<p>Can someone who knows comment on Virginia Commonwealth University? I want to go there but am afraid of the badness of the school. I hear so much negativity (panhandlers hanging around, bums sitting on the school, etc). I don't want to regret the decision I make. Please help, I really want to know.
By the way, I'm going to the School Of Business.</p>
<p>In VA there are soooo many better choices for business than VCU. UVA, W&M, Tech, James Madison. George Mason is probably the better choice for business and Mary Washington probably is too.</p>
<p>Really, I would only recommend VCU if you wanted to be an engineer (behind Tech and UVA) or you really want to go to med school and want to try the guranteed med school admittance... other than that most schools in VA are better than VCU.</p>
<p>yeah, but unfortunately, I got rejected from Mason because they said I didn't have enough extracurricular activities. I think VCU is good enough for one year, but I was wondering if the school itself (academics aside) is a considered a "good" school.</p>
<p>VCU is a good school in some regards; they have a highly-regarded arts program, and the pre-med/bio-tech components certainly get a lot of attention - (having dealt with the administration, I have to wonder if they spend as much time on their curriculum and resources as they do trying to polish their reputation, with lots of hand-waving and smoke and such), but that's another story - frustration aside, many of the bio/med programs are reasonably well-regarded. </p>
<p>Anyway, the school itself <em>is</em> spread out a bit, with parts in or near some, well, "unfortunate" locations, with lots of junkies and the like hanging around in some areas, yet parts of the school border the Financial and Fan districts, both relatively safe and clean areas. But take a wrong turn, you might find yourself in what feels like a war-zone; there are a few particularly dangerous neighborhoods nearby; ("Cap City" doesn't mean "capital", just add "bust a" to the front for the true meaning.) Some of the residence halls resemble bunkers. </p>
<p>That said, I don't think the students are really bothered, that the bad-actors know better than to cross that line. Most people I've talked to who go or went there say it's not really a safety issue, just use common sense, and stay away from the bad areas of Richmond, and bring a car if you can - there's not that much for a student on budget to do, and many (most?) students go "home" on weekends. And the crack wars seem to have mostly burned themselves out, so the city's crime rate is definitely improving. </p>
<p>As for business, well, probably the best that I can say is yes, they do have an undergrad business program, and the tuition is cheap. If you have better alternatives, by all means pursue them, but a year at VCU is far better than community college, and you can get that transfer if you want, (but ace the grades, a 3.0 at VCU won't buy you much in the transfer market.)</p>
<p>Hope this helps, good luck!</p>
<p>Very strong in the arts.</p>
<p>Well, Squiddy, I don’t know about that last part you said: I spent a year at a Community College and I loved the experience. I think I’m more prepared to take on a 4-year college than I ever was before: what students these days don’t understand is that a community college can save you LOTS of money, and it can give you enough experience (both grades and extracurricular-wise) to get into the school you really want. On a campus visit to W&M, one of the admissions representatives said, that they look forward to transfer students applying from community colleges: they are better prepared to take on their challenges, and they are far more mature.</p>
<p>and also, you graduate with MUCH less debt!</p>
<p>I was just on the campus a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t very appealing. It’s spread out over a city, and not in the nicest area. There was a bum on every street corner. Scary place.</p>