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Agree! Most of Richmond is just fine and the area around the campus is full of million dollar homes. These people would not invest such a large amount of money if that part of town was not just wonderful.
Rejecting Richmond because of crime in a small section of the east side of town is like refusing to go to Georgetown or American University due to high crime in the East Side of DC.
Now back to my main question!
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeorgiaTransplant
University of Richmond is in the West End, which is about 5 miles and a world apart from VCU.
Saying Richmond is horrible because of the crime stats is ignoring the variation in crime based on what neighborhood you're in. Richmond, the city, is actually fairly small. Richmond, the metro area, is very large.
Saying UR's area (the near West End) is bad because it is in Richmond would be like saying that Tribeca was horrible because it was in New York City, or Hollywood was horrible because it was in greater LA, or Ghent was horrible because it is in Norfolk.
3,000 undergrads is not a small school. I went to a similar school and would highly recommend schools of that size. It's great when you actually know your professors.
However, if state school is in the absolute top-tier: Michigan, Virginia, Carolina, UCLA, Berkeley, etc., it might be a better choice. Those schools are ranked with the Ivys and will stand out on a resume.
Yes, TA's lecture all the time---most of the time in fact at large U's. What matters if they are foreign born is their limited English speaking ability..it's impossible to understand many of the TA's with heavy, thick accents. No doubt they are smart enough, but that still doesn't help the accent. Same issue with ESL profs.
I must have missed all those foreign-born TA lectures in my cumulative 7 years at undergraduate and graduate school at large state schools. Statistically improbable-maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
It all depends on this person's preferences. My favorite classes were small and personal because of the discussion that resulted from our readings. At the large school I went to undergrad though, I only had one grad student teach a class and that was a lab. I've had several tenured professors who were foreign and they were good at their job. It rarely happened and after an hour or so after the first class, I became accustomed to the accent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scorpio516
Never been to that part of town, just to VCU. And a lot of family out in the New Kent/West Point area who refuse to go into Richmond. But they also think Portland, OR is horrible...
Just by the numbers, Richmond isn't the nicest town in the country. Compared to a similar sized town with a bad reputation, Worcester, MA: Your 10x as likely to get murdered in Richmond. Over 2x to be robbed. Almost 2x to be burgled. But only 50% as likely to get raped.
Your more likely to get murdered in Richmond than Detroit (but not Gary, IN)
A lot of people are afraid of Richmond and have never stepped foot in it. They get all their information from the news and think the city is crawling with people out to shoot them. Richmond has cleaned up a lot since the 80s & 90s when nearly every inner city was in decline from flight and the drug epidemic. Unless you're out getting yourself involved in hard drugs, you're not going to be a victim.
One of my Grandchildren is looking at colleges and is considering a small college where they promise that the majority of the classes will have no more than 15 students. Here is some other things that they promise and say makes the learning experience better:
1) No Adjuncts
2) No Teaching Assistants from overseas, all classes are taught by the actual professor
3) While the Professors do research, their research is a secondary concern, their teaching is their primary responsibility
4) 90% of the students will have at least one semester abroad
5) Nearly everyone will have at least one internship in their field before graduation
6) 90% of the students graduated from the top ten percent of their class and as a result are dedicated to education, smart and hard working and this will create a better learning environment.
Do you think these are things that will make my Grandson learn more than his second option at a large University of 60,000 students?
You may want to consider a service academy if it is a good fit. No TA's, teaching is their primary concern, rated as the top professor acess in the USA, super small class size, free study abroad, top students in the classroom, etc.
I would say it would be worth it just for the guaranteed internship. That counts a lot towards employability.
I attended a small private college, and later, a huge state school. I thrived at the larger school. And although some basic survey courses were in halls with 100 or more students, there were plenty of classes that only had 10 students or less. And the smaller departments with more eclectic course offerings went out of their way to reach out to students and make them feel at home. Faculty in those departments were on the lookout for talented students, and took them under their wing.
Small school: 1. Very limited course offerings, & choice of major. Very basic and mainstream. Stifling.
2. If there's a party atmosphere, it tends to dominate the whole school. Very limited diversity in the student body, culturally, ethnically, and socio-economically.
3. Small class size. A few faculty did do outreach to strong students. Most didn't.
4. However, the fact that it's a small school does not mean students are any friendlier. Still a very impersonal atmosphere.
Large school: 1. Seemingly infinite variety of courses and majors. Much opportunity for students to explore, and discover where their talents lie, and maximize them.New disciplines student won't ever have heard of. Potential to generate a lot of excitement about learning, opening new worlds.
2. Very diverse student body. Many different interest groups: party-ers, intellectuals, geeks, greeks, creative types, a niche for everyone.
3. Class size ranges from barn-size to small, intimate groups of 10. Very eclectic selection, almost individually tailored to the student's interest.
