It is especially this time of year that we start to moan and complain about being University students, about how much easier life would be if we could just quit school and escape to some exotic locale, depending solely on our skills in basket weaving.
Yet, how often do we forget how amazing it is that we actually are students here? Granted, times like these -- with tests looming, reading that we should have done accumulating and other projects and extracurriculars overwhelming us -- make it hard for us to smile and savor the student experience.
However, this is also the time of year that high school students are finishing (or beginning) their college applications and nervously placing that envelope in the mail -- or clicking the "submit" button online. They're imagining all the wonders that college brings -- the freedom, knowledge, experience, all the things that we take for granted.
So let's put ourselves back in their shoes and take a look at the University from a less biased viewpoint.
Above all, we have the Academical Village, which is a historical institution that is on the UNESCO world heritage list. It might even be compared to going to college on the Great Wall of China. It is one of the things that makes the University incomparable to other schools.
While rankings only mean so much, the University is darn good on paper. Just take a look at a few of these rankings taken from the admissions website:
1. Since U.S. News and World Report began ranking public universities as a separate category, the University has ranked either No. 1 or No. 2.
2. We fall within the top 25 of all national universities, public and private, tying with the University of Michigan at No. 24.
3. Chosen by Newsweek/Kaplan as one of 25 "New Ivies."
4. In 1995, the prestigious National Research Council, which evaluates 274 institutions once every 10 years, placed the University's graduate programs high on the list, including English (fourth), architecture (sixth), Spanish and Portuguese (fifth), religious studies (sixth) and German (eighth).
5. Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine ranked the University of Virginia as No. 2 on its list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges.
6. In 2004, the University had the highest graduation and retention rate of any public college or university.
7. BusinessWeek ranked the University's McIntire School of Commerce No. 2 in the nation.
8. For the 12th consecutive year, the University has the highest graduation rate of African-American students among major public institutions, according to an annual survey published in March 2006 by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.
9. In the September 2006 issue of Black Enterprise magazine, the University was on the list of the 50 Top Colleges for African-Americans.
So when you're cursing the fact that you go here while sweating over that take-home test next week, take a breath and think of all the people who would love to be in your place. We're pretty lucky, after all.
Maryann is a University Guide. Her column runs bi-weekly on Tuesdays. She can be reached at maryann@cavalierdaily.com.
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