University of Richmond Top Questions

Classes at Richmond are fantastic. I have never had a professor who didn't know my name. Small class sizes are the norm here (my personal largest class was 30 people in Microeconomics). Classes are very intense. Students are required to do significant amounts of reading and participate in intense discussion. Luckily, this allows conversation to move outside of the classroom. In the midst of high personal academic standards, students remain cooperative. This is one of the things I love most about Richmond. It is very easy for students with high standards to become competitive and ignore the needs of classmates. Instead, Richmond students are very willing to help each other so that all students can have the best academic experience possible.

Academics at Richmond are really a major strength of the school. All my professors know my name within days, and remember me after I've taken a class with them. Classes are difficult, and you have to study a lot. Class participation is one of the largest portions of your grade in any non-math/science class. The professors are amazing, I've been to my advisor's house for dinner. They are always willing to help with anything and everything, and willing to take time out of their own busy schedules. We also get great visiting professors in the Political Science Dept-I've had two professors who teach at SAIS at JHU. Core is a major requirement that most students hate, but it's really not that bad. The only issue is that the workload can vary a lot depending on the professor you have.

I am a Leadership Studies Major at Richmond and that alone is unique, I mean it wasn't even a choice on this survey! I absolutely love my major because it is unique and because I have learned so many different things. I always tell people that a Leadership Major doesn't teach you how to do one specific job, it teaches you how to live your life. My favorite class here has been Justice and Civil Society. The course examined social justice issues in our culture and what our responsibility as democratic citizens was in solving those issues. I spend a lot of time with professors outside of class. Two of my favorite professors I see almost every week even though I dont have classes with them anymore. Over the years these genious professors have become my friends and I go to them for advice or help on othe academic subjects.

Professors definitely know students' names. They will make conversation with you outside of class, and if you want to do research or work with professors they are easily accessible. Students study a lot. However, most students are great at time management and so while they may be in the library til midnight on Thursday night, they do it so they can have fun with friends over the weekend. Professors look for class participation. It makes students stand out, they can tell who has prepared the material. I've even been told that I couldn't participate anymore in a class so that she could challenge some of the other students to complete the reading and answer questions.

Students take class work very seriously. They need to slow down and actually focus on learning rather than getting the grade and killing themselves in the process. I have great intelectual conversations, but I seek them or start them. And I love that my professors know who I am. I like getting to know my professors and learning from their experiences. My favorite classes have been, Marine Biology which was very hands on service learning. AMAZING and Women Gender Sexuality Studies with Dorthy Holland-she is amazing, and body sex world religion, and Human Strength and Positive function is great! I am doing a meditation project in there currently and its changing my outlook on life.

Note number 1: Richmond is much harder than I thought it would be. Note number 2: I'm still alive and still here. Even though I thought I wasn't going to make it last semester, I did. My professors were extremely helpful and I figured out that I can handle a lot more than I thought. Obviously I have had professors I do not like and taken classes you couldn't pay me take again. Yet I have discovered my passion here and the Journalism department is full of people who are just made of awesome. Seriously, the Department of Journalism (as they're officially called) is amazing. The professors are smart and experienced. They have amazing connections and internship opportunities. They are just fun people who know what the heck they're talking about. Getting a Liberal Arts education is also very nice and helpful. I am glad there is an eclectic class selection because I like a lot of different things and enjoy taking a variety of classes instead of being in the same thing all the time. Sometimes I need a break from writing and want to do a little music or art, etc. But that also means I have to take things like math, which I hate with a fiery passion. Thank God for Elementary Programming! I am irked by the URAware Wellness class requirement, which is an alcohol awareness class. Basically, someone talked to us for two hours about how many drinks we could have a day and how drinking is better for you than not. I walked out thinking, "why did I pay for this?" Overall the academics at UofR are tough but worth it. If you're ready for some serious library hours and intellectual and political conversations with friends, head on over!

Professors always know your name. It might take them some time to learn it but classes are generally so small that they are forced to learn your name quickly. Also, Professors want to know their students and so they do really try to not only learn the names of all their students but to keep up with their students in various other aspects of their lives here on campus. Students study a lot here. It isn't uncommon to find students working or in the library on a Friday or Saturday night and most students stay up late doing work. Additionally, around finals it’s practically impossible to find a computer in the library. Class participation is common but more so in the upper level classes. In a lot of the 101 or intro level classes students take, generally as freshman, a lot of the people are there to fulfill certain general requirements and, thus, aren't interested in the subject matter so, as a result, they don't participate in class. However, most classes are discussion based so student participation is vital to keeping the class moving and a lot of students do contribute their opinions and ideas.

Since class sizes here are generally pretty small, professors tend to know students' names. That doesn't prevent them from calling you consistently by completely random name that's not yours, however... (as happened to me in a chemistry class last semester). Students spend about the same amount of time studying during the week that they do drinking on the weekends. The amount of in class participation really depends on how much students are getting graded on it: if class participation is part of the final grade, students are much more likely to do it regularly than if it is completely optional. Even then, some students never open their mouths (either because of shyness or apathy about the class). Sometimes conversations are spawned by what we discussed in class, but only occasionally are they academic. However, that again depends on the class. There might be more intellectual conversation matter provided by a leadership or literature class than by an economics course. Academic requirements here really range from being lax to being extremely vigorous, and that difference is made mostly by the professors. An easy professor means an easy A, while some A students cannot achieve more than a B- if the professor is challenging or unusually difficult to please.

