Old Dominion University

Date: Jun 12 2008
Major: Communications (This Major's Salary over time)
ODU isn't bad, it's just not as good as it could be. It treats transfer students shamefully. Half your credits won't transfer so you'll end up spending an extra year or three in school. Even if you have an A.S. they'll still try and make you take 100 and 200 level classes and you might not get Junior standing. Really, that deal with the community colleges is false advertising.

Please understand that the administration hates you and all you love. The sooner you realize this, the happier you'll be.

ODU is a commuter school with an identity crisis. They've torn up the parking and they keep putting in student housing. Most of the students are locals and we're all very unhappy with this. Also, the cost of parking decals is absurd. So you'll pay a lot and then end up parking off school property because there's nowhere else. There's a train or something that's supposed to be OMGWTFBBQ amazing! but it kind of just sits there and takes up school money. It also gives us bragging rights. 'We have a train that doesn't work!'

The individual departments are pretty good. The Engineering Dept. gets most of the school's resources, so everyone hates them. All the engineering students work on the train and all the opportunities at the job fairs are for them. Haaaaaaaaaaaaate.

My major's department (Communications) was very good. I found all my teachers were approachable and knowledgeable in their fields. My minor was History and while that department seems very narrow in what it offers (history of sports four semesters in a row, the Middle Ages once every two years when the moon is full and the cacti are in bloom?) the teachers were good and I enjoyed my classes.

If you're an Art major, just go kill yourself now. You will never graduate. I have friends who were there a year before I came and they'll be there long after I leave. ODU does not like it's art majors. You won't be getting a job after college anyway.

ODU is getting a football team (I'll be long gone when it comes, but my tuition paid for it!) and we're all pretty excited about that. Now we can beat the other schools that turned us down. Take that, William and Mary! Our girl's basketball team is hardcore awesome. Seriously. They pwn all who cross them. The fraternities and sororities are kinda scary. They'll attack you during student club day and try to suck your blood and hypnotize you to join their organization. I went to the anime club a couple of times. I like anime, but they chose some of the lamest titles to show and the people acted like they were still in high school.

The campus is getting better because they keep buying up the surrounding area and fixing it up. We've got trees and flowers and a soft, grassy lawn for people to play frisbee. Norfolk is pretty bad, but the surrounding cities are nice enough. You've got Williamsburg, Busch Gardens and the beach close by, so see if you can get to those on a weekend.

We have a large military community and a great ROTC program so if that's your thing, we've got it.

The problem with all this is ODU could be a really great school if it played on its strengths of local commuters and ROTC. Instead, it throws money at a train that doesn't work and develops a bad reputation for transfer students. It doesn't make sense, a lot of students come from TCC and ODU acts like we're second class citizens. I spent two days trying to get my stuff counted and I had an A.S.