4. Some faculty are heavily into research, many are not. Many are all about the students. Some faculty are of a very practical bent, organizing and leading study-abroad classes, or setting up special programs to bring visiting faculty from other countries, spearheading a special interest dormitory program, etc.
5. Bigger school = more resources. Well-staffed counseling centers, health center, sports facilities, cultural programs, etc. Job placement center for grads.
6. Easier to mix, mingle, and meet more people outside of class. At a small school, when you join activities, you run into the same people over and over. At a large school, everywhere you go, you're meeting new people. Therefore: enhanced social opportunities.
Excellent post! A fairly large school (10,000 students) in a large city worked for me because I was a self-motivated kid from a small high school where everybody had known everybody pretty much since elementary school. I needed to learn to meet, mingle, and deal with new people in new situations and to be more assertive (I was very shy and somewhat introverted).
You are absolutely dead-on about small departments and about the faculty. When I declared my major, I was 1 of 50, so my department welcomed me like I was a princess. All of them knew my name, and I got to know some of them as personal friends and mentors.
One of my Grandchildren is looking at colleges and is considering a small college where they promise that the majority of the classes will have no more than 15 students. Here is some other things that they promise and say makes the learning experience better:
1) No Adjuncts I am somewhat surprised at that. My daughter went to a similarly sized, also highly ranked LA college, and they did employ some adjuncts.
2) No Teaching Assistants from overseas, all classes are taught by the actual professor I have to say, I find this statement a bit, well, discriminatory. While they may not have TAs teaching, I seriously doubt there are no professors from overseas. In fact, a friend of mine who went to the same college as my daughter had an esteemed math professor from some European country who she described as having quite an accent. Also, I have never heard of a college that had only full professors doing the teaching.
3) While the Professors do research, their research is a secondary concern, their teaching is their primary responsibility
4) 90% of the students will have at least one semester abroad
5) Nearly everyone will have at least one internship in their field before graduation "Internship" can be defined in many ways.
6) 90% of the students graduated from the top ten percent of their class and as a result are dedicated to education, smart and hard working and this will create a better learning environment. Better than what? Some of these uber high-end colleges have a study hard, party hard mentality.
Do you think these are things that will make my Grandson learn more than his second option at a large University of 60,000 students?
Depends on what he puts into it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tpk-nyc
3,000 undergrads is not a small school. I went to a similar school and would highly recommend schools of that size. It's great when you actually know your professors.
However, if state school is in the absolute top-tier: Michigan, Virginia, Carolina, UCLA, Berkeley, etc., it might be a better choice. Those schools are ranked with the Ivys and will stand out on a resume.
Agree with the first para entirely. Not so sure about the second para.
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To add: My second daughter started at a small college of similar description, and transferred to the U of CO. Small colleges seem to have their own "tone" and if you don't fit into that, it can sometimes be difficult. She felt at a larger state university, there are so many different "types" that it was easy to find a social group.
Add #2: Both of my US-born sons-in-law were TAs at the U of CO. They're not all foreign-born.
I definitely agree about your second point Kat. It seems like they're trying to play antagonistic feelings towards immigrants who come here.
There is no need to be so sensitive and politically correct. In fact as of 2005, 22 states have passed legislation to stop poorly speaking TA's from teaching. The problem is especially bad the in engineer departments where 50% of the graduate students are foreign born. See http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/ed...anted=all&_r=0 . It spells out the problem. I was an engineering major at the UofMN. There were many times when I struggled to understand what the brilliant TA (with zero teaching experience) was trying to say.
Here is another article showing that there is a problem. Foreign-Born Teaching Assistants Impair Undergraduate Performance And another JSTOR: An Error Occurred Setting Your User Cookie .
In the engineering department at the UofMN, there were no shortage of foreign teachers that were far more interested in research that teaching. In order for them to stay in the USA to do research, they need to "teach". That's the flaw in the policy. So they really don't want to be in the classroom and you get a 1/2 backed education. There were several hard to understand computer science professors too.
"In accordance with provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), the University
has delegated to International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) sole authority to administer
the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program and file H-1B temporary employment and permanent
residence petitions in support of the teaching and research mission of the University."
When they stop teaching, they have to leave the country. Some researchers don't want to be professors and it shows.
Last edited by MN-Born-n-Raised; 09-05-2013 at 06:24 AM..
I think it is hard to ascertain which scenario would result in a better education unless an individual went to a both a smaller college and a larger university.
I think the draw to big universities is the "name brand." Good chance that the university name on the degree/resume will be recognized.
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Excellent post! A fairly large school (10,000 students) in a large city worked for me because I was a self-motivated kid from a small high school where everybody had known everybody pretty much since elementary school. I needed to learn to meet, mingle, and deal with new people in new situations and to be more assertive (I was very shy and somewhat introverted). 
In fact as of 2005, 22 states have passed legislation to stop poorly speaking TA's from teaching. The problem is especially bad the in engineer departments where 50% of the graduate students are foreign born. See 
