I’ve been doing a lot of reading and asking around, and it seems the general consensus about students at UVA students are that they are white, pretentious, super preppy, and not diverse at all. This is not my opinion or anything but that’s just what I’ve heard. Any insight to other perspectives? Is this true or just part of the undergrad population? As someone who wouldn’t classify herself as “preppy” and all in in the greek scene, would I fit in?
UVA is a large school and supports a wide variety of types outside of “preppy-greek”, even though I would agree that most students you’ll see on campus are white.
There are plenty of arts, charity, sports/fitness and nature enthusiasts at UVA; plenty of groups where you can fit in. My child had a rich, fulfilling college experience there (including a diverse group of friends) without belonging to a greek organization.
There are 16,000 students at UVA. I think it’s silly to try to describe them all with a few words. Maybe smart, involved, aware, and enthusiastic about a variety of issues.
The “consensus” you spoke of sounds really old-fashioned to me. Here’s a snapshot of the first year class that might be more informative:
http://digital.uvamagazine.org/articles/2020-insight/
That stereotype was true for about 25% of the student body 30 years ago. Since that time, every measurement of diversity at UVa has multiplied. For example, there are many more students who are not from the Middle Atlantic States, and an exponential increase in the numbers of international students. Even among students counted as “Virginia residents,” a high percentage have parents who were not born in the US.
To answer your question about fitting in, the answer is yes. My kids were not preppy and not the greek type and did not have any problem finding their place at UVA. Only about 30% of the students are members of a fraternity/sorority.
A large percentage of the UVA student body comes from Northern Virginia, which is very diverse with a large percentage of Asian Americans (East and South Asian).
I’d also add that the Greek system includes a variety of organizations, including some ethnically-oriented and racially-oriented fraternities and sororities. My son’s fraternity did not have any preppies.