<p>I have heard a few things about the negative aspects of Villanova. If you have had any experience with Villanova I would like it if you could write what you liked and didn't like about the university. Thank you.</p>
<p>Do you have anything specific you have a question about? I am a current student at Villanova.</p>
<p>I think it really shows how much people love the school if you actually visit. It is something like 94% retention rate and has been similar for a long time. And if you look into the people that did transfer, there’s typically two types of people that want out of Villanova. The first are people that never wanted to go there. People that wanted to go to another school (Northwestern, Ivies, Notre Dame, etc.) but did not get into those schools. Those people usually keep applying every semester to the other school and will leave if they get in. This definitely hinders their perception and ability to like the school they are at - though some do have troubles leaving anyway. The second type of people are the people that want to have a major that isn’t offered at Villanova. For example, I heard the German department was dropped so if someone wanted to major in German, they should transfer to a different school. Some people want more than just the 5 engineering disciplines that we have so they go to a larger school to take aerospace or industrial or whatever. There’s obviously the occasional failout or economic problems that cause people to transfer, but even with that, 94% come back after the first year.</p>
<p>One of the negative aspects you will often hear is Villanofun. People claim that the school is not fun, but college is really whatever you make it. If you want to go out and party every night, there are people that will do that. If you don’t want to party at all, there are plenty of other activities out there to do. Campus Activities Team is always coming up with different trips or things to do on the weekends including the Aquarium, going up to NYC, as well as the weekly movies in Connelly Cinema. There’s also Philly not far away which has plenty to do as well as like King of Prussia Mall or bowling or whatever. There’s plenty of things to do whether you want to party or not. It’s all about getting out of your room and doing the things if that is your worry.</p>
<p>The other major negative that people have is the lack of diversity at nova (Vanillanova). This is an actual concern. There isn’t that much diversity at Villanova, but they have been working on trying to improve that. If you walk around campus, you will realize that the vast majority of the students are middle to upper class Caucasian. </p>
<p>I think one of the greatest selling points to me was the feel of the campus. Everyone is involved and wants to be involved - they want to give back to the school. If you go on Candidates’ Day, Open Houses, Special Olympics, Day of Service, or anything else, you will see how many students offer up so much of their time to volunteer at these events. They aren’t getting anything out of it except the joy involved with the event or people being helped. Everyone gets involved and has that ingrained sense of school spirit for Villanova that is so contagious.</p>
<p>If you have any more specific questions, feel free to PM me or respond here.</p>
<p>Is there much diversity at Villanova?</p>
<p>Honestly, no. It has been getting better as they have been working at it, but Villanova is still predominantly Caucasian.</p>
<p>I have been looking into Villanova and know it is a Catholic school but I am not religious, do you think that would be a big deal? Is religion a big part of the school?</p>
<p>I would say that about ~50% of the school is either not Catholic or at least isn’t a practicing Catholic. While there are religious things on campus - monastery, chapels, the church, crosses, Christmas decorations around that time - it really isn’t forced upon you. If you are fine with seeing those things and never want to go to mass or anything, you will be perfectly fine as many people do not go to mass. You also do have to take 2 theology classes. The first one is an intro class that is not exclusively about Catholicism (though it depends on your teacher) and the second one is in an area of your choice whether you want to study a different religion, the relation to the environment, marriage, females, or whatever (and I think you can even get out of it by taking some other classes). So there are things you will have to deal with, but it isn’t a big deal.</p>
<p>I even think it can provide benefits. Much of the student body is much more service-oriented, which is something that is cool whether you are religious or not.</p>
<p>Thanks! The service oriented environment sounds great. I was just worried about non Catholics being looked down upon, having to go to mass or things like that. But if that is not the case then that makes me feel so much better!</p>
<p>Nothing like that at all. You do have to deal with some religious things, but mass and things like that are completely optional.</p>