Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sold me on Richmond (my DC is applying) was we had a very earnest and dorky-charismatic tour guide. During the tour, other students kept waving to him, shouting out his name, what have you. One very pretty blonde turned to another and said about him, out of his earshot but not mine, "I LOVE that kid!" Just gave me a good feeling about the school.

This tracks with our experience there.

I know about 15 kids heading to Richmond from Baltimore private schools next fall. They are all very main stream, preppy kids—nearly all high school athletes who aren’t athletic recruits. The ones I know well plan on rushing. They are all nice kids, but I don’t think there is a big culture of quirky kids at Richmond.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.

I disagree --Winston Salem is 200 times better now than it was ten to twenty years ago. Most of the Wake grad students now chose to live in downtown because of all the new housing, restaurants and bars. Hotel scene is also much better since the two Kimptons opened. The Grounds development is going to be a boon to both the university and the city.

20 years ago when it had thriving businesses headquartered there? And now, the school is buying those things and hoping the state and healthcare spending save it makes it better. Right.

The school already owned the property for the Grounds, and is leasing space to private companies — it is going to be a revenue stream for the school while providing more restaurants, bars, etc. . within walking distance of campus and it is opening next fall (2027). The Wake hospital system is owned by Atrium Health, a large non profit healthcare provider that operates in six states. Wake just opened a second campus for its medical school in Charlotte paid for by Atrium. Wake downtown (10 minute shuttle ride from campus) is in the innovation corridor, and is a brand new medical research space. Wake Forest Center for Regenerative Medicine is there, but also a number of smaller start ups. Project seems to be a success as it is being expanded.

Not sure what “thriving businesses” you thought were in W-S 10 years ago. RJ Reynolds is still in W-S but its cigarette business hasn’t been thriving for 30 years. There are smaller companies headquartered there like Hanes Brands and Krispy Kreme.

My sibling graduated from Wake Forest 15 years ago. There was literally nothing downtown and he never went there. Now there is a Marriott, two Kimptons, tons of new housing, and a growing restaurant/bar scene. My student goes out downtown at least once a week, sometimes more.

W-S certainly isn’t Boston or DC, but it is better off now than 10-15 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.

I disagree --Winston Salem is 200 times better now than it was ten to twenty years ago. Most of the Wake grad students now chose to live in downtown because of all the new housing, restaurants and bars. Hotel scene is also much better since the two Kimptons opened. The Grounds development is going to be a boon to both the university and the city.

20 years ago when it had thriving businesses headquartered there? And now, the school is buying those things and hoping the state and healthcare spending save it makes it better. Right.

The school already owned the property for the Grounds, and is leasing space to private companies — it is going to be a revenue stream for the school while providing more restaurants, bars, etc. . within walking distance of campus and it is opening next fall (2027). The Wake hospital system is owned by Atrium Health, a large non profit healthcare provider that operates in six states. Wake just opened a second campus for its medical school in Charlotte paid for by Atrium. Wake downtown (10 minute shuttle ride from campus) is in the innovation corridor, and is a brand new medical research space. Wake Forest Center for Regenerative Medicine is there, but also a number of smaller start ups. Project seems to be a success as it is being expanded.

Not sure what “thriving businesses” you thought were in W-S 10 years ago. RJ Reynolds is still in W-S but its cigarette business hasn’t been thriving for 30 years. There are smaller companies headquartered there like Hanes Brands and Krispy Kreme.

My sibling graduated from Wake Forest 15 years ago. There was literally nothing downtown and he never went there. Now there is a Marriott, two Kimptons, tons of new housing, and a growing restaurant/bar scene. My student goes out downtown at least once a week, sometimes more.

W-S certainly isn’t Boston or DC, but it is better off now than 10-15 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sold me on Richmond (my DC is applying) was we had a very earnest and dorky-charismatic tour guide. During the tour, other students kept waving to him, shouting out his name, what have you. One very pretty blonde turned to another and said about him, out of his earshot but not mine, "I LOVE that kid!" Just gave me a good feeling about the school.

This tracks with our experience there.

I know about 15 kids heading to Richmond from Baltimore private schools next fall. They are all very main stream, preppy kids—nearly all high school athletes who aren’t athletic recruits. The ones I know well plan on rushing. They are all nice kids, but I don’t think there is a big culture of quirky kids at Richmond.

It’s a very healthy mix of lots of types of kids there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sold me on Richmond (my DC is applying) was we had a very earnest and dorky-charismatic tour guide. During the tour, other students kept waving to him, shouting out his name, what have you. One very pretty blonde turned to another and said about him, out of his earshot but not mine, "I LOVE that kid!" Just gave me a good feeling about the school.

This tracks with our experience there.

I know about 15 kids heading to Richmond from Baltimore private schools next fall. They are all very main stream, preppy kids—nearly all high school athletes who aren’t athletic recruits. The ones I know well plan on rushing. They are all nice kids, but I don’t think there is a big culture of quirky kids at Richmond.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sold me on Richmond (my DC is applying) was we had a very earnest and dorky-charismatic tour guide. During the tour, other students kept waving to him, shouting out his name, what have you. One very pretty blonde turned to another and said about him, out of his earshot but not mine, "I LOVE that kid!" Just gave me a good feeling about the school.

This tracks with our experience there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.

I disagree --Winston Salem is 200 times better now than it was ten to twenty years ago. Most of the Wake grad students now chose to live in downtown because of all the new housing, restaurants and bars. Hotel scene is also much better since the two Kimptons opened. The Grounds development is going to be a boon to both the university and the city.

20 years ago when it had thriving businesses headquartered there? And now, the school is buying those things and hoping the state and healthcare spending save it makes it better. Right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.

I disagree --Winston Salem is 200 times better now than it was ten to twenty years ago. Most of the Wake grad students now chose to live in downtown because of all the new housing, restaurants and bars. Hotel scene is also much better since the two Kimptons opened. The Grounds development is going to be a boon to both the university and the city.

20 years ago when it had thriving businesses headquartered there? And now, the school is buying those things and hoping the state and healthcare spending save it makes it better. Right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Winston is dying, Richmond is ok and Lewisburg is really small.

I disagree --Winston Salem is 200 times better now than it was ten to twenty years ago. Most of the Wake grad students now chose to live in downtown because of all the new housing, restaurants and bars. Hotel scene is also much better since the two Kimptons opened. The Grounds development is going to be a boon to both the university and the city.

Anonymous wrote:What sold me on Richmond (my DC is applying) was we had a very earnest and dorky-charismatic tour guide. During the tour, other students kept waving to him, shouting out his name, what have you. One very pretty blonde turned to another and said about him, out of his earshot but not mine, "I LOVE that kid!" Just gave me a good feeling about the school.

Anonymous wrote:What sold me on Richmond (my DC is applying) was we had a very earnest and dorky-charismatic tour guide. During the tour, other students kept waving to him, shouting out his name, what have you. One very pretty blonde turned to another and said about him, out of his earshot but not mine, "I LOVE that kid!" Just gave me a good feeling about the school.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe Richmond also doesn't participate in the Common Data Set? That alone would be a red flag

Anonymous wrote:Richmond is even preppier and more greek than Wake, but smaller.

Contrary to what you read on DCUM, Richmond and Wake are very popular these days, with both receiving a record amount of applications this year. Turns out there are a lot of kids that like the combination of small classes with professors that care about teaching, meticulously maintained campuses, great post graduate outcomes and a fun D1 sports scene.

However, if your kid is small-minded enough to think all full pay kids are lazy, perhaps besides questioning your parenting skills, you should send them to UC-Merced or VCU so she doesn't have to deal with the affluent.