All my professors know my name since my largest class has about 25 students in it. Generally, the professors here really care about students learning and they make it challenging enough to keep it interesting. Theres a decent amount of classes offered so you can dabble in different areas. The students here are very smart and pretty competitive. They know how hard they have to work to do well so the library will be packed during the week but we use the weekend to relax and release from all the stress. It is definitely a work hard, party hard kind of school.

I've had some great professors, and I've had some really boring ones. Your academic experience really does depend on the professor. The one thing I really like about Richmond is the small class sizes. Lots of individual attention is available.

I'm pretty sure all of my professors know my name. I see some of the professors I had last semester outside of class and they recognize me. It's really great. My favorite class was CS150. It was a decently easy class; I learned something I never studied before that I just happened to be good at; I stumbled upon my major; and I got a sweet job as a lab assistant. My LEAST favorite was definitely CORE. There are just no good teachers for CORE. The kids here study pretty much all the time. There were a good 50-some people in the library on a FRIDAY AFTERNOON once. It's very competitive here. I feel like most of the education here is geared toward making a career. Most of the kids here are trying their best to get ahead and lay a good foundation for whatever they choose to do in the future.

Yes, professors know their students, class size is small enough that you learn a lot. Some students study more than others. In the arts and sciences school the atmosphere is not too competitive. The music department has a good unity. Everyone knows each other and says hi to each other in the halls. It is not cutthroat as everybody is too busy trying to get through their classes. Plus you can feel confident that you have a community in which you can make stupid music jokes like A C and E walk into a bar and the bartender says "sorry, we don't serve minors here" The education at Richmond is geared toward learning for its own sake, but I feel like a lot of students feel pressured that they are never going to get a job, so there are a lot of art students who double major in premed or business. A lot of people double major on campus. If you are not double majoring, prepare to tell people that you feel confident your degree will show your qualifications without five billion majors on it.

Professors definatley know my name and will know it for the next four years... it's not just me. It's amazing. Favorite class: Organic Chemistry because I find it fun and nobody else does because they can't do it. Leave favorite: CORE! Study habits: People are good about keeping up with their work. We are a top 25 school in the nation. We wouldn'tbe there if we didn't work. Class participation: In most classes, yes. BUT in CORE probably not. You can find people to have intellectual conversations with BUT the sterotypical richmonder probably won't. They are too busy getting fucked while they're drunk at the apartment or the Lodges. Competitive: YES Most unique class: American Lit, Radical perspectives... basically a class that is trying to stop capitalism from turning into fascism which at Richmond is big. My major is actually Biochemistry and Molecular biology. I love the department a lot. They are an amazing group of dedicated scientists. Time outside of class with Profs: For me it doesn't really happen but I know pleanty to people who hang out with profs other times. Academic Requirements: They're the usual... no complaints. Getting a job, or learning... Hmmmm probably getting a job. Actually yes, getting a job. I will not say that they sacrifice learning for its own sake but getting a job is very high on the list.

Yes, it's sad - ask many students here and they'll haughtily reply that they should have gone to Harvard or another such institution. Indeed, UR's often been called the safety school of the Ivy Leaguers, and admittedly it was a safety school for me and several of my friends. But okay, we're here now, and I know very few who are dissatisfied with the rigor of academic life at the school. In keeping with its liberal arts curriculum, Richmond has an extensive set of general education requirements - some students like this built-in opportunity to explore other disciplines but I believe most see them as at least somewhat of a nuisance. These include Social Analysis, Math, Science, Foreign Language, Composition, Arts, and History, I believe, although students can apply AP credit to these or test out of select classes. I didn't have to take a lot of Gen Ed classes myself, but was definitely annoyed to be stuck in Bio 100 last fall looking at algae under a microscope and writing a 6 page paper about a tree instead of taking Art History or a news writing class. My advice: definitely definitely take your AP or IB tests! They serve you well here. In addition to the Gen Eds, all freshmen students are subjected to the common bonding experience of Core class (it's currently a year long, but this may change). The reading for this class is your basic Nietzsche, Freud, Darwin, with a spattering of novels, but depending on your professor, experiences will vary widely. I'm an English and French major, and really love the classes within my departments. I know the lecture classes in the math and science departments are generally much larger, but for me the liberal arts classes have ranged between 8 to 25 students. I really appreciate the relationship I have with professors here - they genuinely care about their students and some that I haven't had for class since first semester will still greet me by name when I see them around campus. I haven't had a professor yet who wasn't accessible to his students - I was particularly impressed when a French teacher last fall came in on a Sunday to help the students in our class with technical difficulties on a project. I know that in the upper levels, this student-teacher relationship only continues to grow, and I know seniors this year who have lunch with their profs and who have travel plans with them after graduation! There are certainly many students here who are in school for a set career path - we have a Business School and a Leadership School, both of which have very good programs. Students within the Liberal Arts programs might not necessarily have a certain career in mind, but have several resources available to them in the career services center and the experience and support of their professors. Students in the Arts departments generally let their interests first determine their major, and then try to go from there in determining a career path. I feel there's a good balance here between learning for learning's sake and preparing for life in the real world. The involvement of students in academic and cultural events outside of classes attests to this.