Villanova University | Student Reviews | Best College

Student Profile

Chris

Class: Senior
Major: Business
Gender: M

High School: In New Jersey
Transfer Student: N

Big Picture

Villanova has lots of good looking students, which is a major plus. If you are looking for someone to date, you've got a lot of options. However, on the flip side, the school is very conservative and if you are gay you may find that people will not accept you for that reason. That the on thing that I would change is to open student's minds to the diversity of people that exist outside of the school. Some students are close-minded have had little contact with people who are not like them. This size of the school is perfect. Just big enough to get lost in the crowd, but not so big that you'll never bump into the same people again. People usually react to me when I say that I go to Villanova by saying one of three things 1) where is that, 2) oh, that's a great school, or 3) your basketball team was awesome this year. Most of my time on campus is spent in the classrooms. Once you finish with your classes you tend not to linger round too much and just return to your dorm or home. The town of Villanova is quite small, however, just outside of the school is the "main line" which links a number of schools together with bars and fancy eateries. People who live along the main line are said to make lots of money, which is probably why there are some expensive car dealerships just down the road: Maserati, Alfa Romeo, and I think Ferrari. There is definitely a lot of school pride, go VU, especially at basketball games and in any way related to men's basketball.

Academic Life

Yes, the professors et to know your name if they wish. Some care more about that sort of thing than others, but classes are small enough that that can happen. But they're not so small that your the only one in class. MY favorite class was Intermediate Corporate Finance, because the professor made such boring class material really funny with hilarious jokes about modern day examples of companies and there screw ups. My least favorite class was business law, because the professor was a bore and so was the material. The amount students study depends on the student. You'll find that some don't study at all, some study a lot, so it typically depends on the type of student. Class participation is common in most classes at least to some degree, some professors just lecture but most try to keep classes awake and moving by having students participate. Students are pretty competitive, but no so competitive that they would chop people down on the way up the ladder. The Finance major/department is pretty easy I found. There are lots of Finance majors and at the completion of a Finance degree, if you are pretty smart at Villanova you will probably be able to work for an Investment Bank or on Wall Street trading. If that's not your thing than you can look the Corporate Finance route. But if you major in Finance and that's where you want to get a job, Villanova will get you a job that's tops in the industry. The classes in Finance were well designed, informative, and pretty difficult at most levels. It's not a particularly stressful major, and it's actually quite fun if you enjoy what you learn. Very few professors spend time outside of class with you, for hanging out purposes. However, if you need assistance on a project or paper, have questions about getting a job, or anything most professors are available in their offices for any sort of conversation you can cook up. The requirements are many at Villanova. There are some philosophy, history, theology, sociology, math, and science requirements for pretty much every major. Being an Augustinian university, the school requires all students take two semesters of classes that teach about St. Augustine, his life and his teachings. These requirements, though, difficult are not that hard, and can be interesting if you make them. At the business school, your learning is geared toward getting a job. But I think that some of the other majors in Arts and Sciences are geared more towards learning for learning sake.

Student Body

The school itself is primarily white, Christian, heterosexual, above average income students. Now that is not to say that all students are intolerant of people from other groups. I have never seen any racial crimes, or anyone harassed for being a certain race, or having a certain characteristic. In general the student population learns from St. Augustine and from the Christian church to be tolerant of others no matter who they are and to accept them as brothers and sisters. With that said students who are not white, Christian, heterosexual, or earn an above average income may find that there are less people like you at this school. However, you will not have problems making friends, because there are people at the school like you, you just have to search them out a bit harder. Most students are very dressed up to class here. That's one of Villanova's things, you can't walk out your door looking unkempt even if you are going to the store or the gym, you have to have makeup on, and look good. Most student at Villanova are from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York with other from the surrounding eastern coast states: Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, there is also a large contingent from Puerto Rico. Predominantly, students being more of the conservative Christian type are more right-winged politically. But that's not to say that left winged people are non-existent because they are as well.