Villanova University Top Questions

I'd have to say that, for the most part, the stereotype of our school is accurate. The majority of students are white. Many of them are rich. It is important, in my opinion, for any high school senior and his or her parents to understand that there will most likely be a "typical" student at any school you go to. At Villanova, the "typical" student is white and upper-middle class. It is also important to understand that the stereotype is not the rule. There are people of every race, religion, and economic class at Villanova, as with most other schools.

Yes. Ask any administrator or faculty member why no Center for Jewish Studies exists, while a Center for Islamic Studies does.

To an overwhelming degree, this stereotype rings true. However, I'm not sure if that's necessarily unfortunate or not, or if one could really say its exclusively a Villanova stereotype, given the fact that these days most universities seem to be hurting for diversity. I definitely do think though, that Villanova has an explicitly wealthy culture - this can be seen just by scanning the outfits of students in the quad - you can definitely tell that the vast majority care a ton about their appearance... even for 8.30AM classes, few and far in between just roll out of bed and run out the door. Having said that, nobody's going to scoff at you for doing so. It's also worth saying that almost every girl is accessorized with a coach bag and a tan, and in the winter it isn't rare to see ridiculous splashes of burberry print dappled across rain boots and umbrellas. I suppose you could say it's Abercrombie catalogue meets Vogue. Personally, I think for the most-part, students live up to the Villanova 'clone' a little too well. Nevertheless, it's still completely easy to find your niche within the community, and while there seems to be a definite Villanova mold, it's not at all intimidating nor is it pressed upon you. I'd say for an affluent group of people, there aren't many of the pretentious narrow-minded kind (people are actually pretty well-rounded, and especially passionate about community service)... making it pretty easy for just about anyone to be thrown into the melting pot and have a great time - at the end of the day, everyone's still a college kid.

To some extent, but not the majority. I would say this is true to 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the time. I know many kids who got near perfect SAT scores and could have gotten into any school they wanted but chose Villanova. And there are a few kids that did not get into the top schools.

not quite, it's easy to judge students at face value but then be totally surprised with the people that they really are... i've learned not to judge a book by its cover. politically, i'd say the campus is actually fairly evenly split these days. the students get more liberal and diversity improves each year, but the student body could get a lot more diverse in terms of the LGBT population, and students could be a lot more gay-friendly on the whole.

Definitely not. There is a ton of stuff to do at Villanova so it is really fun. Students come from a variety of financial situations. Like everywhere some students are from very wealthy families while others students receive a ton of financial aid, but you regardless of you situation you will never feel ostracized.

A large majority of the students are what you would consider "preppy" in the way they dress. However, I think many people misinterpret the classification of "preppy" as having a negative connotation. Where many college students prefer to be comfortable in class in sweat pants and slippers, I think most Villanova students attend class looking pulled together and professional. Which is appropriate for students at our age and seniors getting ready to enter the professional world. Looking at the demographics of students, yes we have a majority of "white" students. The new president has made a point of saying that he would like to make the student body more diverse in the coming years. The wealthy family stereotype is completely false. Students live at school with their parents for us to judge, and in an economy where most families are running on loans etc. many students are probably attending school with the knowledge that their future jobs will have to pay off education debt. Hot girls....obviously true. My brother in law informed me that 10 years earlier when he had applied to colleges, he and his high school buddies ranked their school options based on hot girls. Villanova was considered "A1."

oh, absolutely

Villanova is somewhat preppy, but must less so than people think it is. It is easy to find people who are not preppy around here and it is tons of fun. There are plenty of activities on campus and Philadelphia is a half hour train ride away. There is also a very laid back idea of religion here. We definitely have some people who are quite religious, but it is a very accepting community and the religious aspects are only there if you seek them out, so it is not in your face.

Mostly