Virginia or Villanova

Charliesch
Tue, 12 Apr 2016 15:41:01 +0000

My son’s second choice after UVa was Villanova, but it was too expensive for him.

Villanova is in the middle of one of the largest metro areas in the US, which certainly opens up broader opportunities for nearby internships. It also is accessible to much of the region via a light rail line that has a station next to the campus. If you want to travel, it is easy to take a train into New York City for a weekend.

I think UVa is a more fun school, with fewer rules in the residence halls and with fraternities in their own houses. Last I heard, Villanova’s fraternities operated out of dorms and the rules in dorms were rather strict.

Villanova has an on-campus housing shortage. As of a few years ago, most freshman were living in double rooms that had been converted to triples. Off-campus housing is expensive in that area, but is cheaper if you are willing to live further away (such as in parts of Philadelphia).

Villanova has a much less diverse study body than UVa. One reason is that they are not great with need-based financial aid, and they are very expensive. One professor said he was tired of all of his students being white people from suburbs in New Jersey. There used to be an old joke that if you see an African-American man at Villanova, you assume he is a recruited athlete. I was also struck by how few Asian-Americans there were at Villanova.

I don’t know about engineering, but I know the first year liberal arts chemistry classes at Villanova were much smaller than at UVa.