Nicole Hancock

Review of VCU

Transferred here from community college three year...

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 means avoid VCU.