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The University of Virginia called UVA is a public university founded in 1819 and is among the most reputed public universities in the USA. Its school of Engineering and applied sciences in part of the 1700 Acre suburban campus.
UVA is located in the relatively smaller town of Charlottesville in Virginia. It is convenient for students who want a big city experience to travel up to Washington DC which is a 2 hours drive. The local area of Charlottesville is as picturesque as it can get. There are hills and mountains all around along with lakes, ponds and also the river James. Students are more than comfortable with the immediate town as well as there is a variety of options to chill. Culturally the town is balanced and a lot of town’s style is influenced by the University ways. In brief, UVA is located well to keep a student happy and accessible!
UVA has a large campus and students actually love most of it. There is plenty to do within campus including working out, playing or just chilling around. 1700 acres is a lot to discover! and then there so many facilities all over that students actually end up not going out of campus. The libraries and gymnasiums are fine and not suspect.
In campus residing options include the number of dormitories that the University offers. There are pros and cons with both the new and the old hostels but none of them are near being bad or even average. They are good, clean with above average facilities. Hostels are not very far from the college buildings and some of them are actually a stone’s throw away. Freshers will be advised to stay in campus before they plan to move out in the subsequent year. Single, double, triple sharing rooms are available and well, your luck if you find good roommates! Off campus residence is also equally popular in UVA. It is student friendly and generally cheaper than in campus (provided you stay a little far from your school). Of course you have all the freedom and independence off campus but well, initially it is pretty much a task to find a flatmate if you intend to stay off campus. Also, students enjoy food in the town rather than in the premises of the University which makes off campus living more alluring.
Autumn and spring in UVA are amazing. It is pleasant and the surroundings have an aura of positivity during these times. Overall though, weather is highly unpredictable and rains are erratic. For Indians the summers will also seem pretty pleasant with a maximum of 28 degree Celsius. Winters can be extremely cold with lowest temperatures of -3 degree Celsius. Overall, weather isn’t that bad at all but surely isn’t the best of the weathers one expects.
Undoubtedly UVA has one of the best faculty and pedagogy in the USA. The teachers are widely respected in their areas of expertise and if not all, most are helpful and approachable.Remember that the very fact that a student has secured admission into UVA qualifies him as a smart and intelligent student. Within campus, competition is high, healthy and one really has to work hard to keep pace with the curriculum. UVA has consistently ranked in the top 20 colleges for the quality of faculty.
It isn’t too easy to secure scholarships or financial aid unless you are genuinely in need of it. Also, there is high competition to secure financial aid. One can demand financial aid on merit or if it is need based. But for students from India, need based financial aid is also difficult to get. You might just have to lighten your pockets a little too much if you intend to join UVA!
Placements in UVA will never be a big deal. Everybody finds a job and is very much satisfied at the end of the masters’ course. You will be assisted well by the college itself and a little effort will suit you perfectly. UVA holds strong repute worldwide and even though Virginia is not as big as a town as NYC, its alumni network is strong. Eventual events, social sessions will help you secure assessments and jobs eventually.
UVA crowd in a two words can be called intelligently multitalented. You will find a deluge of students being amazing athletes and at the same time scoring high grades, doing excellent work. The crowd is not typically nerdy and the students are a lot cooler than one would expect. Everybody is therefore, academically serious as well as socially cool. The campus life is predominantly good; you will be kept busy for your term. You can see, the tuition in UVA is quite a lot, so expect a lot of intelligent and wealthy students coming in. That said, there is also some economic diversity with a number of meritorious students studying on loan and scholarships. There are few Asians and Indians in particular who have formed cultural and performing arts associations and have a good term in UVA. In brief, it’s fun and chilled out.
Woodrow Wilson – 28th US President
It is heavily competitive in UVA, which is good. One can keep in mind the excellent faculty at UVA coupled with the beautiful town as a priority choice during University selection. It is vibrant, reputed, fun and did I tell you? Terribly expensive!