University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

To worry less about what college life will be like because the choices and opportunities are numerous - there is something here for everyone. To have fun, try new things and take each moment as something to learn from and appreciate.

just get through high school, and take as many college classes as possible cause they r much harder here

Do all of your work ahead of time!

For starters, don't start smoking. It's a bad habit, some girls don't like it, and it's going to become quite the expensive hobby. Don't hang out with people from work who are older than you-- you will have a lot more fun just spending time with your new college friends. Live with someone who goes to school your second year, not an immature high school friend. Take advantage of your advisor's and professors' office hours, and don't be afraid to ask to get into classes that are already full. Take the classes you want to take, even if the interfere with your work schedule. Think of school as a job that will pay you further down the road. If you miss a class or two, don't get depressed about it and stop going for the entire semester. Buy a laptop, not a desktop. Make use of the library or study lounge-- you won't get any work done in your dorm room. Lastly, don't sleep with your girlfriend's roommate the night she leaves for Christmas vacation. It might be fun at the time, but you'll pay for it later!

Finding the right college begins by doing your homework. Read up on the university you are thinking about attending. If a school states that it has 12,000 undergraduate students and that is overwhelming to you, then mark that school off your list. Once you have researched the school, VISIT. Universities tend to embellish when describing different aspects of university life on their websites, the only way to discover the truth is to go there yourself and talk to students. Finally, talk with financial aid counselors about the school?s policy. If you need money for school and they aren?t willing to give you any, then you should not be willing to give them the time of day. Keep a balanced schedule. Pick interesting classes and make sure to have at least one friend in a class, that way you can study together and have a great time doing so. Make sure to digress by joining a club that interests you. Finally, go to a party or two. College is the last time you will be able to be slightly wild and get away with it, so I advise you to take advantage, but do not go overboard.

Students and their parents need to keep in mind that there is not a single best college. Harvard may beat everyone else in rankings, but there are other things a college needs to be evaluated on. First of all, don't eliminate anything right away because of price. Instead decide what is the best choice, and then try to make the money work, with financial aid and everything. If it doesn't work, then you can try something else. When you start making a list of colleges, begin with a big list of colleges that have the type of program your intested in. Then narrow it down by thing that are important to you, like campus size or availability of extracurriculars, sports, community service, research opportunities, or social groups such as fraternities and sorrorities. By looking at all these criteria and doing some research, you can figure out which college is the best match for you. You should go from a big list down to a short list, and from that list you can make your final decision.

You get from the college experience what you put into it. If you are determined to make a difference, to make memories that will last a lifetime, to succeed in the present and in the future, you will.

For me, I knew I wanted to go to UVA because I cried when i read my acceptance letter. None of my other acceptances moved me in that way. In order to truly enjoy college life, become as involved as possible without overloading. I would also recommend attempting to get involved in the greek life on campus. If it isn't for you, you can always quit. The greek life truly introduces many ways to socialize and help the community.

Forget about name and prestige. Look for the college that suits your learning style (i.e. class size, academic or career focused, emphasis on seminar or lecture) and for the college that suits your social life.

The biggest mistake most of my friends made: many of them fell in love with a school taking a campus tour and decided that was their first choice and left it at that. THIS IS A BAD IDEA! To get a feel for what a school is REALLY like, take a campus tour but also stay a weekend with a friend or through a university program that assigns prospective students a room with current students for a weekend. Then the prospective student can get a feel for the kind of people he or she should expect to see at the school as well as the type of activities he or she would consider on the weekends (fraternity/sorority parties, hiking/camping, video games, intramural sports, etc). If the main weekend events do not appeal to the prospective student, that student should consider other schools. For example, those opposed to drinking should not attend Virginia Tech and those that plan on partying 7 days a week should not attend an academic powerhouse (like the University of Virginia =] ). Finally, everyone wants to go far away for college until they realize they miss home; and everyone will miss home at some point.