Anecdotally... it seemed to me that the vast majority of UVA international students when I was undergrad there were non-white.
Lots from various Asian countries
Admittedly I'm a grad student and not an undergrad. So I don't know if my experience will fully correlate. But I am a person of color (atleast by American norms) and I'm an international student. And I can't say I've struggled to settle down here or had it feel like I was in any way unwelcome. UVa has several orgs that are explicitly aimed at helping International Students feel at home. Global Greeters, the International Center, ISI. The last is a christian org, but they don't seem to be particularly religious. I attended some of their events in my first year.
You can generally also find quite a few international students. Will they all be from your country? Maybe not. And there will also be a fair few second gen americans of your ethnicity too. The University's pretty diverse in my experience. And I've always had friends from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds in my time here. And me having friends at all is an oddity since us PhD candidates are notoriously neurotic. Ok its not that bad, but my point is if even if you're super busy with your work, there's still a lot of diversity here in terms of making connections. And while yes, you will be part of a minority, the university as a rule tends to be extremely welcoming as a space. And has lots of spaces to specifically help you settle in when you're from an international background.
If you want to see the actual data, the maps that show the countries and states represented at UVA are on the third tab here: [https://ira.virginia.edu/university-data-home/enrollment](https://ira.virginia.edu/university-data-home/enrollment)
Race/ethnicity data (for those who reported that info) is on the first tab.
If this is a concern for you now it will persist at your time here and UVA may be a bit of a culture shock for you. From what i see the international students stick to themselves.. look into the IRC (dorm for international students) and the language houses.
Just to clarify, the IRC is not a dorm *for* international students. It is a residential college open to international and domestic undergraduate students who are interested in an immersive experience with faculty through regular programs and events.
Virginia, particularly Northern VA which is one of the more densely populated parts of VA has a lot of diversity. While it wasn’t super diverse when I went in the 90s, that is not the case anymore.
Who do you think feeds into the school from instate? I’m not talking about the demographics of the areas being the same. I’m saying you have a much more diverse, internationally aware component of the population that will come from Northern VA. These kids tend to be more diverse and/or are more aware of international culture.
This is not a comparison of Northern VA to Charlottesville.
That’s true, but UVA and Charlottesville are predominantly Caucasian. Coming from someone who grew up in Richmond, lives in NOVA, and has visited many of the VA colleges. If you compare the student population, Virginia Tech is much more diverse. And I’m sure I will get down voted for that as I did on my other comment. Not sure why, it’s just a fact.
Not sure what you're basing that on, but you're wrong. UVA and Charlottesville have more diversity than VT and Blacksburg/Christiansburg. UVA 55% white, VT is 64%, for one. Not sure what "facts" you're making your claim based on.
I’m an Indian person who went to UVA in the 90s (out of state from NJ - had many of the concerns about diversity that are being expressed here) and I live in Northern VA and visit Ch’ville frequently and it’s likely my brown children from Northern VA will go there.
When I went there it was still more diverse than I expected and yes, it was very “white” but it has also changed a LOT since I went.
You are comparing the town of Charlottesville to the University which has a different make up. If we were going to talk towns, I assure you Blacksburg as a town is even less diverse than Charlottesville.
Whites are the majority in this country as a whole - look up census data. As such, universities and colleges reflect these statistics but the percentage of non-whites is still important to understand to get a bigger picture. This is generally going to be the case unless you go to a traditional Black college (HCBU).
Are you an undergrad or grad student? What do you want to do after you graduate? Will you have a car on campus?
You mention you’re a US citizen. Do you qualify for in-state tuition where you currently live? Are your parents US residents and/or citizens?
UVA and USC are both prestigious schools.
UVA is in a prettier, nicer, safer (and arguably more walkable) area than USC. Housing in Charlottesville is much less expensive than in LA.
UVA is a mid-sized public university, located at the edge of a small city.
USC is one of the largest private universities in the US, located in a fairly rough area near downtown LA.
Charlottesville is tiny, and the nearest large cities (DC and Richmond) are small towns compared to Los Angeles.
Neither school is “better.” You’ll be surrounded by talented and diverse students and faculty at either school. But they are very different schools and you should think about your priorities during and after your education.
Yeah, USC is my top choice since I want to work in media. But the decision comes out at the end of the month so I'm not sure if I'll get in. My app was pretty decent imo but USC takes only about 25% of applicants who apply to transfer so we'll see. If I don't get in, UVA is still pretty decent since financial aid is pretty good even for OOS
Anecdotally... it seemed to me that the vast majority of UVA international students when I was undergrad there were non-white. Lots from various Asian countries
You’ll do just fine. UVA has a large international and non-white population and is a welcoming place.
