University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

The worst thing that I've experienced in my first year is the process involved in applying for second year housing. Housing applications for on-campus housing for the 2010-2011 school year were due November 30th of 2009. And many landlords who offer off-campus housing require that their contracts be signed by October of 2009; some even wanted a commitment by September. As a freshman just adjusting to college life, the last thing I wanted to worry about in October was where I will be living next fall.

The worst thing is probably the prevalence of alcholol.

UVa selects 2/3 in-state and 1/3 out of state for its entering class and this makes it difficult for out of staters to adjust. I am from Massachusetts and the first few weeks of school out of 20 people I met I would only meet three out of staters. Most not from Virginia do not bother applying to UVa since it is so selective, I think UVa should make itself more accessible to those all over the nation. For me it was an experience to learn from as for others it is sometimes very difficult.

The worst thing about the University of Virginia, besides its famously terrible food, is the students' ability to successfully fulfill the preppy reputation that the school has. There are students from all over the world that attend the University, but it the amount of brand-name clothing, expensive backpacks and accesories give the University fame for being snobby. Upon meeting the students and faculty, one realizes that behind the expensive clothing and accesories hide perfectly nice people. The brand names, however, create an uncomfortable barrier for those of us who do not come from high- income families.

The school is very competitive, making it difficult to show ones interest in certain fields. It is sometimes hard to find volunteer opportunities or take certain classes because so many students are interested in studying to same things.

Currently, class sizes have grown about 10-20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} while the number of TAs for each class has been reduced by a significant amount. While this is obviously unfortunately due to the economy, it puts extra pressure on the professors and remaining TAs, which ultimately negatively affects students.

It is very pretentious and elitist. While it is an amazing place, it does sometimes bother me how some people think they are truly better than others simply because they attend this school.

Primarilly the worse thing about the school is the fact that academically, it seems to accept mainly high socio-economic students with the same methods of thinking. Those students that hold a power over the university by integrating into fraternities and having a hold over the University because they have alumni connections that are high donors to the university. Those students generally tend to be carbon-copied and lack variability and account for a majority of the student population despite the University touting its diversity. The word diversity means nothing regardless of race/ethnicity if the socio-economic status differs.

alot of work because you are spending alot of time in the library

Although this is more of a selfish answer, I believe that the 'worst' thing about UVA is that the Media Studies program (my intended major) is still in its infant stages. At just under ten years old, the program offers a broader study of media than I would prefer. I would also like to see the offerings of the department to expand to offer more than a film studies minor.

The worst part about this school is that, come finals time, the libraries get packed and often run out of room for students to study quietly. Any other time this is not a problem.

Lack of diversity and understanding, which furthers ignorance. Also, several of the more popular and introductory classes (especially those pertaining to the pre-med or business focus) have class sizes that are more than 200 students.

big lecture hall classes- nobody learns anything in them so people tend not to go. many read the book to catch up, many learn by doing the homework thoroughly, and many just fall behind. especially in chemistry and computer science. Of my 18 credit hours last semester, only one class contained less than 30, only 2 less than 100 students. There is no personal relationship between students and teachers. I miss that about highschool and feel i learned much much more in highschool because of that.

Lack of financial aid and merit-based aid. Also, standards for getting in from NOVA are much, much higher than elsewhere.

Fraternities and Sororities. They consume the social life of this school, which makes many students feel as though they need to join one to have friends. This takes away from the individuals ability to make friends on their own as well as finding a niche that has the same morals and standards.

The cost of the education. It's too expensive and it seems like some of the things they spend money on is not needed, for example fish in the library, that is not needed. It's not right for me to pay $40,000 a year and you use that money for some trivial things and then complain about lack of funds for other things that are more important.

Can be strongly intolerant at times, especially for African Americans.

UVA has the image of being a preppy frat boy type of school, but once you actually get there and experience the school then you realize that it is actually very diverse and there are all sorts of different people. I wish it didn't have that negative image.

At times individuals tend to stay in groups instead of broadening their perspectives, but this is not always the case.

People in this school are rather stubborn and fake. They tend to be polite on the outside but could be very sneaky, competitive, and egotistic. You could easily become detached from the mainstream school life and people just don't care about your problems.