<p>I agree. UVA may be ranked well on a national level, but IMO, you find the same mix of bozos and “how-did-you-get-here?” people you would find at any other university. So many students at other less-well-known Virginia colleges transfer in after their first year and end up with the UVA degree. As a recent UR grad with many friends who attended UVA, I believe that in many subject areas, UR offers a more challenging curriculum. The fact that your professors get to know you personally and that for many courses you aren’t allowed more than two unexcused absences mean that you can’t get lost in a crowd or put in less than your best effort. UR professors push their students and you will find that there is more “homework” assigned–you will be expected to do the reading and engage with the material. Also, the undergraduate research opportunities at UR are unparalleled–students can apply for huge summer research stipends from the university to do research anywhere in the world. UR graduates regularly win prestigious national and international competitions and are accepted to top-notch graduate programs in law, medicine, and other fields. At UR, I had the opportunity to take a course in the law school and see what it was like–and, when I decided law wasn’t my bag, I got the advising support to change my major.</p>
<p>That said, Charlottesville has much more of a “college town” feel than Richmond. The UR campus can feel like a bubble, but the city of Richmond is a great place to explore. I would recommend having a car (or a friend with a car) if you decide to go to UR. You should not feel bad about deciding between UVA and Richmond–though I think that at either school you will be able to find interesting, engaged students (and professors).</p>
<p>Sorry if I offend anyone, but if you want to go to law school, consider a business undergraduate degree rather than an unmarketable liberal arts degree. The business background is also invaluable for attorneys and would give you an advantage given the oversupply of law graduates.</p>
<p>These rankings in Business Week are very surprising.</p>
<p>[Top</a> College Business Programs by Specialty - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Bloomberg Businessweek - Bloomberg”>Bloomberg Businessweek - Bloomberg)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>???
What on earth does this mean? I transferred in because I didn’t even apply here first year, and I most likely would have gotten in. I know others who transferred from Vandy, Leheigh, UCLA, UMiami, etc, who were stellar even in high school. A comment like this repulses me because many of us who transferred needed to work out butts off for 3.5+s first year, in an environment that may have been hostile to us, AND deal with admissions AGAIN, to just go here. That comment was rude and hurtful. There may be people here who got in because mommy and daddy had enough money to send them to private schools all their lives, but the transfers are not to be joked about.</p>
<p>I got into UVA and William & Mary when I was a senior. I went to William & Mary because I was a William & Mary Scholar, I decided I didn’t like William & Mary after a semester so I transferred. Two of my best transfer friends were from Harvard and Columbia, f.y.i.</p>
<p>BTW…again the OP wants to go to law school, UVA is without a doubt the school she would be better at if she wants to go to a TOP law school.</p>
<p>I promised myself I wasn’t going to add more to what I had already posted, but dang wahoomb, you made me do it! </p>
<p>While I appreciate your dedication to your alma mater, I think your bias is not allowing you to see the reality of this particular poster’s situation. The OP stated that money was an issue for him/her. The OP is talking about a FREE undergraduate education, with $ for studying abroad and more grant $/opportunity for UG research. ALL at a fine hands on university. And ALL which means a chance to save $ so that when she/he gets starts law school, (which, last time I checked, is pretty darn expensive) s/he will be in less debt.</p>
<p>The quote below is from the ABA:</p>
<p>“Whatever major you select, you are encouraged to pursue an area of study that interests and challenges you, while taking advantage of opportunities to develop your research and writing skills. Taking a broad range of difficult courses from demanding instructors is excellent preparation for legal education”.
