University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

Greek life is definitely a big part of the UVA social scene. I belong to a sorority, and spend a large chunk of my days and nights with my sorority sisters: I eat my meals there, lived there my third year, and crash on the couch after a night out. I know that there are many students who are involved in activities other than fraternities/sororities and are happy with that decision, but I feel that joining Tridelt completely changed my experience at UVA for the better.

Football is pretty big, the students really get into it. Go to a game at least once..The stadium is amazing!! Students are very involved in all kinds of different events.. Whatever you like, I'm sure you could find it at UVA (it's pretty diverse in activities, whether it involves sports, theater, writing, debate, academics, tons of random extracurriculars, etc ). If you're awake at 2am on a Tuesday, you're probably studying. People stay up all night, all the time studying (some libraries are open 24/7). Those people are kinda sad...They need to get a life & enjoy their college experience. Streaking the lawn is a tradition at UVA. Do it before you graduate. (Don't get scared about the rumors of cops arresting you & charging you with a sex crime. As long as you're not belligerently drunk, they'll just talk to you for 20 min. about how you were wrong & give you a warning.) Don't risk drinking in your dorm (unless you absolutely know you won't get caught). You will get written up, and have to attend a really long, boring, obnoxious alcohol awareness class (among other things they make you do!). It's NOT worth it. Frats & sororities are kind of big. Great bar scene too. You would think that once you leave high school, you're done with it forever. That's not true. UVA is kind of clicky, people still talk shit about others, spread rumors, etc. You'd think people would be more mature in college, but they're really not. There's lots to do off campus.. There's a great music scene. The downtown mall is nice (lots of shops, kinda artsy, you get to interact with the townies). Hiking/camping isn't far (Shenandoah mountain for example). Tubing & apple picking are also popular. There are a ton of wineries around Charlottesville so there's always wine tasting too.

Great Greek and bar scene.

UVA has something for everyone--the student body is so diverse that you're bound to find student groups that meet your interests and needs. About 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body is in a Greek organization, but there are plenty of opportunities to find a group of friends outside of sororities and fraternities. For myself, I did not join a sorority, but I led Young Life--a nondenomenational Christian organization geared towards high school students. I loved getting to be a part of a community of students committed to each others' lives, but also part of a greater community of high schoolers and their families in Charlottesville. And Charlottesville itself is incredible--so many amazing restaurants, coffee shops, music venues, hiking trails, beautiful drives/scenery...it deserves its title as "best city to live in in America."

Fraternities are great There are a lot of events on grounds

social life at uva is amazing. everyone is always out and about being social, meeting people, and having a good time. uva students work hard, but they play hard. dorm room doors are always wide open, you tailgate football games, go out to frats on Rugby Road. any night of the week you can find a party. my now best friend lived next door to me first year. we went to basketball games, shopping, football games, lacrosse games, parties, concerts, movies, performances, anything entertaining we could get our hands on together. if there wasn't anything that we wanted to do, we just stayed in and watched bad TV with the girls from the hall. it was ALWAYS a good time. traditions as far as parties go: XANADU. xanadu is an annual party put on by the sigma nu frat that is a fundraiser for their breast cancer foundation. they host a party, but sand in the basement, make the stairs a waterfall. it's like a tropical paradise. the next day they hold a concert with local bands. btw, the local bands in cville are GREAT! other traditions, there's always streaking the Lawn, other great traditions, lighting of the lawn, where there's holiday music, hot cider, and they light christmas lights all up and down the Lawn. and then there's the little kids who dress up and trick or treat on the Lawn halloween every year. if you drink, there is a party you can go to pretty much every night of the week, especially spring semester. if you don't, there are lots of groups that hang out and do non drinking stuff, but truthfully, dont know too much about that. frats are really where the parties are for first-years. sometimes you might have a little trouble getting in, but you'll get the hang of it. about 1/3 of UVA students are in a frat/sorority, a lot of my friends are in them, a lot of my friends aren't in them. it's really not that important to be in one. whether or not you are in a frat, going to frats is really the center of the social scene.

The Peer Health Educators probably got most of time at U.Va. in terms of extracurriculars. I loved the organization-giving "outreaches," or hour-long presentations on nutrition, stress management, sex, or alcohol and drugs to first-year dorms or greek life, tabling on the lawn with condom roses, or passing out t-shirts for our 4th-year 5-k (to combat the 4th-year 5th of drinking a 5th of alcohol during the last home football game). I was re-elected outreach intern for my fourth year, the only one in the program's history to do so. I loved what I did with them, and I'd recommend the group to anyone who's interested in health and the college population.

My roommate and I always left our door open as did most of our friends. Athletic events are very popular but so are guest speakers and theater. Dating is common but not dominant. Fraternities and sororities are definitely prevalent but there is plenty to do outside of them. I met my closest friends through my dorm, classes, and sorority.

I was in FIFE - Feminism is for Everyone. Basically all you can do is drink. There aren't things to do but drink on a Saturday night. You can go out to eat, go to a movie, then come back to an empty dorm sober. I didn't drink first semester and it really limited my ability to meet people. It's too bad, but it's true. Frats and sororities are extremely important.

Greek life is a huge part of UVA social life. I'd say at least 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body is involved. In addition, sports teams and 'Hoo Crew are probably the next largest group of people. Dorms are a social place, no matter if it's Old Dorms or New Dorms. The experience is just what people make it out to be. Lambeth Field (upper classman on-grounds housing) is also a very social place. As far as the dating scene goes, I would say it is fairly non-existent. At least in the typical guy asks girl on date to movies/dinner type way. People do date, but it's initiated through the party scene. As far as the party scene goes, it's a fairly large part of social life. If you're not a partier, it's definitely not the end of the world because there are plenty of other things to do, it's just not my scene so I don't necessarily look for it. There are movie theaters, plays to see, bowling alleys, ice skate rink, shopping, etc to do on a Saturday night. Or just hanging out with friends. Meeting new people is pretty easy, as long as you're willing to be friendly to people.