I’m more of an introverted person, but I still like to go out and spend time with people. Is the social scene dominated by greek life? is there a lot to do off campus or on campus that doesn’t involve alcohol?
Greek life isn’t a huge part of campus at UR. Of course, if you want to go parties there at the lodges (basically frat houses but no one lives in them, so they’re only used for meetings and parties), you don’t have to be affiliated with Greek life to do so. There are tons of things to do on campus that don’t involve alcohol. Richmond has a lot of clubs and organizations to become involved with. There is also a shuttle system that runs downtown and other places.
There are plenty of things to do on campus that don’t involve alcohol! Spidernights hosts events basically every weekend, and all of those are substance and alcohol-free. They have things like open mic nights, game nights, carnival night, movie nights, international nights, etc. I don’t drink and neither do most of my friends. One thing my friends and I did last year was almost every friday night (at least we tried to do it every week, but schedules got in the way sometimes), we took over the music tech lab and used the projector to watch movies together (and we invited others too, like fellow music people and other friends); we’re hoping to do the same next year.
I may have a different take but I definitely feel the presence of Greek life extremely. As a non-Greek transfer student, I now have a lot of Greek friends and am a sweetheart to a fraternity that I adore. When I first got here, it seemed the entire campus was Greek. I don’t want to deter you but I am not going to sugar coat the presence of Greek life because it’s there and the percentages are higher than what is on tours and all. Definitely Spidernights has had some cool events that I’ve gone to (gingerbread house building and carnival night). Clubs are the best outlet for social interaction besides Greek life. I’m in a business fraternity and a religious organization that has really helped! PM me if you have further questions 
My daughter felt Greek life was overwhelming at times and the alternatives weren’t always appealing. She was hardly the only one that felt that way either. Even her friends that were in sororities and frats found it overwhelming at times. One time she went to a school sponsored Friday night activity and it was coloring lol. It got better as an upperclassman (more people with cars to help get off campus to movies and bowling) and certainly, the school is worth the Greek issue (my son is heading there in the Fall) but be prepared and focus on building your circle early.
@turtletime Hi, can say more about Greek life being overwhelming,especially for those in a sorority? In what ways? Thank you:)
It’s just a large portion of the student body on a campus that is a bit of a geographical bubble… especially if you don’t have a car. More than half of women are in a sorority and the organizations require a lot of their time. If you are in a Sorority you have to be ok not being the perfect member of you want to spend meaningful time with other people. If you aren’t in one, you have to work harder to get out and make those connections. It’s not a reason to not attend Richmond. It’s a fabulous school but it’s good to be aware and start school with an idea of where you want to be socially.
To throw my cents in, I wouldn’t say the social scene is dominated by greek life per se, but there are quite a few people in it. I just kinda tend to avoid those groups and stick with a group I’ve developed from club involvement and interests. If you like parties, you can go to them if you want.
You can easily develop an academically-centered friend scene if you really love your study (or if your studies are so hard and time-consuming that they force you to bond with your classmates), but you’ll probably want to join a few interest clubs; these will get you a guaranteed little friend-base and will open you up to a bunch of students of various seniority and interests who already connect with you in some way (this can also help guide you in your goals). Though the mainstream alternatives to greek life are SpiderNights and fine art events, clubs like UR Games serve as literally a weekly social event and are very fun.
By the way, I don’t really know what you like to do, but you should also just take the initiative and invite people to do some stuff you think would be fun. Richmond is really big and has a bunch of stuff to do, and it’s surprisingly easy to get around town and enjoy yourself without a car (public transport like the shuttles is nice, and sharing Ubers is always a good option). I have a small subset of friends who do this regularly, and you could start something like that if you wanted. To echo others, the social scene is kinda what you make of it, but it’s still great without greek life if you come in with the right attitude.
Neither of my 2 UR graduates, both Ds, were in sororities and were happy socially. They had friends who were involved in greek life and also friends who were not. They did occasionally attend greek parties, which in general are open to all.
One of my Ds played in a club sport and enjoyed social activities with her teammates. Both Ds went off campus sometimes eat out, get ice cream, see movies, visit parks, etc. They cooked dinners once they were in the on campus apartments, and hosted movie and game nights, or attended parties in apartments, sometimes, too.
Neither D felt left out socially or “less than” because they chose not to join a sorority. Participating in clubs, club sports, or being part of a Living Learning Community, are good ways to build social connections outside of greek life at UR.