<p>Just because most of the people there are white doesn’t mean it’s not diverse. White people come from many backgrounds that can’t be readily distinguished by sight alone. I use to do contracting, so I’ve seen a large variety of white people in many social classes. I can tell you for sure that they all think differently and share different interests. Also, there’s quite a bit of eastern European immigrants in my neighborhood, and I’m certain they go to college as well.</p>
<p>If diversity is important to you, Villanova just definitely isn’t the right school for you. I just visited and pretty much every single person there was white, high-middle to upper class, and comes from a suburban town (and this is me 100% as well). All students I saw (and fellow tour takers) seemed like your stereotypical Aeropostale/Abercrombie teens. It seemed like there was not one single ugly girl there (both that I saw on campus, my tour guide, and fellow students in my tour). Everyone (again, I mean EVERYONE) looked like they took hours picking out their dress or outfit that morning and that appeared to be a daily occurrence.</p>
<p>But the students are not just beautiful, they seemed very intelligent and very level-headed because Villanova is not just an anybody-can-get-in school. Students seemed also involved heavily with community service. Villanova, along with other engineering LACs, is personally not what I am looking for. However, if you are looking for that LAC style with a heavy emphasis on bettering yourself as a human and as tight-knit a community (both in-school and alum) as I have ever seen in a college, then Nova may be a good place for you.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.moltenimage.com/photos/animated/beating-a-dead-horse.gif[/url]”>http://www.moltenimage.com/photos/animated/beating-a-dead-horse.gif</a></p>
![http://www.moltenimage.com/photos/animated/beating-a-dead-horse.gif[/url]](http://www.moltenimage.com/photos/animated/beating-a-dead-horse.gif%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>this has been argued about like 342534 times already</p>
<p>After reading this through, it seems as though people love Villanova. Has anyone not picked Villanova, given same financial situation? If so, why and what do you think about your choice?</p>
<p>You should start a new thread “Does anyon not pick Villanova?”</p>
<p>I know someone last yr chose Wake over Nova-- want to branch out from all the schools that NJ kids attend–I think there’s a lot of NJ at Wake too! ( We’re everywhere-- like the blob)</p>
<p>FWIW, I grew up in the neighboring town of Radnor. These are my thoughts of Villanova, my younger brother went there, and I had many friends that went there. My brother said there is a lot of North Jersey, New York students. The school is very appealing to the Phila private and parochial schools. It is definitely a school with students that have money. If you look in the parking lots on Lancaster Ave, you will verify what I am saying. It definitely has an attitude, and the Abercrombie/Aeropostle crowd is a good description of the types they draw. It is a very good school, that offers a quality education. Their Alumni definitely take care of each other, and it has a name and a reputation (good).
I went to St. Joe’s, at the time we were rivals, I am sure that rivalry persists. I completely hated Villanova while in college, and still don’t like them. My brother, his friends and I get into arguments (in good fun) about the two schools. I am definitely not a preppie person, never liked them in HS and still don’t, but if my son wanted to go there, I would not object. Fortunately, he decided to go to one of the Service academies.</p>
<p>As for diversity, there are plenty of minority students and those from other countries. They are in the engineering dept. There are many wealthier people and I found the female students to be as snotty and rude as many of the males. The teachers are very nice and the students are great for the most part also.
The most annoying for me was the classes were bassically assigned and so were the teachers. They give priority to the athletic students who are allowed first pick of the easy teachers. If you have a problem with a teacher, transferring to another is not a choice since there are a limited number to choose from.
And the most disturbing was the lack of coordination between the departments. The teachers should know exactly what the students are learning in other areas. Taking many math related courses and not being able to make any connection between them was the worst part for me. Taking calculus, engineering, physics, and chemistry all at the same time with different teachers who don’t know what the others are teaching is tough.