([Preparing</a> for Law School](<a href=“http://www.abanet.org/legaled/prelaw/prep.html]Preparing”>http://www.abanet.org/legaled/prelaw/prep.html))</p>
<p>Here are some of the research opportunites s/he could have at UR:
[University</a> of Richmond: Undergraduate Research](<a href=“http://admissions.richmond.edu/experiential/research.html]University”>http://admissions.richmond.edu/experiential/research.html)</p>
<p>And finally here is a link to their pre-law program:
[University</a> of Richmond School of Arts & Sciences: Pre-Law](<a href=“http://prelaw.richmond.edu/]University”>http://prelaw.richmond.edu/)</p>
<p>UVA is a terrific school, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t see how a student could not take advantage of the opportunities s/he has at Richmond. Finally as MechWahoo’s link showed, UR has a great Bschool, too, just for added measure, in case our friend wanted to take his/her advice!</p>
<p>UVA is a good school, but I wish I would have gone to UPenn or Duke because my chances to get into a top law school would be even greater. I’m biased b/c I went to UVA, but I’m not completely blind and I can also see how I would have been better served at a “better” school.</p>
<p>Re-reading my post, I realize that it makes it look like I think that transfer students are bozos. Those two sentences were completely separate–as far as the intellectual caliber of the student body at UR v. UVA, I was trying to say that at both schools (like nearly any college/university), you will find a mix of intellectual abilities despite one school having a more prestigious reputation than the other. As for the transfer student line–I was not trying to cut down transfer students in any way or say that they don’t belong/don’t have to right to switch schools, whether they’re coming from a community college or an Ivy. I think that the second sentence was part of my stream-of-consciousness response to all of the cuts on UR and shoebox, you’re right, it came out wrong and didn’t belong in this forum. I guess we’re all defensive of our alma maters (and we should be! it’s a good sign!).</p>
<p>Rankings aren’t everything. Sure, they’re important, but you may find that the opportunities of a small LAC help you build a stellar resume. But obvi, s/he should go where s/he thinks that sh/e will do best, whether that’s in a small LAC or a larger research university. You can make the undergraduate experience whatever you want…</p>
<p>Agreed, spiderdad, I didn’t take offense (f.y.i), i come out offensive as well when I don’t mean to, but that’s what you get when you’re on a message board.</p>
<p>spider - i wasn’t trying to defend my alma mater, frankly I think UR is the better choice here too. I just found your post saying UR had less bozos because of the transfers here at UVA. I just don’t get why people think most transfers are of any less caliber than people admitted as first years, and your post kind of came off that way. Sorry for misunderstanding, thanks for clearing it up and not just attacking back :)</p>
<p>I didn’t think the thread would get more feedback, but, again, many thanks for all the information everyone! I am leaning towards UofR due to finances (as of right now, I’m going there), though UVA did give me a very nice scholarship that covers tuition and fees which makes me keep looking at the school again; I think I’ll try to call the school and discuss my financial aid worries and see if they can shed some light on my situation (my mom will make a lot more money next year and I want to see how that would affect my cost next year since this is not a one year venture but a four year one that could affect whether i can afford grad school or not). I won’t deny that UVA does have my heart, though Richmond is a wonderful school and I would not mind going there at all. </p>
<p>Spidergrad–i have heard that UofR is a very challenging school. how hard did you really find it? do you think the work is all very manegeable as long as the person manages their time correctly and completes the assignments well? I’ve been a straight A student all my life, and while I expect college to be difficult, I’d like to get another perspective as far as the challenging academics at UofR. I’ve heard from people that as long as you manage your time, grades should be fine and having a high gpa will not be a problem, but others have said that regardless of what you do, having a high gpa is tough and almost impossible. I’ve heard more comments that say, ‘it’s fine; will not be hard as long as you work hard…’ but i won’t deny that the ‘impossible’ comments from some students have freaked me out. Any advice, or comments?</p>
<p>I would say that I never found the work/material at UR impossible, but the adjustment to college work took a semester (and I came from a pretty good public school). I think part of this had to do with the fact that I started off as a premed student without really having a science background or an interest in science (I dropped premed after a semester). Once I switched majors over to the humanities and the subjects I was passionate about, I found that it made all the difference in my GPA and general outlook on life. </p>
<p>The hardest thing about UR is the workload–it’s definitely not a place where you can come to class unprepared and sit and listen (with the exception of the slightly larger intro classes). I felt challenged every semester but didn’t think that the work was unmanageable, esp. for those who budgeted their time wisely. If you are a humanities/social science major you can usually expect to have about 50 pages of reading per class (depending on how often the class meets) and can expect ~3 papers a semester, though it really depends on the subject and the level of the class. Class participation is often a huge part of your grade. I always found that if you have a legit reason (illness, multiple papers/exams on the same day), professors will give you extensions or will work with you on deadlines. But, yes, there will be times when you think you can’t handle it and are super-caffeinated and stressed (usually around midterm/finals week). Another thing–professors were great about reading paper drafts and helping prepare for exams, which was really helpful for me when I came in as a freshman and my writing wasn’t quite up to the university level. Once I had a semester of adjustment, I did pretty well but I always felt like I was being pushed to the next level (plenty of my friends didn’t need a semester to adjust; many had 4.0s after the first semester). You definitely don’t get an “A for effort” in most classes at UR; critical thinking is key. College will be an adjustment and a challenge, but if you were talented enough to be selected for scholarships at both universities I don’t think you will have a problem at UR. :)</p>