Virginia Commonwealth University

Oh boy. Having just finished my freshman year at Virginia Commonwealth University, already I've been scrambling to transfer somewhere else. VCU is a joke, on several levels. Let me start with the student body. I don't think I've ever been more unhappy with a group of people than I was with these guys. They're anti-social, petty, angry, freaky-looking and have major attitudes about everything. Some people say that the people here are laid-back; but what I think they meant is that the people here (even honors students in some cases) really don't give a crap about their grades or education (or social life) and would rather just sit around in their little puddles of mud all day, smoking weed and avoiding social contact with anyone. This really is a school for the beaten-down and depressed. Not to mention how easily they write people off and find excuses not to like somebody. For example, I was friends with a girl on the floor below me for a couple of months, but then suddenly she started blowing me off all the time and giving me bad looks; she basically ended the friendship. I found out later that the reason she broke it off is BECAUSE I WAS A DEMOCRAT!!! Right there you're already cutting off at least half of the student population. Idiocy like that is what makes this one of the most unfriendly, anti-social places I've ever been to. People walk around with sour looks on their faces and negatives attitudes about every single thing they can think of. My two suitemates rarely left their rooms, and actually talked to my roommate and I a total of about 5 times the entire year.

Next up, the faculty/employees of the university. I'll give credit to some of the professors here-- they really love what they do and love VCU in general. They are often helpful and give good advice, and are very accesible by email or by going to their offices. However, I have still run into a couple of unreachable professors and professors whose idea of teaching is reading straight off of a projector and nothing else. The university employees, though, are what REALLY irk me. The cafeteria ladies, the dorm security guards, and the cooks are all really annoying and have bad attitudes. They all hate their jobs and hate YOU before you even walk in the door. They get mad at you (and take it personally) for doing even the slightest thing wrong, even things that wouldn't even annoy most people. The advisers, though, are mostly fairly competent, although I hear the career center is terrible and not the place to go if you want advice on a career path. Personally, it was awfully hard for me to get good advice on choosing a major or career. A plus for the faculty/advisers, though, is that if you're a good student they make you feel wanted and that you matter.

The campus is pretty ugly, but does have a couple of nice parts. Mostly though it's dirty, grimy, and unattractive. In the warm months, the outside walls of the dining hall have roaches crawling all over them (no joke). Also, the food is pretty unappealing accept for in the student commons, but even that gets old after a while. Homeless people wander all over the place, especially in monroe park. I've had dozens of them come up to me and ask me for money; some even asked me if they could have some of the takeout food I was holding. I guess the campus is somewhat safe, though I have NEVER seen any of the "blue light security phones" that are imperitive to pretty much every other campus I've ever seen, which throws the safety of the campus into question. Personally I've run into a few shady characters while walking around at night. Luckily the university provides a free van escort service. VCU definitely does not have that "central campus feel" that other universities have, though. It's much too spread out (it's really a school within a city without much of a campus of its own), which often made me feel that I was living in some ghetto instead of on a campus. This setup makes social life a lot harder than it has to be. Speaking of ghetto, how they treated Johnson Hall is unforgivable. I only went inside once, which was enough for me. There's no A/C (and possibly no heat), paint is chipping off the walls, there are paint stains all over the stairs, the elevator is old and cramped, etc.

I never heard much about extra curricular stuff, but I'm sure it's out there if you really look for it. There are a few things to do in this city, but a LOT less than you would expect. People at vcu often complain about how they live in a city but can't find anything to do. There are a few clubs downtown, but they're pretty shady and mostly are full of freaky-looking people. There are also a few low-class restaurants and places like 7-11 and a movie theater that plays old, out of date movies.

The slack admission standards should give you an idea of how good this university really is. If you're transferring in and have a 2.0 GPA, YOU WILL BE ACCEPTED HANDS DOWN BY AN ADMISSIONS BOARD. These are the worst standards I've ever heard of. For high schoolers, vcu has been the safety school of choice, since just about anyone could get in there. As a result, vcu's students (even the honors kids) are not the best and brightest around.Bottom line: avoid this place at all costs. If you can go anywhere else that's not a community college (except GMU) GO THERE! Personally, I'm getting the hell out of this place and going to a real school. vcu students pride themselves on not having the "typical university" or the "traditional college experience." However, this is not necessarily a good thing. It's atypical by having all the bad of a college experience and almost none of the good. Go here if you want to wallow in your own misery. But if you want to have a GOOD college experience, do yourself a favor and go somewhere like JMU, Virginia Tech, or UVA.

1st Year Male -- Class 2007

Faculty Accessibility: B+, Campus Aesthetics: D