Old Dominion University

ODU has no culture, its definitely a bad move if your an out-of-state student. ODU has an arid enviroment and I am not talking about the the weather. I've been here for almost 2 yrs and my time here has been terrible.

1st Year Male -- Class 2010

Education Quality: A-, Scholastic Success: F

I just have to say, these negative comments (well written, too) about ODU are 100% accurate. I went into this school last year, ready to start my college life as a transfer student (the tour was promising and engaging, surprisingly), but unfortunately found the school to be overall abysmal. Honestly, there is pretty much nothing positive I can say about this school, but I'll see what I can do.

First off (and I don't attend ODU anymore, I transferred to a different college fortunately), I found the staff to be incredibly rude, snobby, and borderline useless at times. I always felt like an inconvenience asking a simple question in person or on the phone, and would always get (not rude)somewhat irritated remarks. I remember on multiple occasions going through a hectic maze trying to get my financial aid confirmed, housing confirmed, etc -- I would get told 4 different things from so-and-so, leaving me at an uncertain standstill. My professors were really helpful though - I majored in IT, and found most of them to be very friendly and approachable.

During the first few weeks at ODU, I made an incredibly strong effort to socialize with the students, but found that most students had already formed their own social circles, making it difficult to squeeze into the conversations. Not to mention, this school is a commuter school - most kids go home on the weekends to see their own friends.

I found most of the students very unsociable and not approachable in the slightest. In fact, most looked like zombies on any given day, just devoid of energy and depressed. Joining clubs? Think again - most students just cling to their own friends, and are very unwelcoming to new faces. Unless it's a frat, I wouldn't even bother with clubs if I were you.

Unless you're black, or an international student, you'll likely have a tough time making friends at this school. I love diversity, as part of my background stems from Mexico, but I had a tremendously difficult time trying to make friends at this school. Even living with 3 other roommates, most just kept to themselves and never bothered to befriend.

Then there's the safety. To be blunt (no pun intended), this school is surrounded by a very rough, spotty area that is best to be completely avoided at night - even if you're looking to party. Emails will be sent out (sometimes on a weekly basis) about some sort of crime committed either on or around campus. I actually never felt safe here.

Overall, I am glad I transferred to another university (one where I actually know people this time around, I guess that has something to do with it), because I was breaking down towards the end of the semester. I regret that I dumped a pile of money on this school for a semester, but I am glad I got out when I could. To anyone looking to attend ODU - I recommend you take a hard look at the negative reviews, because they are beyond accurate. Literally took the words right out of my mouth.

1st Year Female -- Class 1921

This school has an enormous amount of crime that has been happening in recent months. I feel as though the faculty is unhelpful and I have also been told to switch majors because my first set of classes did not go as well as they should have. I received C's in courses and was told that I would never get into a graduate program at any school. I do not feel safe at all living at this school in off housing apartments/homes. I feel that the campus police is more concerned with pulling someone over for a headlight being out than worrying about the safety of the students on this campus. I wish that ODU would focus on the campus safety. In recent months the crime has almost doubled. It is extremely unsafe and the faculty is extremely unhelpful. I would not recommend this facility to anyone.

4th Year Female -- Class 2015

Campus Aesthetics: B, Education Quality: F