VCU and "urban"

[Anonymous]

For a student who wants an urban (can be a small city) college experience with a defined campus that's not out in the suburbs, how self-contained does the VCU campus feel? It is hard to tell from Google Maps. For comparison, my student has been on the campuses/"campuses" of Northeastern, Fordham Rose Hill, GWU, and NYU, so we've seen the range of possibilities as far as campus feel. Looking for ideas for safeties. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Curious about this too. We will be visiting in June, however.

[Anonymous]

The central part of the Monroe Park is decently contained with clear signage, etc. You won’t find, however, a large open green space at the center of campus. Monroe Park is a city park adjacent to the Monroe Park campus. The MCV campus is a bus ride away. VCU literally grew out from the city grid being that it’s a relatively young campus. VCU is great, but it’s urban.

[Anonymous]

VCU is very similar to NYU or Boston University in that the college campus is not walled off or distinctly separated from the city. The campus buildings have signage to indicate they are school buildings but they are set within a city neighborhood, and the park areas are shared with neighborhood residents. GW is somewhat similar, although less spread out than the other three.

Northeastern and Fordham Rose Hill all have at least some small portion of campus that has a wall/gate or landscaping separating a part of campus, and that gives them a slightly different feel. But they aren’t dramatically different. Still very urban.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like Pitt would be worth a visit. Bit more of a campus feel than VCU. School spirit is high and contributes to sense of cohesiveness.

More selective than VCU but less than some of the others you mentioned

[Anonymous]

There is one little courtyard area by the library and that is about it for standalone campus space, but it is all very walkable, and not far from green spaces.

[Anonymous]

I’d say the campus is integrated into the city and not as self-contained as Fordham Rose Hill. Maybe a bit similar to GWU.

[Anonymous]

Worth visiting to see if it is what DC would like. Easy to get there by car or Amtrak.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VCU is very similar to NYU or Boston University in that the college campus is not walled off or distinctly separated from the city. The campus buildings have signage to indicate they are school buildings but they are set within a city neighborhood, and the park areas are shared with neighborhood residents. GW is somewhat similar, although less spread out than the other three.

Northeastern and Fordham Rose Hill all have at least some small portion of campus that has a wall/gate or landscaping separating a part of campus, and that gives them a slightly different feel. But they aren’t dramatically different. Still very urban.

Even though they are all integrated into urban neighborhoods, the vibes of the surrounding areas in NYU, BU, and VCU are vastly different.

[Anonymous]

VCU is not a college for kids that want to be in a college bubble with urban offerings as a backdrop. VCU kids will experience the best and worst parts of city life on a daily basis you have to be ready for that. You’ll grow up faster not being sheltered, but some kids might be overwhelmed dealing with that at 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:VCU is very similar to NYU or Boston University in that the college campus is not walled off or distinctly separated from the city. The campus buildings have signage to indicate they are school buildings but they are set within a city neighborhood, and the park areas are shared with neighborhood residents. GW is somewhat similar, although less spread out than the other three.

Northeastern and Fordham Rose Hill all have at least some small portion of campus that has a wall/gate or landscaping separating a part of campus, and that gives them a slightly different feel. But they aren’t dramatically different. Still very urban.

Even though they are all integrated into urban neighborhoods, the vibes of the surrounding areas in NYU, BU, and VCU are vastly different.

How so?

[Anonymous]

VCU's main drawback is its campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Worth visiting to see if it is what DC would like. Easy to get there by car or Amtrak.

I agree it’s worth visiting to see how your DC feels. Being used to the very urban environment of my older DCs school, VCU was a bit better than I expected. My younger kid still found it too integrated into the city for her liking though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VCU's main drawback is its campus.

Why would you say that? That’s not true at all for a kid that wants an urban campus. Tons of DC kids go to college in Philly, NYC and Boston, Richmond is no different.

[Anonymous]

Vcu is mixed in an urban environment like NYU or northeastern but the city is smaller. It does not have a campus feel with many quads and green spaces separate from the city (aka uchicago penn, harvard which are next to a city but have a lot of defined campus space not mixed in with downtown).
Vcu is also highly commuter-school. It is the right fit for many. Wrong for many others.