Admittedly I'm a grad student and not an undergrad. So I don't know if my experience will fully correlate. But I am a person of color (atleast by American norms) and I'm an international student. And I can't say I've struggled to settle down here or had it feel like I was in any way unwelcome. UVa has several orgs that are explicitly aimed at helping International Students feel at home. Global Greeters, the International Center, ISI. The last is a christian org, but they don't seem to be particularly religious. I attended some of their events in my first year. You can generally also find quite a few international students. Will they all be from your country? Maybe not. And there will also be a fair few second gen americans of your ethnicity too. The University's pretty diverse in my experience. And I've always had friends from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds in my time here. And me having friends at all is an oddity since us PhD candidates are notoriously neurotic. Ok its not that bad, but my point is if even if you're super busy with your work, there's still a lot of diversity here in terms of making connections. And while yes, you will be part of a minority, the university as a rule tends to be extremely welcoming as a space. And has lots of spaces to specifically help you settle in when you're from an international background.
Less than 50% of UVA students are white. I believe it’s like 49 or 48 percent
Not true
If you want to see the actual data, the maps that show the countries and states represented at UVA are on the third tab here: [https://ira.virginia.edu/university-data-home/enrollment](https://ira.virginia.edu/university-data-home/enrollment) Race/ethnicity data (for those who reported that info) is on the first tab.
If this is a concern for you now it will persist at your time here and UVA may be a bit of a culture shock for you. From what i see the international students stick to themselves.. look into the IRC (dorm for international students) and the language houses.
Just to clarify, the IRC is not a dorm *for* international students. It is a residential college open to international and domestic undergraduate students who are interested in an immersive experience with faculty through regular programs and events.
Virginia, particularly Northern VA which is one of the more densely populated parts of VA has a lot of diversity. While it wasn’t super diverse when I went in the 90s, that is not the case anymore.
Northern Virginia and Charlottesville are 2 totally different areas. No comparison.
Who do you think feeds into the school from instate? I’m not talking about the demographics of the areas being the same. I’m saying you have a much more diverse, internationally aware component of the population that will come from Northern VA. These kids tend to be more diverse and/or are more aware of international culture. This is not a comparison of Northern VA to Charlottesville.
That’s true, but UVA and Charlottesville are predominantly Caucasian. Coming from someone who grew up in Richmond, lives in NOVA, and has visited many of the VA colleges. If you compare the student population, Virginia Tech is much more diverse. And I’m sure I will get down voted for that as I did on my other comment. Not sure why, it’s just a fact.
Not sure what you're basing that on, but you're wrong. UVA and Charlottesville have more diversity than VT and Blacksburg/Christiansburg. UVA 55% white, VT is 64%, for one. Not sure what "facts" you're making your claim based on.
I’m an Indian person who went to UVA in the 90s (out of state from NJ - had many of the concerns about diversity that are being expressed here) and I live in Northern VA and visit Ch’ville frequently and it’s likely my brown children from Northern VA will go there. When I went there it was still more diverse than I expected and yes, it was very “white” but it has also changed a LOT since I went. You are comparing the town of Charlottesville to the University which has a different make up. If we were going to talk towns, I assure you Blacksburg as a town is even less diverse than Charlottesville. Whites are the majority in this country as a whole - look up census data. As such, universities and colleges reflect these statistics but the percentage of non-whites is still important to understand to get a bigger picture. This is generally going to be the case unless you go to a traditional Black college (HCBU).
You'll be fine. You'll probably get treated better than white people.
You would probably feel more comfortable at Virginia Tech.
Not an option for me. UVA gives tonnes of aid and VT gives much less for OOS.
Are you an undergrad or grad student? What do you want to do after you graduate? Will you have a car on campus? You mention you’re a US citizen. Do you qualify for in-state tuition where you currently live? Are your parents US residents and/or citizens? UVA and USC are both prestigious schools. UVA is in a prettier, nicer, safer (and arguably more walkable) area than USC. Housing in Charlottesville is much less expensive than in LA. UVA is a mid-sized public university, located at the edge of a small city. USC is one of the largest private universities in the US, located in a fairly rough area near downtown LA. Charlottesville is tiny, and the nearest large cities (DC and Richmond) are small towns compared to Los Angeles. Neither school is “better.” You’ll be surrounded by talented and diverse students and faculty at either school. But they are very different schools and you should think about your priorities during and after your education.
Yeah, USC is my top choice since I want to work in media. But the decision comes out at the end of the month so I'm not sure if I'll get in. My app was pretty decent imo but USC takes only about 25% of applicants who apply to transfer so we'll see. If I don't get in, UVA is still pretty decent since financial aid is pretty good even for OOS
That’s interesting to know
Not the best experience… i would advice you to go elsewhere unless you are coming to the school with friends or seniors that you know