As a first year, I can say that plenty of my old high school friends have plagued me with questions about the ever-persisting UVA stereotypes: “Do you guys really wear pearls to football games?” “Do all the girls dress the same?” Now, the UVA reputation isn’t constructed out of thin air, but after spending time on Grounds, plenty of stereotypes quickly fall flat.
1. Everyone Dresses PreppySure, during the first week of school everyone breaks out their J. Crew pants and Lilly dresses, but just as the work load starts to set in, away go the brand name outfits and out come the Nike shorts, T-Shirts, and sneakers. Honestly, getting from place to place on Grounds takes so much walking that cute shoes are hardly worth blisters and aching calves. First years learn fast, and most upperclassmen don’t even bother.
2. Everyone PartiesCertainly there are the brave souls who take on three-day-weekends and still manage to do fairly well in classes, but, in reality, most people are not them. UVA is a party school just as any school is a party school. However, the 2am bus on a Thursday has just as many students coming home from Clemons Library as students going out to parties. Honestly, plenty of people here do drink and plenty of people here do not, it isn’t hard to avoid the frat/party scene if it’s not where you want to be.
3. Everyone Goes GreekGreek life offers a ton of opportunities from a lifelong sisterhood to philanthropy (the movie stereotype is completely wrong), but that life is definitely not for everyone. There are hundreds of student organizations on Grounds and sororities are only a few. It is easy to find your place at UVA without a sorority, but they are always there if you want to branch out.
4. Everyone is Rich and SnootyYes, there are some kids who come from affluent families and every now and then you will meet someone with an entitlement complex, but those people are far and few. You are more likely to meet an out-of-state student on financial aid than you are a millionaire Southern Belle riding through life on Daddy’s money. People here know how to dress expensively without spending expensively–that’s the UVA trick.
5. Everyone Thinks They Are Smarter Than YouUVA is certainly a prestigious place to be, but I can say from my own time here that being here is ultimately a humbling experience. I learn alongside third years in a major I wish to pursue, I work under professors who are the top of their field, and I study with students from all over the world with all kinds of histories. All of that has taught me to remember one thing: You are never the smartest person in the room.
So yes, we wear dresses to football games and plenty of girls own Sperrys and Hunters, but you don’t have to just to fit in. And I think I finally understand that the “But you don’t have to” is what makes UVA so especially diverse in personality.