Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 14:40     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
I definitely don't think of VCU as being in a ghetto. Urban yes, ghetto mo.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 14:24     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
My daughter lives in Richmond and loves it. She has friends who went to VCU, they enjoyed their experience. It is an urban campus. Good places to live close by.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 14:14     Subject: Re:Perceptions of VCU?
Anonymous wrote:PP, sorry I forgot to address the "ghetto" comment. I don't consider any school "ghetto," but some are definitely near rough neighborhoods (ie Temple, UPenn, Duke, GW, Marquette, UChicago, Fordham) which I usually split into people struggling in public assisted living vs working class vs homeless people with mental health issue. However, my DC at UVA learned there's plenty of crime in Charlottesville and her friend at VT had their laptop and backpack stolen from the library and reports quite a few situations with roofies. A friend at Dartmouth had her Canada Goose jacket stolen at a frat party. So safety is relative and crime is everywhere. OP, your child's perspective will be shaped by their level of awareness and experience in different surroundings.


While there are homeless people around GW, as a grad I am unaware of any sketchy neighborhoods in the vicinity. They simply don’t exist.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 13:37     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Most VCU students fly out of the Richmond Va airport. I think the airport code is RIC.

Train to DC then DCA likely would take a lot longer. Amtrak is often delayed and one would need to get off in Alexandria VA then switch to MetroRail to get to DCA.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 13:34     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
VCU is in a big city, so it is urban - not suburban and not small college town. The area immediately at VCU is fine. Strongly suggest a visit before rejecting it.

VCU Engineering is fine. Good program. And with ABET requiring a high floor, engineering will be rigorous and require study.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 12:17     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is great to hear! We are a little nervous because she would be so far away. Do most students use the Amtrak to DC and fly out of DCA? Just trying to think of all the logistics of attending a school that is not drivable to home.

Are you in DC? It's definitely drivable to DC, I make the drive myself pretty frequently.

Never flown to Richmond from DC but do take the train several times a year and yes, you would take Union Station or Alexandria to the Richmond Main St. station. Just a short uber or bus ride up Main Street to the VCU area.

I think you have it backwards — it sounds like OP is asking if folks take the train between Richmond and DC and then fly out of DC to their home. OP mentioned being OOS.

Yes, OP, that’s one option.



Yes sorry for the confusion I’m the parent with the OOS daughter from Nebraska

Ah. Then yes, she could take the train to DC and fly out of Reagan or she could just fly out of Byrd in Richmond, depending on which has a flight to Nebraska.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 12:13     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is great to hear! We are a little nervous because she would be so far away. Do most students use the Amtrak to DC and fly out of DCA? Just trying to think of all the logistics of attending a school that is not drivable to home.

Are you in DC? It's definitely drivable to DC, I make the drive myself pretty frequently.

Never flown to Richmond from DC but do take the train several times a year and yes, you would take Union Station or Alexandria to the Richmond Main St. station. Just a short uber or bus ride up Main Street to the VCU area.

I think you have it backwards — it sounds like OP is asking if folks take the train between Richmond and DC and then fly out of DC to their home. OP mentioned being OOS.

Yes, OP, that’s one option.



Yes sorry for the confusion I’m the parent with the OOS daughter from Nebraska
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 12:11     Subject: Re:Perceptions of VCU?
PP, sorry I forgot to address the "ghetto" comment. I don't consider any school "ghetto," but some are definitely near rough neighborhoods (ie Temple, UPenn, Duke, GW, Marquette, UChicago, Fordham) which I usually split into people struggling in public assisted living vs working class vs homeless people with mental health issue. However, my DC at UVA learned there's plenty of crime in Charlottesville and her friend at VT had their laptop and backpack stolen from the library and reports quite a few situations with roofies. A friend at Dartmouth had her Canada Goose jacket stolen at a frat party. So safety is relative and crime is everywhere. OP, your child's perspective will be shaped by their level of awareness and experience in different surroundings.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 12:02     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
It's a good school, especially for science / medicine or the arts.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 12:02     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Anonymous wrote:So, all who are telling us to visit:

We have visited. We visited last Fall when my DD was a junior. We did find it urban as others have described, but we were just there for a day and found it fine, on that one visitation day. I was wondering if there was more to the story that we did not pick up on: that others may already know. EG is it considered “ghetto?” In whatever explanation of this word as someone may take it? Were we the naive dumb-dumbs who did not pick up on something everybody else already knows?

And lastly, the mom who used this word would not really be considered MAGA to me. She is quirky, kind of artsy and creative, divorced mom of two, cute, fun. Posts anti-Trump things on her FB page. So, yeah, I couldn’t easily place where this mom was getting “ghetto” from, as the one-word descriptor of the whole school, like I could have easily write it off if it were from an obviously MAGA type mom. It made me wonder if we had missed something that was a well-known, yet unwritten social understanding of the school: “Oh, VCU, that’s ghetto and artsy. The end.”

Thanks for everyone’s responses.

Ghetto is not a term I would use or have heard used about VCU. It makes me question the person who used it. I can only assume it’s because it’s an urban campus with a slightly higher percentage of Black students, but wow. Describing it that way for those reasons would say more about the person than the school.

If this is a friend, maybe ask her exactly what she thinks makes the school “ghetto”? The answer might be enlightening — about her.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 11:59     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is great to hear! We are a little nervous because she would be so far away. Do most students use the Amtrak to DC and fly out of DCA? Just trying to think of all the logistics of attending a school that is not drivable to home.

Are you in DC? It's definitely drivable to DC, I make the drive myself pretty frequently.

Never flown to Richmond from DC but do take the train several times a year and yes, you would take Union Station or Alexandria to the Richmond Main St. station. Just a short uber or bus ride up Main Street to the VCU area.

I think you have it backwards — it sounds like OP is asking if folks take the train between Richmond and DC and then fly out of DC to their home. OP mentioned being OOS.

Yes, OP, that’s one option.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 11:57     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Oh, wait, do you mean you *don't* live in DC and you are trying to figure out how your kid would get home?

There's an airport in Richmond she could fly out of. Not sure where you live but here are their directs:

https://flyrichmond.com/route-map/
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 11:56     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
Anonymous wrote:This is great to hear! We are a little nervous because she would be so far away. Do most students use the Amtrak to DC and fly out of DCA? Just trying to think of all the logistics of attending a school that is not drivable to home.

Are you in DC? It's definitely drivable to DC, I make the drive myself pretty frequently.

Never flown to Richmond from DC but do take the train several times a year and yes, you would take Union Station or Alexandria to the Richmond Main St. station. Just a short uber or bus ride up Main Street to the VCU area.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 11:29     Subject: Perceptions of VCU?
This is great to hear! We are a little nervous because she would be so far away. Do most students use the Amtrak to DC and fly out of DCA? Just trying to think of all the logistics of attending a school that is not drivable to home.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 11:28     Subject: Re:Perceptions of VCU?
DC's friend is in the pre-dentistal program and is enjoying her experience. DD visited her in the fall and had a fun weekend doing a mix of activities at the school and city. Definitely worth a visit.