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Hollins University

How this student rated the school
Educational QualityA Faculty AccessibilityB
Useful SchoolworkA Excess CompetitionA
Academic SuccessA Creativity/ InnovationA+
Individual ValueA+ University Resource UseB-
Campus Aesthetics/ BeautyA+ FriendlinessA
Campus MaintenanceA- Social LifeD+
Surrounding CityC+ Extra CurricularsC-
SafetyC
Describes the student body as:
Friendly, Approachable

Describes the faculty as:
Friendly, Helpful

Female
SAT1800
Bright
Lowest Rating
Social Life
D+
Highest Rating
Creativity/ Innovation
A+
She cares more about Safety than the average student.
Date: May 27 2013
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
I have just graduated from Hollins this May, and I want to add my two cents after having a great year (Junior year) and a not so great year (Senior year). I transferred to Hollins in Fall 2011 after earning my associates degree. With over 60 credits transferred, I was able to start out as a Junior in my major, which was English.

The 300-level English classes that I took in my Junior year were interesting, challenging, and showed me points of view that I never considered or was exposed to in High School / Community College. The faculty were great! My favorites were Jeanne Larsen, TJ Anderson, and Pauline Kaldas. The other assorted classes that I took to satisfy random requirements were painless and fairly easy. For example, France and the French is a good class to take if you need your big Q because it involves no real math. However, History of Photography, was extremely stimulating and challenging in a good way. Ruth Epstein was fabulous.

Over all, Junior year was great! The white water rafting trip to West Virginia during orientation was really fun. I did Tinker Day and went to the Winter and Spring formals (which suck out loud, by the way…they're like high school dances where they provide beer and wine). I made some tight friends. I lives off campus so I did not participate in every activity, but I tried to get involved. I will say as a commuter, the parking is fair but not great (when they have a lot of people visiting for some function, they let them part in the commuter spots. Not fun when you are trying to find a spot at 9am!). The dining hall and the RAT (a MTO venue) are decent, but I can see how eating there 24/7 gets old.

By senior year, I was starting to get a little jaded. Some of my friends left and I started to see the touchy feely activities as juvenile or a waste of time because I was busy trying to take five classes. I thought I wanted to minor in film in addition to art after being schmoozed by the new film professor, Matt Marshall, in the Spring 2011 semester. He likes to take select students out to lunch, which should raise a red flag. He is also married. He is a nice guy, but the whole thing is weird. After Fall 2012, I promptly dropped the film minor to focus on my art minor and finish up my major. I took some great photography classes, such as Alternative Processes, which focused on non-silver 18th century methods of making prints. Bob Sulkin taught that class, and he was very helpful. He can be hit or miss mood-wise, but he was usually a great professor. In my last semester, I also took a class on Jane Austen with Julie Pfeiffer. I found the class to be over the top with the reading and writing expected since it was still a 300-level. Pfeiffer was aloof and seemed to take it personally if someone did not like a certain Austen novel, passage, character, etc. Of all the teachers I encountered at Hollins, I liked her the least.

Some other general comments:

The business office is a hot mess. They got mad because I did not pay a $2 charge near graduation because I was waiting for a $300-some lab fee to be charged. I finally paid it to shut them up, and then the day after graduation, they charge me with the lab fee! I had a hold on my account because of this and it took me a few days to see it, which delayed my transcripts for grad school. I have heard other people have had problems with the business office, too, so be prepared to check back behind them.

The honor court is questionable. I took a World Religions class Fall 2011 in which two girls openly cheated on a quiz (the teacher is blind so she couldn't see them with their book out). Together with a few other students, I reported this to the honor court. They drill it into your head from day one that you will not violate this sacred and holy code and that you must report any infractions. However, they did nothing with these girls. They got off and it was never taken to a hearing. When I got careless Senior year and left out a citation, my teacher sent me to the honor court. They wasted no time prosecuting me. This is a double standard, and I warn anyone to be careful. They seem to take any sort of plagiarism (intentional or not) as if you murdered someone. The woman who oversees the honor court (as well as Res Life), Nickie Smith, is a boot licking bureaucrat so don't expect her to be helpful to you at all if you ever are in need of her "services." She is two faced and gives you the run around.

The student body is ok. I lot of people are idealistic and am alarming number os freshmen idealize the "super seniors" and want to spend 6 years at Hollins like they did (!!). And yes, you've got the large population of lesbians. It is a girls' school so that is to be expected. Like other reviewer's have commented, there are also various cliques such as the preppies, the minorities, Otaku (weirdos), the art department bitches, etc. AS I said previously, I lived off campus so I did not have to deal with a lot of the social nonsense.

Over all, I do not regret my decision to go Hollins, but I do think it is overrated in some aspects. The English department (a big draw for prospective students) is great, but not everything is. Hollins tries to foster an insular environment where people don't have to bother with the real world…until they graduate (and many people in my year were agitated about graduating. I was glad to be done). They also treat you like scared children with policies such as the honor code and their stance for alcohol at formals (even if you are 21, they act like you are 6).

For incoming freshmen, I would say that Hollins is pretty good, but if you have good GPA/SAT and can get into a better school then try for that. This is a good safety choice, but don't make it your #1 school.

For transfers, if you have an associates in the state of Virginia, you can do much better because of the articulation agreement with the VCCS. Other transfers, think about why you are leaving your current school. Hollins might just be a repeat of that experience.

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questionCan freshman(international student) live off campus .
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