The University of Richmond

I'm a freshman at UR, and so far, it has been a great fit for me. The classes are demanding but not unmanageable. I had a 3.8 uw GPA at a prep school with lots of honors and APs, and this semester I got 2 B+'s and 2 B's.. I'll have to keep working hard to bring those up! Most of the students here are highly motivated and intelligent individuals which can make some classes and clubs quite competitive. That being said, it is college and there are people who party, slack off, and aren't involved. Overall, I've found that the students here are nice, motivated, and fun people to be around. My recommendation for any prospective student is that you do your research! Try to get reallyy familiar with the social scene and academic environment of several colleges before making your final choice.

1st Year Female -- Class 2017

Scholastic Success: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: B+

The University of Richmond totally prepared me for life after college. Their hands-on, real-world application based approach helped me immeasurably. The curriculum was rich, rigorous and relevant. An integrated and interdisciplinary teaching style fostering small group collaboration was key to my adjustment to my first job.

Alumnus Male -- Class 2000

I transferred to UR after my sophmore year at a large state university and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I want to address the other negative reviews here, many of which almost persuaded me into not coming when I read them last year, because they are very misleading.

Like at any college you will go to, I'd say 90% of what will determine whether or not you have fun is the core group of friends you make there. If you fail at meeting and becoming friends with new people freshmen year, you are going to have a MISERABLE time at college regardless of where you are. That said, UR has a reputation (backed by the negative reviews on here) as being an elitist rich-kid school full of arrogant, stuck up people. That is not true at all. While yes, you will find some your share of pricks here, that is true of anywhere. As someone who has been to a 25,000 person public university and now a 3000 person, small private one, trust me on that. You will meet people from all walks of life at UR- many people here are on large financial aid packages and are just simply your average middle class. There are many people who have a lot of money as well, but they are not the majority by any means.

The ranting about the social life being controlled by frats and sororities is also complete garbage. Many people don't even go to frat parties with any regularity after freshman year because they are 80% freshmen (so unless you are just trying to find an easy freshmen hookup, there isn't much else to do at them unless you are in the frat and know a bunch of people there). About half the people here are involved in Greek life, and the other half aren't. I have many friends who are in Greek organizations and many who aren't, and both enjoy it here. I am not in Greek life and I still party and have a good time as much anyone else. Whoever was making comparisons to high school is also way offbase. This is college like anywhere else; the only similarity to high school is that the school is small enough that by the time you are a junior you will probably at least know who a large number of people in your class are.

I'd say that most people here fall into 2 categories, and you can have a good time here doing either:

1. Greeks
2. Non-Greeks who have a close group of friends that they hang out with and drink with most of the time

The bottom line is that you will see what you want to see when you come here. If you go out looking for preppy-dressed guys in khaki's and pink polos or girls in sundresses and heels going to class, you will find them. If you come here looking for Lexuses, Audi's, BMWs, etc. in the parking lots, you will find them. But if you also look for "normally" dressed people and not-luxury brand cars, you will see that there are many of them here, too.

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However, my main complaint about this place is the lack of community and school spirit. Despite their recent success, most still don't REALLY care about the football and basketball teams like people would elsewhere. The overall feeling of this place is that of a large group of people who just happen to be taking classes and living together; there is no larger sense of unity like you would find at bigger schools who live and die with their sports teams. If the college sports experience is REALLY important to you, don't come here.

Also, while the food is pretty decent, there are only 2-3 dining options on campus which have pretty limiting hours (especially on weekends), and they get VERY repetitive after a while. I eat off campus food a few times a week to get around that because you WILL get tired of the main dining hall.

One more thing that is annoying is the "Campus bubble." Since almost everyone lives on campus, there is no pressing need to leave other than to eat out. Richmond is a great city with all kinds of things to do (especially once you are 21 and can hit up the bars/clubs downtown), but a lot of people here rarely ever venture off campus. Make sure you get out some, otherwise you will be missing out on many great things this city has to offer. Housing quality varies from dorm to dorm. The apartments offered to upperclassmen are starting to show their age and are honestly too small (a small room in the front, a small kitchen, and a small living room downstairs with 2 2-person bedrooms upstairs). Also, note that you will never have a bedroom to yourself here unless you manage to get a single room, of which there are not many.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2011

Individual Value: A+, Useful Schoolwork: B-