University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

the best thing about UVa is the huge sense of community. if i could change one thing about UVa I would want teachers to be reviewed and be held accountable and reprimanded for not being up to par- some of the teachers here suck and should be reviewed. I think the school is just right in terms of size. When i tell ppl i go to UVa a lot of times theyre surprised and impressed because of the reputation UVa has as being such a prestigious school. Most of my time on grounds is spent in my dorm or in the library- but thats just me i think. I would say that c-ville is a college town because other than the university and the shopping and cultural centers associated with the university (the corner, barracks, and the downtown mall) there really isnt a whole lot to c-ville. I dont really know much about the adminisration, im not very involved but i am happy that a ton of UVa stuff is student run. the biggest recent controversy here...hmmm, i guess it would be that in our school song some people would sing "not gay" at a part of the song that describes UVa as gay- the school was pretty divided over that and there were posters and flyers and stuff all over the school asking ppl not to say it. I think theres a ton of school pride- we love our school and especially since we did so well in football this year. the most unusual thing about UVa is the honor system because its reallllly strict and the only punishment for someone convicted by an honor offense (the honor council and court is completely run by students too) is a single sanction which is immediate expulsion from the university. a lot of students complain about the distance of different buildings like dorms to central grounds but really, UVas not that spread out compared to some campuses

When people find out I go to UVA they say, "Wow, that's great. What is your major?" and when I tell them I'm majoring in Architecture they say, "WOW! You must be a genius! I hear that is really hard!" Then there's an awkward pause because it's really not that big of a deal and I can't really confirm that I am a genius or whatever they are suggesting. I spend most of my time on campus on the north side of Newcomb, at Brooks, Campbell and the IRC. I think just about everyone has some degree of school pride, obviously some more than others. The main complaint I've heard is the lack of updated equipment in certain departments (Where is all our money going?) but other than that, most people are really happy with the school in general.

The best thing about UVa is the strong sense of tradition. It's just the right size. People from home don't know what UVa is but if they do know, they are impressed when I tell them I go here. I spend most of my time in my room. College town. There's a lot of school pride. The student run honor code is unusual.

The best part about UVA would definately be the people. Everyone is so nice and welcoming and I feel so at home here. I do not think I would change anything at UVA except for maybe the dining hall food. It is just right in size and it is very much a college town. everything revolves around the lawn and all the classes are around it. There is a lot of school pride and for football games with have this saying of "girls in pearls and guys in ties" where both groups dress up in sundresses and khakis shirt and tie.

There's so much pride at UVA...just go to football game! That's one of the things I love about UVA. One of the things I HATE about UVA is the amount of pressure there is to be involved in about a million different organizations while simultaneously earning a 4.0. Everyone at UVA is a self-starter, go-getter (with, of course, a few exceptions), which means it can get a little crazy. It's not competitive in a malicious way at all though--it's more like everyone is encouraging you to help out with their cause all the time, and you start to feel guilty if you're not out there doing good, passing out flyers on the Lawn. It can be exhausting. I love how pretty the UVA campus is, but I absolutely hate that 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of it is always under construction. Charlottesville is a great place to live: there's lots of concert halls, fabulous restaurants (some would even do well in a place like DC or NYC), fun bars, art galleries, ect. Once you step off Grounds, there's a whole other world to discover outside the UVA community.

