Virginia Commonwealth University Top Questions

My freshman without a doubt went really well for a first-time experience. All my professors were very engaged and charismatic. However, I was still trying to find out how things worked around campus and where exactly to as well. During my freshman year I was doing quite well in all of my classes, except for one. This was the infamous Biology 101, growing up I always liked science, but it is nothing compared to when you take a course in college. Now my adviser suggested that I go to the tutor sessions they had but I felt since I was always an honor student in high school I didn't need a tutor. Now one thing that would have greatly helped to my advantage is this little thing called S.I. Sessions. This is where the TA of the class has a session every week to go more in depth about the lecture. If I would've known these existed I probably could've got a 'B' or even an 'A'.

The worst thing about my school is the tuition because it continues to increase.

The worst thing about my school is how disorganized the nightime shuttle service is. When I was first told about RamSafe, I expected to feel secure in the knowledge that I'd have a ride home from wherever I was on (or near) campus. Instead, I find myself waiting for up to 45 minutes to take a 5-10 minute bus ride where I could've walked home in a fraction of the time. While the bus is definitely safer, the wait time associated with it encourages the more dangerous option of walking alone at night.

When I think about the drawbacks to the campus. The only thing that I can think of that I do not like, honestly has to be the sidewalks. Every sidewalk you walk on is bumpy, crooked, and awkward. I must say the first couple of months that I have attended VCU were pretty embarrassing because of the numerous occasions that I have tripped or stumbled over myself walking on these sidewalks. It’s always funny when it happens and it still catches me by surprise.

I think that the worst thing about my school is that there aren't more languages taught there. Some of the langauges that are taught there are only offered during certain semesters so that also creates problems. I wanted to take Chinese and Japanese. Chinese 101 is only offered during the fall and I can only take Japanese through another school, so this is very frustrating and I wish that VCU had more langauges and sections for the langauges available.

Out-of-state tutition fees and the finanical aid assitance currently are the most unsettling at the moment at Viriginia Commonwealth University. The unversity has gone up in tuition for the pass couple of years, out-of-state student pay more than twice than in-state-students and finanical is especially scarce for students who are out of state because some scholarships only cater to residents of Virginia. Transfer students (that do not come from a community college) have a diffcult problem finding finanical aid for help pay for expenses.

The worst thing is by far, the traffic. If you are new to the Richmond city environment, then you will be very confused on how to get around, and the conjestion and traffic can be unbearable if you don't know how to get around.

The worst thing about my school would be how there are two campuses. It is inconvenient and difficult for students to stay on time when having to travel between campuses because they are residing on the MCV campus. Especially since it is a dominantly freshman residence hall it is frustrating because freshman are not familiarized with the way university schedules work. After a while the MCV residents will obtain knowledge on how to properly navigate between the two campuses and stay on time, but it is still a hassel to wake up 1 or 2 hours before class begins.

There's a bit of a homeless issue in Monroe Park, and because it's an urban environment with lots of people who do not attend VCU, there's a pretty high crime rate for a college campus. Additionally, with construction constantly going on, there are lots of gas leaks that occur regularly. The food here is all generally fatty as well, and the buildings themselves aren't really aesthetically pleasing - they blend with every other brick-and-mortar building in the Greater Richmond area, making the city as a whole a bit of a dirtty eyesore.

the food

Work load can be quite exhausting at times but that is expected for college. Some of the buildings are old and could use some improvement such as the bathrooms.

I think the worst thing about VCU is the fact that many professors do not take the free "How to Teach" course offered. As a result, many of the professors are not effective at teaching material for comprehension. Students tend to learn material for tests only.

Our costume design program, which I am a part of, is poorly funded. The number of students we take is not limited to who qualifies, but to the space we have available in our one classroom. We have had to fight for basic classes to learn our skills while other programs like fashion design receive far more funding, space, and resources, despite our work being equal in quality. We have done extraordinarily well with what we have, but we should not have to fight for an education.

The worst thing about my school is the best thing: the city. I love the tall buildings, the lights, the history and the culture. However, the amount of homeless and unemployed is hard on me because I know I can't help them all.

The sidewalks are the worst thing about VCU. In a lot of places the bricks are out of place and it really is like you're walking through a maze and/or hopping, skipping and dancing your way to class. And when it rains or snows it gets worse. You have to be very careful that you don't trip, slip, fall or all of that combined.

It is very hard for me to pinpoint something as "the worst" thing about my school, since I love it so much. The one thing that makes me a little nervous however is the location and the safety risk. I love Richmond, but it's not exactly the safest city. I feel comfortable on campus, for the most part, but can't help feeling worried on late-night walk homes from the library. Despite the crime, Richmond is an amazing city with lots of opportunity and I couldn't see myself at any other school than VCU.

Months ago, my dreams of achieving quality food were not only shattered, but I was forced to waste valuable money on the worst food by a lie that VCU is "committed to providing quality food..."The dining services are the worst due to their failure to satisfy my vegetarian diet, ill-prepared meals, and uninviting tastes. As if being strictly vegeterian without sufficient nutrition is not challenging enough, the only items VCU serves are artificial, tasteless foods that excel in the amount of sugar, fat, and calories. The meals discourage a healthy lifestyle and force students to yield to malnutrition.

I would say, in my opinion, that there is nothing that I feel is a worst thing about VCU. This school is very different to each individual. Someone may view it as terrible, but I love it.

The only bad thing about my school is that it's located in the city and the city can be quite dangereous sometimes.

Even though the campus is in the city and is open, the outer areas of the campus are sketchy. The core of the campus aka Monroe Park is crawling with police and feels very safe. Broad Street has a lot of VCU buildings however there is not the same security feeling as the central part of campus.