Old Dominion University

I was interested in this school so I applied and got accepted a few months ago as a transfer student but when I drove there it was extremely hard to find parking and I couldn’t even find the admissions office so I ended up not even signing up for classes. Today I decided I wanted to go back and sign up for classes and make sure I was informed and had an appointment with an advisor before driving there so I called them to get more information and an appointment. Almost everyone I talked to seemed like they didn’t really care to help me and kept transferring me to another office. After getting transferred for about 4 times they finally transferred me to the admissions office where there was an extremely rude lady who motivated me to write this review in the first place. It seemed like she didn’t even want to hear anything I had to say and she basically told me I can’t get an appointment to speak to an advisor until I am enrolled which I thought I was. And then of course she transferred me to another department. She could have at least spoken to me nicely since I am a prospective student and I was very nice to her the entire time but she was so rude. I will be going to another school now even though it is a lot farther from me just because I would rather drive an hour than drive thirty minutes to a school who does not care about their students.

Been at ODU for 3 years in their Education Program. Good school, bad parking but they have multiple campuses!

You would think since I got a Bachelor’s degree here and have now returned to work on my Master’s degree that I must really like ODU. And I guess you are kind of right. There is a lot to like about ODU: central location, healthy population of international students and faculty, finally a football team and some shopping and dining in the surrounding community. ODU may not be a top academic school and it may be nowhere in sports (except in basketball maybe) but it’s a good school for locals and commuters who want a quality university education.
The downsides: Although ODU is building up a «college town» presence in the community, the surrounding community can be less than safe. Norfolk is a mix of college kids, low income housing and abandoned buildings. There are many car thefts, break ins, and robberies here. I never really felt unsafe here, but it’s always good to be on your guard. Secondly, although they have great lectures and speaker series on campus, there really isn’t a whole lot of student activities – or at least not compared to some other colleges. It’s not a party school and it’s not a party town. Finally the sports teams will leave you wishing you could rep your school with pride. ODU football made an impressive showing in its first year, but we’re no where near «seeing your school on television» stage. We will all have to wait and see how ODU will continue to grow after the sudden departure of former president Roseanne Runte, who was responsible for most of the growth thus far. Go Monarchs!