<p>Say I'm a very social person, enjoy to party, go to football games, sports are my life, etc. as well as care about my studies obviously cuz I got in UVA OOS. WIll I fit in at UVA if I am not totally preppy, own a total of one collared shirt, and have no intention of going greek? Also I am in no way conservative.</p>
<p>This is a serious question, from what I've heard from friends that go there and have visited, they say it would be extremely hard for me and I should go to UNC (which i also got into OOS) because I would fit in and enjoy my time there more.</p>
<p>You will be fine. The unofficial motto is “Work hard, play hard” and UVA has many niches. UVA tends to be liberal, although not as liberal as say Wesleyan or Berkley.</p>
<p>Yes you would, I’m latino, not into frats at all, hardcore liberal, cared about my studies as well, not preppy at all (in fact semi-hipster) and I actually loved it.</p>
<p>There are 13,000 students here (3,240 in the first year class, ideally). They aren’t all preppy. However, I’ve noticed that teenagers tend to shop at the same stores. Kids from Boston look like kids from Dallas these days. I don’t think the clothing students wear should matter. </p>
<p>Sometimes I think we should flip our Greek stat…70% of students don’t belong to a Greek org. One of our volunteers once said he had the best situation: he wasn’t Greek, but had friends in a few different orgs. He got invited to parties and events, but didn’t have to pay any dues. :)</p>
<p>Dean J, I think that greek stat is a bit misleading. If 0% of freshman are greek, then the percentage is greater than 30% among the other classes. More importantly, one does get the impression that a significant fraction of social life is channeled through and around the greek system even if you are not a member.</p>
<p>This is important in our case as we are about to choose between UVA and W&M, which have a substantial greek presence, and some N’eastern privates where the greek system has been essentially extirpated. As you can probably tell, I am not a big fan of the greek “system”.</p>
<p>Nigiri, my D recently joined a sorority at UVA as a first year. She is definitely involved in a number of other activities as well and would be the first one to tell you that her social life doesn’t revolve around the Greek scene. There is plenty to do if you aren’t active in Greek life.</p>
<p>@sabaray, have you read the book “Pledged”? Every time I have an undergraduate student in my lab, and they join a frat or sorority, they disappear. Have you ever walked along frat row on a Friday night…it is a different scene than at places without a greek scene where the parties seem a bit more individual? These are my concerns, but they are just mine and I don’t control my son. Your daughter’s perspective is much appreciated!</p>
<p>people have already said this, but uva is a hugeeeee school. you’re bound to find your niche somewhere! i’m not in the greek system either. i have a fair number of friends who chose to go greek, but you will definitely have things to do and meet a ton of people all the time. good luck making your decision!</p>
<p>I graduated in 1982 from UVa. I originally pledged a fraternity, but had to step out of it after only a month when I saw the time commitment would put a strain on my engineering studies. After that time, I occasionally attended frat parties, but I had mostly activities and friends outside of the Greek system. I had a great time in my 4 years.</p>
<p>Last year my son was accepted at UVa. He was concerned about going because he is not “preppy” and he had a distaste for “popped collar, spoiled rich fraternity kids.” He did attend, and he was convinced by some hall mates to at least attend some rush events. His views of the Greek system softened and he actually has pledged a fraternity. He has lots of friends that chose not to pledge. They all get along great together on their hall and in their other activities, from volunteering at Madison House to intramurals to a capella groups to language clubs to etc. etc.</p>
<p>Next year, he plans to live with five other young men from his dorm. He and two others are in fraternities (all in different houses) and three are not in the Greek system. They already have some summer gatherings planned. Most of his friends are not in his fraternity, though the fraternity has helped him expand his social network even wider.</p>
<p>There are lots of activities and social opportunities outside of the Greek system at a school the size of UVa. There is room for everyone, and they can find the friends that share their interests.</p>
<p>mdskillz, you sound exactly like me before I went to UVA. The only thing I’d say is that as long as you can stand underperforming but really high level college sports (ACC basketball, gigantic football games) you’ll absolutely love it there. UVA was everything I hoped it would be, and I even went in with with a pretty heavy anti-greek bias - I joined FIJI my 2nd year anyway and it was by far the best part of my college experience. </p>
<p>UVA is so big, so diverse, that you can find pretty much any niche, any group of friends, any interests, any scene and pursue it. </p>
<p>Given your options and interests, I’d go UVA.</p>