University of Virginia-Main Campus Top Questions

What is the stereotype of students at University of Virginia-Main Campus? Is this stereotype accurate?

Homer

In general...a student at UVA feels that he/she is an academic elite. I think that it is an accurate stereotype and is somewhat promoted by the school itself.

Melissa

Very active.

Andrew

Whenever someone thinks about a typical UVA student, they would think about a preppy, arrogant student that comes from money and dresses up in boat shoes, khaki shorts, collared shirt and sunglasses even. While there are definitely preppy Greeks at our school, the stereotype does not describe ALL the students at UVA as UVA is truly diverse and spread out!

Dante

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Brianna

It's hard to stereotype a 14,000-numbered student body, but people will say there is heavy Greek life at UVa, which is absolutely true. The student body is 33{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} Greek, and while that may seem overwhelming walking around on Grounds and seeing people wear their letters all the time or don philanthropy shirts, there is so much to do at UVa that this stereotype is not accurate. The students here engage themselves in so many different activities, that it is actually difficult to stereotype someone. For myself, the sorority side comes out when I am leading with my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. But my athletic side comes out in full stride when I'm on the rugby field competing. And my nerdy side most certainly comes out as I'm pursuing my engineering degree. There is no boundary to what you can do at UVa, which is what almost makes it so hard, because you will want to do everything, but won't have time to. If I had to stereotype UVa, it would be with a unique label, that we do too much. But being interested in numerous activities, why is that a bad thing?

Brianna

It's hard to stereotype a 14,000-numbered student body, but people will say there is heavy Greek life at UVa, which is absolutely true. The student body is 33{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} Greek, and while that may seem overwhelming walking around on Grounds and seeing people wear their letters all the time or don philanthropy shirts, there is so much to do at UVa that this stereotype is not accurate. The students here engage themselves in so many different activities, that it is actually difficult to stereotype someone. For myself, the sorority side comes out when I am leading with my sorority, Alpha Chi Omega. But my athletic side comes out in full stride when I'm on the rugby field competing. And my nerdy side most certainly comes out as I'm pursuing my engineering degree. There is no boundary to what you can do at UVa, which is what almost makes it so hard, because you will want to do everything, but won't have time to. If I had to stereotype UVa, it would be with a unique label, that we do too much. But being interested in numerous activities, why is that a bad thing?

Whtiley

Common stereotypes about the students at our school include that everyone parties and gets drunk at frats and sororities. It is true that the are people that get drunk every weekend, however it is not necessarily everyone. I can vouch for some of my friends and me who don't party. It may be infact that probably half of the people party and the other half don't not. However the partiers make themselves known for their actions so it may seem like "everyone is doing it". However this case is not the case.

Amanda

The stereotype at UVA is the "girls in pearls, guys in ties" idea that is associated with our football games. I think the image people have of us is that we are all in sororities and fraternaties and that we are super preppy, but I think that is a misleading stereotype. We have all kinds of people and only 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the students are Greek. I truly think there is something for everyone here from music to sports, from Greek life to secret societies!

Trisha

Some people may have a misconstrued vision of UVA as a conservative, privileged, traditional, southern school or in layman's terms: snobby, rich kids. I'm sure those people exist somewhere, but they're such a loud minority here. The majority of us are caring, hard-working, and open-minded. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. What people who believe in those stereotypes don't realize is how much bigger we are than a stereotype. How diverse, merited, and incredible of a student body we are. I have a friend who is on an academic scholarship who wouldn't have been able to attend otherwise due to financial difficulties. I have a friend who seems like the typical jock/frat boy, but he's also the leader of my dorm's relay for life team to fight against cancer. I have a friend who is a sorority sister and a biomedical engineer. I have a friend who is a fullback on the football team and a member of one of UVA's best all male a cappella groups. We're so much more than what outsiders think they see on the surface.

Trisha

Some people may have a misconstrued vision of UVA as a conservative, privileged, traditional, southern school or in layman's terms: snobby, rich kids. I'm sure those people exist somewhere, but they're such a loud minority here. The majority of us are caring, hard-working, and open-minded. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch. What people who believe in those stereotypes don't realize is how much bigger we are than a stereotype. How diverse, merited, and incredible of a student body we are. I have a friend who is on an academic scholarship who wouldn't have been able to attend otherwise due to financial difficulties. I have a friend who seems like the typical jock/frat boy, but he's also the leader of my dorm's relay for life team to fight against cancer. I have a friend who is a sorority sister and a biomedical engineer. I have a friend who is a fullback on the football team and a member of one of UVA's best all male a cappella groups. We're so much more than what outsiders think they see on the surface.