Virginia Commonwealth University

Let me first off start by saying that 1) There are ENTIRELY too many students at VCU and the traffic and parking are horrendous. 2) Too many self-absorbed professors who seem to only care about themselves and not teaching the students (a few good ones, though) 3) The safety is not what I thought it would be. If it weren't for all the witnesses and emergency call boxes around, then you're pretty much screwed. 4)There seem to be a reasonable amount of immature and ignorant *students* who think they are all that and if you do not agree with their line of thinking then you are automatically looked down on (or taunted). Multiculturalism is great, but they put too much of an emphasis on it and not enough on campus safety and other important aspects. Will NOT return to this school. A Private institution is what I should've went by in the first place. Faculty and students are much more caring and friendlier than the ones at public institutions.

2nd Year Female -- Class 2016

Surrounding City: B, Individual Value: F

I was an instate student going to VCU. I had some friends coming into VCU, however most of them did not stay my friends. Overall I really liked my professors and thought the faculty was great. I was in the business school, which was excellent and most people in the school of business were nice and friendly. However, once you stepped outside the business school, the people were very unfriendly. They would look down at you as you walked by. In my whole year of college at VCU it was not pleasant. The friends that I made eventually transferred. This meant that throughout VCU I was mostly lonely. There is not much to do if you don't go to parties on the weekends. VCU was also full of immature snobs. It was hard making friends if you are somewhat quiet. My thought leaving high school was, that I would be able to move away from the high school drama and the annoying people. However, that stayed with you at VCU. The students did not care about their grades, and seemed that nobody ever exercised. These are two things that I care most about. If you go to VCU, prepare to be lonely. If you go to school in a city, sometimes it's the loneliest place. If you care about academics and being around smart and kind people, then VCU is defiantly not for you!

1st Year Female -- Class 2018

Education Quality: A+, Collaboration/Competitive: D-

The biology and chemistry department sets students up to fail. For example, the practice questions in lecture or homework will be 1+1= (not difficult), and the questions they ask you on exams will resemble derivatives in calculus. There are professors that add additional chapters to exams without notifying the students, and will claim that the students were responsible for reading that chapter on their own. There are multiple mid/upper level courses that have a 40-60% fail rate, and exams where the class average is less than 50% and the professor wont curve. Ultimately, if you are a science major, odds are that you will have to take Organic Chemistry. The O-Chem professors at VCU are absolutely terrible to the point that half of them don't even lecture, they assign group work and you do worksheets together during class time. If you want to be a science major and go to grad/med/dental etc afterwards, do yourself a favor and avoid VCU.

5th Year Male -- Class 2015

Friendliness: B-, Innovation: D+