University of Dayton Top Questions

What is your overall opinion of this school?

Josie

I think that the University of Dayton is an amazing school that I am lucky to be attending. Everyone is so friendly.

Sarah

The University of Dayton is a great academic and social place to spend four years (or more.) They throw the word "community" around a lot, but it really is true. You will immediately notice how friendly the students and faculty are and that's what drew me to the school. It is the perfect size at about 8,000 undergrad. You get to know the people in your major pretty easily because you end up in a lot of the same classes. Most of the time is spent on campus or on Brown street where they have different restaurants. There is no shopping within walking distance whether it be for food or fun but there is a bus that goes to Walmart multiple times on Saturdays. The student neighborhood, or the "ghetto," is a point of pride with the students and it is a right of passage to live there your senior year. All sports are free to attend other than Basketball and there are plenty of activities organized by the university or just clubs and parties. You will never be bored.

Maggie

The University of Dayton is where I found my home. Much to my parents' chagrin, I do not refer to their home as mine any longer. When I go home, it's coming back to Dayton at the end of a break. UD has become home because of the students, staff, and faculty of the university. It's true. We are that friendly. I have met my best friends here. I have grown as a person because of the experiences that the University of Dayton has opened up for me (both domestically and internationally). The administration truly respects the opinion of the students and values what students think about the future of UD. Dr. Curran has done great things for UD over the past ten years. As a result, our reputation has improved and the city of Dayton has improved along with us. UD is the perfect size! With about 7,000 undergraduate students, I see someone I know every time that I walk anywhere, but I see plenty of people that I haven't met yet. My professors wave at me and stop to chat (some of them are from classes three semesters ago). There is an abundance of pride for the Dayton Flyers, and that can be seen at any sporting event, Christmas on Campus, St. Patrick's Day, and more. We truly love our university, and it shows!

Louis

I spend the majority of my time either in the rec plex or the library.

Jeanna

I love it. It is the perfect size and everyone is so nice. You do not need to be apart of the greek life to have a social life. Everyone is very excepting. Everyone can find a place for themselves on this campus

David

Ask most people from UD what they think about their school, and many times youll hear "I love UD!" I completely agree with those people. For me, the best thing about this school is the sense of community. As stated in my earlier question, having a place where you dont have to worry about acceptance is wonderful. UD isnt a place that will shun you if they dont like you, because most people here get a long and love what UD has to offer. And since most people are happy here, UD has a very positive atmosphere. One thing id change, scheduling. One thing i would change about my school is parking. Parking services here at UD are quite annoying. As a freshman you cannot drive to school, which can be hard for people that may be going through a rough time in their life. Also, although there are marked parking lots, parking on some streets can be quite a grey area so it is important to ask someone about something so ignored by our schools "recruitment". My school's size is just right. There are enough people so you can always make more friends, while it is small enough that you can be apart of a large family. When I tell people i go to UD, they are impressed. My school is known for its great liberal arts education, and community service to our world. Our college town is great. It is basically our campus, plus a little more. Most all of our undergraduates live on, on campus housing, whether that be in houses, apartments or dorms. We have an awesome, safe atmosphere than many schools dont have. There are many oppertunities for extra curricular activities in the student neighborhood such as art classes or live bands. My favorite thing is that our campus is VERY safe. As far as administration, i would have to say they are great. My reasoning is that, they are very understanding of students and love to help. For example, the president of our school will attend dinner with different student organizations, and ask them what can we do better? How can we help you? They truly care about the community we belong to! The biggest controversy on campus recently has been the NAACP having a silent protest. They protested a piece of art on display that supposedly depicted a KKK member. However they had misconstrued the painting, and ignored the labeling below the picture that explained about the spanish culture that it was painted after. UD has a TON of school pride, i would be willing to say that it is just as strong as any "BIG 10" school. Most frequent complaints are about: parking services and scheduling classes. Having said all this, i absolutely love being a flyer.

Molly

I would say Dayton is the perfect size school. I can walk to class and see people I know. However, I can also walk to class and see people I don't know. When I toured the school, the guide talked about how Dayton is a "community." At first, I thought they had just said that to get students to come. However, Dayton really is a community. Students are extremely welcoming and friendly! They are always willing to help a fellow Flyer! There is a lot of school pride, especially for athletics. Many students become involved with Red Scare and attend the football, volleyball, and basketball games. Many students also get involved with club sports. At the beginning of the year, there is an event called "Up the Orgs." Essentially, all the clubs and organizations at Dayton have a table. