University of Richmond Top Questions

Students at the University of Richmond are motivated, active, and hail from affluent areas.

Richmond kids are social people, who love to make new friends and hang out. They work hard and play hard, maybe even playing harder than they work. They like to be physically active, which contributes to our reputation as a "pretty school," but also adds to the upbeat nature of the campus.

Great people. Always friendly and helpful.

rich, white kids

Really rich kids from Long Island. These kids never drank a beer until they got into college so they think the little apartment parties are the greatest things ever. Its also really preppy so you will see people wearing some of the most absurd shit to class.

From first glance, it certainly may seem that there are a lot of "white preppy kids" going to UR. ANd sure, a lot of people do come into the school coming from places with a lot of money. However, once you get on campus, you realize that just because someone is wearing a J.Crew sweater does not tell anything about that person as an individual. It is true that UR does not boast the highest percentage of people from other ethnicities or many social groups, but there does NOT exist any type of exclusion to those people. I myself am asian, but have NEVER felt any sort of animosity or exclusion because of that. People here are very laid back and do not try to find any reason to separate themselves from others. Perhaps the only people that would feel out of place at Richmond would be kids that are not pretty confident in themselves or kids that might possibly be offended by such things as parties or what not.

The typical Richmond student is primarily white (I am Vietnamese American). There are not a lot of minorities here at the school, although we are desperately trying to bring awareness of everyone's culture to the university. Hopefully, it's working. We have a lot of ethnic-based organizations such Asian Beats, Black Student Alliance, International Club, Spanish and Latino Student Alliance, Multicultural Student Union, South Asian Student Alliance, and more. Most URichmond students are from north eastern parts of the US. Some are from North Carolina but there are several students from all over the country and world.

Recently there have been a lot of prejudices on campus which is a result I think of the lack of diversity on campus. However, I also have found that students and the administration are doing a really good job of changing this and becoming a more unified campus. I went to several events last semester like "The Meeting" and the open forum on racism which I found very enligtening and I thought a fair number of students attended these which was good. Most students "dress up" for class unless you are an athlete, at least that is what it seems to be from my perspective. I feel slightly uncomfortable if I dress down in sweatpants and a T-shirt when going to class because everyone else usually looks nice.

Most Richmond students seem like fairly well-off white kids. Expect to see a good deal of Abercrombie and J. Crew. Most girls own pearls, sundresses, and those horrible leggings. Guys wear polos--in this regard, I'm as guilty as the next guy.

I felt out of place at Richmond. I was often looked down upon because I couldn't dress myself in expensive name brands or didnt go out to get wasted every weekend. Cliques are common, and most students are from the North--New Jersey (especially), Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts, just to name a few states. Richmond is just beginning to get the idea of what "activism" really is. Most of the clubs and organizations are all talk and no show. I think the most of what we do for a cause is raise money (surprise surprise)