canuck01

Hancock is standard old dorms, close to grounds and classes.

Kamaro1

Frankly Shoebox, I don’t need--nor did I ask for--advice on how to deal with my D on this. I was venting for myself. My D was upset, then furious. My only reaction to her was “yeah, this is hosed, so what are you going to do about it.” I kept out of it. So, here’s an update that should thrill you. My D over the weekend decided HERSELF to push back and start making calls to try and remedy the situation (and yes, without any prompting, though I tend to think you won’t believe that). She has always been taught if you don’t like something, try to fix it, push back. She has seen her parents do this numerous times in her life (a recent event involved fighting the Medicare system and State of NJ for a grandparent). There‘s no way I‘m going to try and put lipstick on a pig for her, she’s made her decision. More power to her. At least is she ends up there, she can tell herself she tried. So, I’m looking forward to seeing her start pressing buttons. THAT, is something we should encourage of all students. And BTW, I believe that is one thing UVA probably encourages its students to do as well.

As for Herdeford itself, my use of the term HURTford comes from students who actually lived there. My D has two friends that went to UVA who were stuck there for a year and both hated it; one of them coined the name. SO, if you have a problem with how the dorm is portrayed and worry about her making a judgment based on one night, I suggest you talk with students who didn’t enjoy their experience there (BTW, I’m also sure some loved it) and passed it on. If the place is so great, then students would be dying to get in--but for some reason that just doesn‘t seem to be the case.

As for DB123, I think your saddle is riding a bit high on your own steed bud. Think you need to tell the whole story on WHY many students turn down ivy league and other privates to come to UVA. My D is instate. To her and many of her friends, UVA was a “high safety“ school. Many of them made it into Hopkins, Princeton, Cornell, etc. but when the financial aid package came from those schools, only then did they have a change in heart. They were forced to chose UVA because of prices around 50K (we‘re in an upper middle class area) that made the decision for them. That is a fact. And BTW, I'm sure there are kids in Maryland and elsewhere who were faced with the same decisions. As for GaTech and Vatech, in the engineering department (her major)--look at the holy rankings according to USNEWS and World Report, which many on these boards apparently hold as gospel (I, for one, thing they’re bunk). They outrank UVA there--especially GaTECH. But again, money was an issue (close to 35k year for GaTech as an OOS).

And BTW, I have no problem with my daughter being average. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. There are plenty of average kids at UVA, VaTech, GaTech, Maryland, Rutgers and the other state schools out there. If she is average, fine, but I would hope that she'll continue to fight for her rights (especially since she/we are paying 20+K a year). And finally, I don’t hate UVA--it’s a great state school, nothing more, nothing less. Nice campus, students, weather, etc.

parent2009

Kamaro1, are you for real? Your posts are nothing short of embarrassing. It's one thing to encourage your kids to fight for what's right - like medicare for a grandparent - but I don't think a dorm room that was randomly assigned to her qualifies. That's encouraging a kid to be a prima dona.

I've had kids go to small private schools and large public ones. In both cases dorm assigments were random and the kids didn't always get what they wanted - but they didn't storm the president's office in protest. Keep thing in perspective, man!

wahoogrl08

It continues to amaze me the sense of entitlement that exists anymore. I see it not only in the academic/collegial setting but also in terms of human/public service programs.

What is a dorm other than a place to sleep? Go to class and participate in activities and she'll get through the year more quickly and with less "misery."

hazelorb

The only reason people dislike hereford is that it's the farthest away. If it were switched with Brown College then no one would like Brown College and everyone would want to live in hereford. It's not even as far away as many apartments.
I hope everyone is able to have a good year.
Runk is also notorious for being a better than average dining hall.

galoisien

... when you get there early.

ThaRussian

this isn't Burger King, you can't always have it your way...

ksbear28

for an upperclassman, can you still swap room assignment (different rooms, but same building)?

hazelorb

If you want to swap with someone you can do that but you might have to wait to "officially" swap until a few weeks after school, though emailing housing might work in your favor.
Room request changes (you don't have someone to "swap" with) I'm not sure about (Brown usually takes care of this internally - RAs and such - and then notifies housing, when things like roommate issues and empty rooms come up).

w_icked

Hahaha - my situation is totally the opposite. I applied for Hereford's residential college really hoping for a single but got placed in a double. Oh well, life's life

hazelorb

I'm sure someone would be happy to switch with you!

barrons

Do they have any private dorms at UVa? Some large schools have them and they are a nice option to avoid the tyranny of the school dorms.
In my experience most kids would love to get a single. Must say this is a first time hearing such a complaint.

parent2009

Barrons, unlike UW-Madison, U-Va requires all first years to live on grounds and guarantees them housing. Thus, there's no need for private dorms at twice the price. And the most inconveniently located dorms at U-Va (Hereford, for most people) are nothing like the situation at UW. Madison is a much more spread out campus.

barrons

Well, if Hereford is 15 walking minutes from center campus that's the same as the most distant points at UW. I have been to UVa many times as I lived in Virginia just souith of Cville and still have properties that I visit regularly. I just never looked into the private dorms situation there. I find the UVa campus easily as large and spread around as UW's. Just try walking from Darden to The Corner area. UVa's campus is listed at over 1000 acres while UW's is just inder that number.

parent2009

Technically, barrons, you may be correct, but UW-Madison has a much bigger feel than U-Va and a 15 minute walk in Charlottesville in the dead of winter certainly doesn't compare to one in Madison!