The best thing about UVa? Where to I start?! Let me start by first saying that I came to UVa for financial reasons only, initially. My parents wanted me to get an excellent education but did not want to put a second mortgage on the house to do it, which I guess is understandable. I went to UVa because going to Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, or MIT was not financially feasible. You'd be surprised how many students were in the same boat. I didn't think I'd end up liking UVa as much as I do now. UVa makes a strong effort to compete with the best-of-the-best. I don't think that we've stopped building a new building since the 1980s. The administration's efforts have paid off; we're considered the number two best public university in the United States by US News and World Report. Our sense of community is something that I haven't seen at any other university. At any other top university, students compete to be the best in their class, creating this agressive and cutthroat environment. At UVa, our friendships supercede the extracurricular. It's not by any means uncommon to go to the library with a bunch of friends and do homework together. Even if your group of friends isn't in your major, going to the library and studying or doing homework together is still popular. Either way, pizza is typically ordered and delivered directly to the library. Many of our libraries are open until 2am or 24-hours on weekdays, providing a study space whenever students need it. When I tell someone I go to UVa, especially when out-of-state, it typically yields an impressed expression. It's difficult to get in to our school, so you must be pretty smart if you're just attending UVa. I have a love-hate relationship with Charlottesville. The love part is that they do try to accommodate students' hours. Many businesses are open until 2am, especially restaurants, grocery stores, and student-oriented retail stores. The location of businesses is key, too; the farthest I ever need to travel from grounds is to Best Buy, which is only a mile or so away. Bus lines are set up by the Charlottesville Transit System around students. We have our own Trolley line designed for first-year students so they can visit the downtown historic district, which has a variety of restaurants and shops. The town itself is set in a beautiful backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and any landscaping around the City is pristine. For those who love to hike or ski, we have plenty of opportunities nearby for that. Charlottesville has it's own airport, Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO), which has daily departures to major hubs on the East Coast and in the Midwest. The airport is in a brand-new building, too. Word of advice: take a door-to-door shuttle service and not a cab from the airport. Cabs can cost upwards of $40 one-way to or from the airport because it's located twenty minutes from grounds. Charlottesville is irritating in a few aspects, too. If you're like me (I'm from the Northern Virginia area), you'll be a little irritated by the isolation of Charlottesville. Outside of the City of Charlottesville and the County of Alblemarle, there's trees, trees, and more trees. We have a few nightclubs, here, too, but they're visited by almost exclusively graduate students because it costs money to get in -- money that often undergraduates don't have. Because the City is incredibly old by American standards, the roads around the University are extremely inefficient. It can take up to fifteen minutes to get past the Emmet Street/Ivy Road/University Avenue intersection during rush hour. First-years are not allowed to drive cars except under special circumstances approved by the Department Parking and Transportation of UVa. They claim that bus routes solve this dilemma, but carrying a pack of Deer Park bottles in addition to all your other groceries on the bus isn't exactly easy. It's illegal for first-years to operate cars in Albemarle County, but I don't know how they can enforce that unless the first-year actually says he's a UVa student to the police officer. Some first-years have parked off-grounds on the street and drive their cars only when they need to, usually to back to their hometown. UVa's administration is very receptive to student concerns. It's not impossible to see a dean if you have a concern. Many of the University committees have student members so they can keep an even perspective of the student body. Student self-governance is strictly enforced at UVa: there are no "advisors" or faculty position in any of the UVa student clubs or groups. Many people wonder if this causes more problems than benefits, but I've never heard of a student group "getting out of hand" before. Like I said before, if you were admitted to UVa to begin with, you're already considered both smart and mature. School pride is ABUNDANT at UVa. Any student car you see (heck, any car you see in Charlottesville) has about five UVa bumper stickers and window decals. Student pride is extremely strong, and everyone's happy to be a Wahoo. The biggest experience I'll ever remember is when I went out on one balmy night with a bunch of friends. We didn't do anything in particular. We ate at Little John's (a popular deli on the Corner), made our way to Starbucks, then sat at the Rotunda and watched people streak. A little weird, yeah, but streaking the Lawn at the Rotunda is a tradition of UVa; I know very few alumni who haven't done it at least once. The quality of on-grounds housing has always been a big complaint. Many buildings are old and most first-year housing is without air conditioning. I know that UVa has addressed this by launching a huge housing revamping project. It will include replacing most of the first-year dormitories and remodeling older upperclassmen apartments. Of course, living on-grounds isn't always the best financial decision either. The cost of a dorm is often very close to that of an apartment off-grounds, and many people choose the former because of the convenience of always having access to your room (UVa closes dorms during Christmas Break) and not needing to move in and out at the beginning and end of every semester. Those who are lucky enough to get a newer dorm, however, are usually very happy where they live. We have a few "commerical student housing developments" that have recently taken off, like the Woodlands of Charlottesville. The people who I know that live there seem to like the relaxed atmosphere, but it's a little farther away than most apartments. A few administrators said that because of these other housing developments, the push for revamping on-grounds housing hasn't been as strong.

The atmosphere makes the UVA experience. Charlottesville is a college town whose location makes one of the most ideal places in Virginia to spend 4 or more years. There's any number of hiking trails, shopping, recreation clubs at UVA that make the most of the greater Charlottesville community. Most people I talk to outside the University community are highly impressed that I attend UVA as it's one of the top 2 public schools in the nation. At UVA, we take time for work and for fun here. The sports here may not be #1 in the ACC but we do have one of the top division 1 athletic programs around. All the sports including football, baseball, basketball and soccer are very exciting games to watch.

Honor system, comm-school, diversity State school too large good school, but not well known internationally comm school, dorm, library college town good yes no

I love UVA more than I expected to. I grew up in Charlottesville and I love the town. I thought I'd be too fed up of c'ville to go to uva, and thought I would transfer after a year or so, but this place is great. Everything I could dream of wanting is right here. For example, I took Fire-dancing (poi) lessons at the McGuffey Art Center last semester. The busses are a great (FREE) way to get around town. The university itself is great. I think it is just the right size. People are pretty impressed when I say that I go to UVA, but it's not as prestigious as Harvard (which is nice, in some ways). The students are all incredibly hard-working and hard-partying. Everything you want is really easy to get for free.

It's usually pretty funny when I tell people I go to UVA because I'm from Blacksburg, Virginia Tech town. They usually make a face and jokingly ask what I was thinking. But almost always they follow it with a smile and say in a more serious manner that UVA is a good school. I guess I get the opposite reaction at UVA. "You're from Blacksburg? Way to pick the right school! Why did you come here?" I think that you can find the root of many rumors about UVA like insane school pride. Then you realize that it's not so negative after all. I'm not the most school-spirited student ever (I still cheer for Tech because I'm from Blacksburg), but I am proud to say that I'm a UVA student. I may not feel that I fit with all of the implications of that statement because I don't drink or party; but since I've been here, I've had good classes and a great group of friends. For what more could I ask? Overall, I've loved my years at UVA and I feel that I picked the right school for me. One of the major factors in choosing to which college I would go was where I was going to live. Charlottesville is a special town full of uniqueness. I love the community here; there is always something going on.