Virginia Commonwealth University — Attraction in Richmond

Transferred here from community college three years ago and I wish I could say it was a great experience, but honestly it wasn't. In fact, my time spent at a local community college was much better than going here. Located right in the armpit of central virginia, the "campus" is more of an idea than anything else and is intertwined with the dirty, cramped, crime ridden downtown area. There are entirely too many students here, as this school accepts all the leftovers and rejects who couldn't get in anywhere else. Most of the students here are either vey clique-y (usually stuck up kids from Northern Virgina living off mommy and daddy's income) or are people who lack social skills and live in a bubble.

Tuition cost rises literally every year. Parking for both commuter and on-campus students is dumb expensive; my first year, I paid $700 out of pocket for a parking garage space that was a several minute hike from my apartment (and that is because parking spaces do go fast). On campus housing costs are ridiculous.... that is, if you can actually manage to obtain on campus housing given the amount of students that go here. Speaking of which, housing is guaranteed only for freshmen, so you might as well forget it in the first place. If you find off campus housing, be prepared to pay no less than $1000 a month for an apartment that might happen to be old and dingy. Dining plans are worth it, but make sure you use them up as much as you can otherwise it will be a waste of money.

And the social scene? Haha what is that. Greek life here is a joke and made up by only 7 percent of the student body, not to mention any stereotype you've ever heard about students in greek life are actually true here. Good luck trying to join a club to find your niche, as most of them have been defunct for years. Parties are scant, and if you do happen to find them, are usually lame and thrown by kids no older than 20. This city does have plenty of good eateries, shops, things to do and bars (if you're 21 or older), but they're not much different than what I can do back home, i.e. nothing impressive.

Academics are hit or miss depending on your field of study; the criminal justice department (the course I majored in) is amazing, the professors I've had classes with were all very competent, intelligent, and worked to make the courses interesting, not to mention they offered plenty of internship opportunities. The engineering, art, and medical schools here are supposedly top notch. That is perhaps the only positive thing I have to say about going here. A lot of the gen ed courses are taught by professors who couldn't care less, and certain departments and professors just set their students up for failure. Might I add that this school is actually listed as one of the hardest universities in the entire nation to get an A. Don't get me started on the advisors either, you know, the people who are supposed to help you figure out which courses to take to make it less of a burden for you. Let me just say that the advisors and career counselors here are useless and make you feel like you'd be better off talking to a brick wall.

The best part of my experience here was graduating and I don't miss it. If you want to go to a school where you don't feel like a number, aren't trying to put that big a dent in your wallet, would like to actually have fun and gain the most out of your education, and want an overall true college experience, then by all...

In my opinion, there are better schools in Virginia than VCU. The acceptance rate is really high, so as a 4.0 student with higher than average SAT scores, I felt like getting in would be a breeze, which it was, and ended up with a scholarship. As a Virginia resident, VCU was the only in-state school I applied to because of it's PT program (which I decided not to pursue because I lost interest in the field). I was accepted to two out of state universities and stuck with VCU because of lower costs. In hindsight, after a year at VCU, I wish that I would have applied to more in-state schools.

Let me start by saying that if you're not in any of the pre-health programs, or going to be in the theater or VCUarts program, there really isn't a reason to come to VCU, as the other programs are average at best and aren't that competitive or well-known in the state. VCU is known for being an urban campus, but feeling safe was not one of my main concerns as for the most part I felt safe, except for having to walk two blocks from my parking garage at 1 in the morning after hockey practice, down poorly lit streets to the nearest Campus Connector stop.

Moving on to my next issue, VCU Parking and Transportation is absolutely horrendous, and parking is really expensive for keeping your car on campus, especially for the options they provide for undergraduate students. They make undergraduate students living on MCV (overflow dorms) park their cars 10-15 minutes away on the Monroe Park Campus, so for me and many other students, accessing your car when you need it is an absolute nightmare.

One positive thing I can say about VCU is that I have had good professors, both semesters I had professors that do care and look out for you (except for one bad CHEM 101 professor, to which I was not the only one to complain). However, there are too many other things that are making me transfer after only two semesters here, and many of those are listed above. In addition, there really isn't much to do around the campus, and the downtown Richmond area isn't really that well-kept (bad sidewalks, horrible roads). The only things that there is to do around the campus on weekends are house-parties, as freshman aren't required to live in the dorms, and that's pretty much it. Library is really nice and newly renovated, and it's one of my only favorite parts about VCU. WiFi is really spotty and slow in the dorms, and I often lose connection quite often. My advisor told me to sign up for a course that I was unprepared to take and ended up having to withdraw at the deadline. The resources at VCU are plenty, but honestly, if you are pursuing something other than a health profession or something in the arts or theater program, there really isn't anything too special about VCU. And be prepared to hear the word "diversity", it's something VCU is super/overly proud about. Also, be prepared to pay extra if you sign up for more than 15 credits. The university claims it saves you money over 4 years for taking 15 credits but you have to pay an extra fee each semester for being at 15...

I went to Richmond for a VCU info session and tour on the 28th. Getting there was alright, but once we were in Richmond it was very difficult to find where we had to be. The Info part started at 10:30, for reference. The email I received after registering for the event didn't tell me where to park, if a parking permit was needed, nor did it give directions to the Welcome Center. i have registered for more then 3 college visits across the state and received email from each, in fact, ODU sent a parking permit so that we wouldn't have to pay for parking, they told us which garage to park in, and the specific address to input once we were in the area. The email from VCU sorely lacks all of these components. We, being my mother and I, walked around from The Jefferson to the Branding Center. The man at the desk gave us a poor, half-labeled map and told us it was three blocks down past the book store. Wow thanks. We walked around in 100 degree weather, asking students and locals where the heck a Barnes and Nobles was or how to get to Broad street. We stopped on the corner of Broad and saw a girl carting something from the bookstore and asked her where the Welcome Center was. She was didn't know. We finally found the Welcome Center. At 11 o'clock. It was beside the very same place the aforementioned student had just left. wow thanks. When we went inside to inquire about another tour we were told it would be at 2pm. We had to leave before then if we were to be home before dark. The person at the desk told us we could pick up the info pamphlets from the shelves along each window. Some of the leaflets were outdated, showing times for October 2015 informational visit days. Overall, I think I did gain critical knowledge, VCU is not for me. The urban setting makes for a more interesting experience and I can see myself getting used to the layout, but the way the school is spread out and how unknowledgeable students were of their own school...