Old Dominion University

Date: May 21 2010
Major: Electrical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
ODU talks about how they admit "well-rounded" students, but they're lying. Well-rounded students are deeply involved in a wide variety of activities and possess a wide variety of interests. The typical student here likes to fixate on one or two activities or interests at most, thereby never expanding their mind. It shows in the heavy clique presence on campus. This place is more clique-y than my high school. All you have to do is visit the campus when classes are in session to see what I mean. The ethnic groups like staying as separated as possible from each other. Each religious group does everything they can to avoid contact with people who are not members of their religious group.

For example: I went to a couple Presbyterian ministry events and started to really feel like I was part of the organization. During one of the events I let it slip that my mother was Presbyterian, but my father happened to be an atheist. There was an instant look of discomfort on the face of the person who I told this to… so much so that I actually asked her if she was okay. She asked me if I still spoke to my father and I said "Yes, of course!" She excused herself to the girls' room and I went over to get some food…at which point I heard that same girl's voice mention my name in the other room, along with something about how my "heart [didn't] seem like it [would] ever be fully devoted to God" or whatever. One of the people she was talking to asked why and she told them about my dad. All the way up until this moment, I had been invited to UP Ministry events, which I had enjoyed because they seemed like nice and fun people who all spoke to me when they had the chance. But after that incident when I mentioned my dad, I stopped receiving invitations to events, and each member- who had previously seemed quite happy to see me and took every chance to warmly greet me when they saw me on campus- acted as though I wasn't there whenever I saw them on campus, even when I said "hi." I tried approaching other denominations but they all tacitly turned me away, each strongly hinting after a day or so that they disapproved of my original religious affiliation, that I should check some other religious group instead and that they would be "praying for me."

I am including my hurtful experience with the campus religious organizations in this review because I think it's an accurate display of the mindset of ODU's student body, religious AND non-religious. I will never forget the time where I was crying in my dorm room because another family member (who I deeply cared about) was severely injured and in the hospital, with the risk of dying. I needed someone to pray with, give me spiritual guidance or perhaps suggest a hopeful Bible entry for me to read and embrace. But no, my roommate was drinking her brains out down the hall and everyone else I knew was home for the weekend. I made several calls to various UPM people I used to know…most didn't answer, one person answered but obviously didn't care and wasn't afraid to show it(!) and another person even HUNG UP ON ME after hearing my voice!

As for other areas of this school…

If you're a

poor college student

then there is nothing to do in the Tidewater area… everything costs too much money. There's nowhere to go that isn't way sketchy, unless you want to walk around Wal-Mart or spend a lot of money.

Oh, and I signed up for five classes next semester… but was DROPPED from three of them (all which filled up shortly after, blocking me out) because of a mistake that a wildly rude woman in the Registrar's office ADMITTED to making. I asked her if I could get an override into the classes and she actually said (word for word)

Nope, I'm tired of you spoiled girls from Northern Virginia comin' in here and demanding special treatment just 'cause things didn't work out the way you want. You can deal like everyone else.

Note: I'm from the Richmond area. I spoke to someone in the President's office about it and they said they'd look into it, but I was suspicious so I went in exactly three weeks later and that same woman in the Registar's office was still working there!!

On a final note, the academics are quite below average. Yeah, I was stuck going here because ODU was the only place that gave me the financial aid I needed.