College Spotlight: The University of Richmond

Hey Everyone,

I hope the summer is going well for you and all of you rising seniors and juniors are making plans to visit colleges this summer, as you know, I feel it is the only way to truly know if the school is a right fit for you. I am currently in Williamsburg, Virginia in the middle of a 7-college tour. Yesterday, I saw the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond. Later today, I will be going down the street to check out the College of William and Mary, then I am off to Elon, UNC, Wake Forest, and Davidson to round out my trip. I will pick a few schools to blog about during this trip, so please check out the blog over the next couple of weeks, and if you have twitter, follow the Xavier Guidance Twitter account for live updates and pictures from my trip @XHSGuidance.

Overall Information
Today, I want to spotlight, the University of Richmond, located in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond is home to incredible academics, the Spiders as their mascot, and my wife's alma mater...so you know it is a great place! This is a selective, small, suburban school, set on a country club-like campus six miles from downtown Richmond. UR was founded in 1830 and educates about 3,000 students from 47 states and 70 countries from around the world. They have very small class sizes of about 15, with 0 teacher assistants. If you ever get to the campus, you will see why 87% of all students to choose to live on campus all four years and the school boasts a 94% retention rate, which is very high! When I had the opportunity to walk around campus, I truly felt I was in a supportive environment where everyone at the school cares about each individual student's success. Everyone from professors to maintenance staff to students welcomed me with a big smile as I walked the campus. Not to my surprise, UR was recently ranked the 7th happiest campus in the country...not too shabby! As I said before, the campus is incredible, and honestly is in my top 5 most beautiful colleges I have seen.

For its student population, the school grounds are very spacious, with a ton of meticulously maintained lawns throughout campus with old stone buildings with a few bell towers on some of the buildings. There is also a very big pond right on campus, which is a perfect place to hang out with friends, or study before the big exam. Richmond also has all of the big sports in the Division 1, A-10 conference, including basketball and football. If you want to venture off of the paradise of a campus, students are only two hours from Virginia beach, two hours from the Blue Ridge Mountains, and two hours from Washington DC. In 2012 Richmond was also ranked the best river city in the US. Although Richmond is definitely not New York City, it does well for itself as it hosts over 900 restaurants, 25 museums, and six Fortune 500 companies.

Academic Information
At Richmond, students will always receive personal attention from their professors in whichever major they choose to pursue, and they have a lot of them. Over 70% of students choose to declare a major in the School of Arts and Science, which houses majors in arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. Their other very popular and extremely competitive school is the Robbins School of Business. If you are considering business, and are looking at schools south of New York, the University of Richmond must be on your map! The business school houses the number 1 program for international business, according to Bloomberg and overall it is ranked the number 16 undergraduate business program in the nation. Students have a ton of opportunities here, including managing their own investment fund, and their career opportunities are endless. Finally, their other main undergraduate school is the Jepson School of Leadership. Richmond was the first college to have a school of leadership (1992) and over 30 colleges across the country have modeled their leadership school after Richmond's including Stanford. In this school, students gain an interdisciplinary perspective, learn theory and practice of leadership, and 240 hours are required of students to participate in internships and service-learning opportunities. Also, which I love, students do not declare a major until the end of their sophomore year, giving them a ton of time to figure out which major is right for them. Richmond also offers and array of graduate programs including a Law School, and MBA program. The academic opportunities are obviously terrific and abundant, but outcomes are most important and here are a few for you:

  • UR is a top 15 college producer of Fulbright Scholars among liberal arts universities
  • 80% acceptance rate into medical school
  • 89% acceptance rate into law school
  • 96% successful placement rate after six months of graduation in either a job or graduate school
  • Ranked #6 best career services according to the Princeton Review
  • Internships available in all majors
  • More than 300 students participate in summer research
  • Ranked #3 best science lab facilities by the Princeton Review
  • Second year of The Richmond Guarantee: all students receive (if they want) up to $4,000 in funding for a summer research opportunity of an internship. This covers anything from travel, to lodging to equipment, etc.
Admissions Information
As I said, Richmond is a very competitive school to get into. It has a 30% acceptance rate, with this past year having 9,921 applications, and 3,156 acceptances. The following is a summary of their admissions information:

  • 39% of students come through Early Decision, 61% through Regular Decision
  • UR is need blind through their admissions process
  • Middle 50% include GPA: 3.54-3.94, SAT: 1320-1450, ACT: 30-33
  • Class of 2018 has 816 incoming freshmen
  • 1 in 4 students are students of color
  • Total cost of attendance is about $58,000
  • 67% of students receive financial aid, with the average aid package of $43,000
  • 45 students each year are awarded a Richmond Scholar, which is a full ride, and there is no application necessary for this award.
I know this is a lot of information, but I do hope it is helpful. I really do feel like this is a special place, and is a school that should be on the map for many students. Remember to check out the blog later this week for my next college stop, and as always, happy searching!

-Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA






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