Old Dominion University

Date: Jan 11 2009
Major: Business - Management and Administration (This Major's Salary over time)
1) If you have an inherent problem with the military, you might have a problem with this place. ODU is 5-10 minutes away from the largest military base in the world, and the city of Norfolk in which ODU is housed has the highest concentration of military personnel in the world (check this fact). Which is also to say that if you are a revolutionary hippie type, or just dont agree with lock-step military values, and dont want a bunch of dudes in uniforms ruining your view, dont go here. You'll waste too much energy ignoring the military element to really be able to release your talent.

2) If you desire a more sophisticated drinking / party scene..Dont go here. Most parties I attended in my 5 years were of the keg / dumb drunken student type. You won't get into any enlightening conversations while sipping on a mojito or red wine here. Keg stand and a mug of Natty Ice?? Yes. This is true for the Hampton Roads area as a whole, in my opinion.

3) If you inherently have a problem with black culture, you may not want to go here. And folks, this is not a racist comment. People who dont like asian people or asian food dont attend Washington State University or USC because those places are overrun by asians. Its that simple. I dont say

if you have an inherent problem with white culture, dont go here

because you cant get away from white culture anywhere you go. ODU has a substantial black student body, who, in my opinion, have their own culture. Black and white population dominate here. Not much in between. The exchange students pretty much stick to themselves. Most students are commuters, which actually TAKES AWAY from the culture. You have to have a dense student pop. who is CONSTANTLY around campus for any meaningful culture to arise, for ppl to connect and become enlightened from each other. This doesn't happen at ODU.

4) If you are over the age of 22 , you may not want to go here. The undergrad population seemed very juvenile. I was a 22 year old freshman and finished at 26. I was too old for ODU after my first semester.

4) I can only speak of the IT department and Business admin curriculum. I dare not speak of any other discipline offered at ODU, because i honestly dont know how the others are. The Busn Admin / IT curriculum at ODU SUCKED ASS except for 2 teachers: Ms Denise Copeland and Mr Michael Carraway. I dont think its worth attending a program with only 2 quality teachers. Research other schools, and I guarantee you could find a better IT program, with better looking people and friendlier students/staff. Also, the Business Admin portion of the IT curriculum was sparse and non-immersive. The classes seemed disjointed…there was no flow. Just class after class.

5) The faculty is always changing. I dont know if this is a good thing for some, but i would have preferred seeing the same teacher over and over again, to get some continuity. Maybe thats just me.

6) The students are generally buried in their own books and probably wont talk to you. Again, i only speak of the business school.