Virginia Commonwealth University Rankings by Salary Score™

The program was challenging for me as an older single parent and I loved most of it. Even the required courses that I would not have chosen myself. Some of the professors were awesome and supportive which helped tremendously. It seemed to me that they truly care about teaching relevant real world lessons. The assignments were helpful and interesting and I enjoyed working in groups as we did for some projects. I honestly felt lucky to be a part of this educational institution, as I did at The University of... Read More Virginia where I completed my undergraduate degree in 1990. My only negative experiences came from the 2nd year internship. The social workers involved in my internship were inappropriate and unprofessional showed z favoritism to the other intern working at the same time. It was terribly difficult though I was able to work through it with the help of one of my professors and was able to eventually transfer to another internship that served me well. My new supervisor was great to work with and I appreciated her taking me on mid-semester. As an older student I had enough inner strength to move ahead. I think if I had been younger I would have truly doubted myself and it might have broken me. After graduation I worked for several non-profit agencies, and decided to move to Hawaii 6 years after earning my graduate degree from VCU. I was unemployed and had zero money in savings when I moved but I was ready for a change and an adventure. I had been working hard and paying down my student loans. Five years later I started my own practice in a small office without windows. My practice grew every year and in a few years I had an oceanfront office overlooking a beautiful beach in south Maui. This is amazing to me as I was not even seen as college material in high school.

Virginia Commonwealth University hosts a diverse student population supporting well over 20,000 students and a wide variety of degrees. During my tenure at the VCU physics department, professors invested heavily in their students through high teacher-student interaction and also investment in student projects with real world application. The Physics Department hosts a variety of investigative experiments which include spectroscopy, lasers, scanning electron microscopy, chemistry (such as producing aerogels... Read More and graphene), as well as computer physics and modelling. Upper level classes are small ensuring optimal student to teacher ratios, and the professors are very accessible. The university in general consumes a large amount of real estate in Richmond, Virginia, but works to ensure ample parking and student housing to support their clientele. The campus is generally safe with police phones located throughout the campus and a large security contingent located on or near campus. Virginia Commonwealth University also has an excellent program of activities for student engagement with a wide variety of clubs, movie nights, dances, sports events, invited speaker events, and community outreach. The university is also connected with the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) and provides transportation between the two campuses. Local businesses thrive in and around campus and are just as diverse. On a regular basis, the university hosts the FIRST Robotics regional competition for high school students with wide university student engagement. Although VCU does not have a football team, the school is a leader in sports with a NCAA Division I basketball team, excellent soccer, baseball, and volleyball teams as well.