Old Dominion University

I graduated ODU in the 1960s so my comments are not too up to date. I found biology and chemistry professors pretty good except for one who mumbled so badly he could not be understood. I never met a good math professor. In the History department I had one professor who did nothing but give us his biology-based social philosophy. Unfortunately, he had read second-rate books (which I had also read) and had no understanding of biology at all. Very few of the students had the background to know he was an empty shell. I found the science students very bright for the most part, but the history and economics students quite limited and totally unable to transfer scientific ideas into either history or economics. (Such as the biological idea of the selective agent into history.) When I attended the students were all White aside from a few Asians and many students were concerned about campus safety, especially after a female student was sexually attacked in a parking lot. One really good thing about the university at that time was that one did not have to be an English major to take advanced English courses. One very odd thing was that it was possible to take far too many semester hours at once. I would take up to 35 semester hours at once. At one time I was signed up for three courses in the same time slot. I was a commuter to school. Both my children went to residential college. I think that they enjoyed college more than I did. One thing I noticed as a general rule, college courses on Religion are generally quite inadequate no matter where they are taken. A bit of advice for history students: if you are not being taught selective agents, religion as mind-shapers and economics, you are not being taught at all.

5th Year Male -- Class 1965

Education Quality: B, Scholastic Success: F

If you can't afford to go elsewhere - well,...just don't go into the engineering department. The faculty are an apathetic lot, unable and/or unwilling to teach. I heard horror stories before enrolling, but I didn't believe them. I do now. I'm getting my degree from ODU, so I wish I could say something good about engineering there - but I can't. I just want it over and done.

2nd Year Male -- Class 2003

Surrounding City: B+, Faculty Accessibility: F