And Villanova doesn’t want large drinking parties on campus. I thought this was a plus. Go drink in your room, go to Philly. It was a nice, quiet campus (with nothing to do at night).</p>
<p>I really really hope that the students aren’t too snotty. My S will hate that. Hopefully there are a lot of great kids also, which sounds like the case. Too bad about noncoordination of classes, the engineering school makes it sound like they have designed the curriculum to be very integrated. </p>
<p>My college experience had lots of great parties on campus. That’s how you met other students. Nothing to do at night is a drag but sounds like people can go off campus and have fun. Perhaps that is more normal than my school where off campus was nowheresville.</p>
<p>As a senior in high school my Daughter was accepted at Villanova but chose to attend a seemingly more glamorous college.</p>
<p>During the second semester of her freshmen year she informed me that she regretted her decision and wished to transfer to Villanova. I counseled not to transfer but she she did transfer and enrolled as a sophomore at Villanova for the fall 2009.</p>
<p>I am pleased to say that the transfer went better than hoped and my Daughter now counts the days until she returns to the Villanova community.</p>
<p>Villanova is a great school for a number of reasons. Anyone visiting the school for the first time should notice the number of students wearing Villanova gear and clothing which shows the true affection which most kids have towards their school. Villanova University has a culture of caring, inclusion and community which transcends religion.</p>
<p>@cwjthree: I make it sound worse than it really is. But the professors from the different departments just don’t seem to know what the others are teaching. They have an idea, but don’t seem to be on top of it. They would often say, “Have you learned this in …class.” IMO, they should know exactly what each other professor is teaching. They did make a decent attempt to not have tests scheduled for the same day, which was nice to not have a physics test and engineering test on the same day. The biggest problem I had was because of the small size of the classes, there is only one teacher (sometimes 2) for each subject. Usually one becomes very popular and the rest of the students have to suffer with the other. You can drop a class, but transfering to another teacher is sometimes impossible.
There’s tons of nice people on campus and the engineering dept. is a bit geekier than the rest, so there is less of the macho man attitude. Also, there are almost no females in engineering, so there is nobody from the opposite sex to show off to.</p>
<p>Wow, I don’t know, I guess I thought showing off in class was for high school students. Granted, I finished college a long long time ago but is this really something that happens at Villanova? These “kids” are in college (or should I say “you kids”?). I can’t imagine this being an issue. I recall plenty of people in my clasases orver the years who had an interest in a subject who annoyingly dominated conversations in class, but that was about impressing the professor to get a good recommendation for grad school or a research job, not angling for looks from a guy or girl. Please tell me I am misconstruing your comments, or else my worries about ten pages up that this is a high school not a college might be more based in fact than I thought!</p>
<p>cwj would you please elaborate on what make some colleges like high school and some true colleges? </p>
<p>Do you really think that in the 3 months between high school and college kids change that much? You think that all of a sudden the guys don’t care about impressing girls?</p>
<p>Actually I expect by the time kids are high school graduates they will have grown up. Generally. At least to that extent.</p>
<p>The engineering classes are taken very seriously by the students and professors. When I say the classes are assigned, there are so many important classes needed to get the degree, that it doesn’t really allow for many choices. You can only fit so many classes into 4 years. Engineering is a bit more stressful than some other subjects for the students, and there does tend to be some competition. A few students actually participate in the class, many just sit and watch. The into. physics and math classes are not all that exciting, it’s just the nature of the material that needs to be covered before the classes get more interesting.</p>
<p>And I wouldn’t consider many 17 and 18 year olds to be mature.</p>
<p>cwj you obviously lack world experience and think in very simplistic terms. Did you stop dating at 17? Did you stop trying to impress men at 17 or 18? (If so, you must be something to look at). </p>
<p>Human mating rituals continue even beyond fertility. You cannot expect a primate at any college to ignore potential mates. Sex drive is among the stronges instincts in all species. Guys try to impress girls (and vice vesa) at Tulane too.</p>
<p>If you haven’t noticed personal attacks aren’t the norm around here so I will ignore yours.</p>
<p>That was not a personal attack. It was an observation.</p>
<p>Hi cwjthree! Well, my son ended up with a roommate from CA…wonder if it could be your son. PM me, if you’d like.</p>
<p>It’s unfortunate that [url=<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1105235-second-semester-trouble-withdraw-tough-out.html#post12210781]this[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1105235-second-semester-trouble-withdraw-tough-out.html#post12210781]this[/url</a>] is how the story unfolds.</p>
<p>Wishing cwjthree a successful outcome, whether S stays at Villanova or transfers. I hope that he has taken advantage of all of the available resources; it seems in talking with our son, that Villanova would be doing all it can to retain struggling students.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hi archiemom…couldn’t help but seeing your comment on this unfortunate turn of event…but happy to report that my D was accepted at Villanova and it’s under serious consideration…we’re going down for accepted students day in a few weeks. Hope your son is having another productive semester!</p>