What are students like? Advice.

Faline2
Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:58:23 +0000

I think it is a fair question since you are so far away and UVA does have a rep for dressing up for football games which is diff than football dates at Ohio State. Same thing at many other colleges mainly in the South…to put on some plaid and bright colors on game day…this is tradition…and pretty harmless in my opinion even if you are completely not going to ever do it yourself.

We live in VA among a gazillion UVA grads. There is infinite variety at UVA. Probably more dressing up in Greek world which does have a pretty Greek Row (many other schools have pretty lame Greek Rows…ie sections in a dorm or squatty buildings) but the numbers of girls and guys in frats is smaller than the image would suggest. What this means isn’t that their Greek life is lively…it is. It is that there are thousands of people at UVA so that there are many options socially. I have two sons…one went Greek at Duke and he would have done the same at UVA…the other is more alterative and would never bother with Greek activities…he also found bliss at UVA where he already attended some summer programs and he felt completely at home…ie you can really ignore the Greek life if it isn’t your cuppa. Charlottesville has a very relaxed arty vibe to it…lots of adults who are connected to UVA own businesses and are very creative people post graduation all around…
UVA is more diverse than most state colleges because the northern VA corridor near DC is intensely diverse and transient. So…that 70% of in state kids are often offspring of transient families with roots all over the map…the school feels very cozy in my opinion for its size as well. My kids didn’t go to UVA but would have been very happy there…and hope to return for grad schools if they are lucky that is.

there is something in the water or air in Albemarle County…everyone says they had a great four years at UVA…gotta believe it since I have heard it so often from grads…the countryside there is also quite gorgeous