time for partying and most students spend the time on weekends going home or relaxing. Because of all this, there is really not much drinking or drug use on campus. It is very quiet at night and on weekends. But you could waste your time at a large state school drinking and partying and get back to a dorm that smells like puke and not be able to sleep in your room. So the boring part of the campus sounds negative to kids about to go to college, but it is a nice learning environment. Most people are into sports and reading books. Other religions and minorities have no problems fitting in that I saw.
But if you visited and have been on campus that is what it is.