Hi i wanted to ask you guys about being a student at UVA! I just got accepted to the business school and don’t know what the school is really like so I have a couple questions hoping that you can answer them for me:
First off, if you say you’re going to be a first-year then you cannot have been accepted into the business program. You have to wait until your second year to apply to McIntire, nobody gets in as a High School senior. As to your questions, I don’t know yet. I’ve never been to grounds either. I’m planning a visit about 2 weeks from now to get a feel for UVA overall. I would advise you to do the same. Congratulations on your acceptance nonetheless!
The first year dorms are within walking distance of all of the classroom buildings - the very furthest apart are probably a 40 minute walk, but most are within 10 to 20 minutes. When scheduling classes, you do need to consider distance between buildings - you can make it between some in 10 minutes, but most would be tough.
The U. runs an efficient free bus system, and the city bus system is also free to students. When I was a student years ago, the most crowded conditions on the bus system occurred when the weather was bad. The buses were usually full by the time they reached the dorms that were closer to the classroom buildings, but that was fine, because those students had the shortest walk.
It is nice to have a bike for occasional use, but you probably won’t need it much as a first year.
1- I think the campus is small compared to large U where I went.
2- Everything is walkable
3- the 1st year dorms are on campus (albeit on the west side). They are very close to the stadium, O-Hill, and a number of the academic buildings. Chem (and maybe Psych) are right across the street. The East side of campus is probably a ten minute walk. There is a 10 min break between classes and my kid has never failed to make it from one end of campus to the other for her next class.
Moving off campus is a bit farther to classes and a bike comes in handy but it is still very walkable.
I wouldn’t say grounds are small at all–UVa is quite large, and while classes are walkable, there are select buildings that can be half an hour away from your dorm. As for dorm locations, old dorms are the closest to central grounds, new dorms are slightly farther away, and gooch/dillard/hereford are pretty far out. I’d definitely recommend putting a double room as your preference if distance is a concern for you–the farthest dorms are mostly suites with singles.
Overall, it’s large, but definitely manageable. I wouldn’t worry about not being able to get across grounds.