University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

"Work hard now. Play hard later." That's basically the motto everyone lives by. Participate in class, get to know your professors, and study five nights a week. Blue books are your least favorite thing in the world. The honor code enables you to take exams home to complete them sometimes - a privilege not found in many other places. It pays to be honest.

Favorite Classes: ENGR 162, ECON 201, MS 201 Favorite Professors: Lenard Mirman, Stafano Garzioli SYS Engineering is geared for real life case studies that allow for good job interviews and provide a glimpse into what work you will probably be doing at whatever firm hires you.

yes. im in the eschool, i hate all of my classes. every minute im not at the bar/walking to the bar. yes. yes. yes. STS202. dont be an engineer. office hours. challenging. both.

people work really hard here. the classes are pretty challenging. i think the classes are geared towards learning for its own sake. i'm in the a-school and the student-professor relationship is very different than the rest of the university...but we're really close. like other architecture schools, your studio is about twelve people and you work closely with your professor. our professors always have us over their house for dinner at the end of the semester and its always a lot of fun.

For the first two years, my experience is that professors don't really know your name, however most of them take a genuine interest in students. Academics are very competitive, and usually set on a curve, however it's not difficult to get at least about 2.7. The Engineering school is definitely gearing toward preparing for the professional realm.

Most of my professors know who I am. It's impossible in a lecture class, but they do a good job interacting overall. Most students are competitive--they had to be in order to get here in the first place.

Even though I'm in the nursing school, one of my favorite classes at UVA has been an architecture class. I love that I have been able to dabble in such a variety of fields before getting completely committed to nursing (whereas now, most of my classes are chosen for me).

There's something for everyone - if you want to get lost in the 500 person lecture or dominate discussion time in a 15 person seminar, both are definitely possible. And no matter what size the class is, the professors always make themselves available to you. I'm conflicted about the College's area requirements - while I think it's great to get a well-rounded education and branch outside of major requirements, I sometimes I wish I didn't have the limitations and have to fulfill certain credits.

UVA places a unique emphasis on academics that is not seen at other schools. While some may judge our lesser standards of Football or Basketball, they do not realize that athletics are purposely kept down in order that most of the funds and emphasis will go to academics which is the entire point of a University in the first place. Thomas Jefferson was one of the most well-educated Founding Fathers and firmly believed in a well-rounded liberal arts education meaning that when you come to UVA you are not in a four-year Career Preparation program but at an institution where you get an well-rounded education, while developing your mind and character.

Classes are incredibly difficult at UVA. End of story. Nothing is ever easy. Ask Jameel Sewell. (A football player who got kicked off the team for academics) Rigorous but rewarding.