I have a student interested in Villanova. Student has visited and really liked Ohio State and Univ. of Maryland.
Villanova was flagged on the college results website as a school that has an extremely low rate of pell students- wondering what other folks have experienced on campus. Does Villanova have the feel of an elite/snobby school?
Thanks in advance for any opinions you may have!
Who is the student?
Student is interested in a sports-minded, social school and really liked visits to Ohio State and Maryland, although those schools seemed a little too large.
Student will likely study comp Sci or math.
Is the student your child?
Not understanding this. Are you a pell family?
Sorry. I didn’t explain that very well. When doing research on Villanova, I came across a website that had the following listed under Villanova:
We call this school an “engine of inequality” because very few students come from working-class and low-income family backgrounds, and it falls in the bottom 5% of all four-year colleges nationwide for its extraordinarily low enrollment of freshmen who receive Pell Grants, a type of federal financial aid for low-income students. This college is not very socioeconomically diverse. If this is important to you, use this website to identify similar colleges or colleges in your area that may be more diverse or affordable and that graduate a high percentage of students.
So no, the student looking at Villanova is NOT a pell family, but we are wondering after reading that, does that mean the campus culture is more elite or snobby?
My daughter is applying EA to VSB. Really was not high on her list initially, but she was blown away by how friendly and welcoming the environment was at a visit. I read once there will be certain snobby cliques and fraternaties, but for the most part students are extremely friendly. We were even getting smiles from Nova students when we stopped at the Starbucks next door at a later college visit.
I am very interested in this as well. My son started seriously looking at Villanova after visiting their booth at a college fair. When we flew out to visit, we were all highly impressed with the friendliness of everyone we encountered on campus. We had just toured Johns Hopkins and it was like night and day difference. I am hoping it was not a fluke as this was his one and only EA application! Makes me feel better that @eagerdad17 had the same experience though.
Definitely not a fluke. My daughter is a freshman at Nova and loves it. She was accepted to more highly ranked schools but loved the energy and people at Nova. When you walk around campus and look at the kids, everyone looks so happy, lots of Villanova sweatshirts, etc.
Thank you so much @Squirg! That makes me feel a lot better. 
The culture at Villanova is not “elitist” or “snobby” in the traditional, “I’m better than you” sense of those words. That said, Villanova students tend to come from very similar backrounds…most are from affluent, suburban families from NY, NJ, Pa. About half the students went to Catholic high schools. Many students prefer this sense of shared values and experiences. It’s normal for people to feel comfortable with people like themselves.
I have a son who just completed the Fall semester of his Freshman year. We could not have asked for a better environment for our son! Our family is pretty well off financially but it seems like there are a large number of classmates who are from very wealthy families. Villanova has really evolved from a regional to national profile. Most of his friends hail from well beyond the PA, NJ, NY area … San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Boston. He was sold on admitted student day - several thousand students were up early to welcome us. The spirit seemed more genuine that several other similar events we attended last spring. I can attest that Villanova is truly a close, caring community. Best of luck to all.
As someone who just started at Nova this fall, I was very afraid that it would be very snobby too. At first glance, I got that impression because people generally dress very preppy there. However, I was shocked at how incredibly friendly everyone is. It is a great environment to meet friends and grow as an individual. I have had amazing professors who have expressed genuine care about my grades and me as a person. My class had a movie night with one of our professors, and another invited anyone in our class who didn’t have a place to go for Thanksgiving to dinner with him. I have personally met the president of the university multiple times and he has office hours if you need advice of any kind. If you visit Nova, I’m absolutely sure the word you will hear the most is “community”, and it truly is the best community I have been welcomed into.
I’m sure you will have a great college experience wherever you go, but I hope you keep Villanova in your prospects.
If you have any other questions about the school, let me know.
Freshman CoE student at Villanova
The Math Department at
VU is weak, so it is probably not
a good fit for your student.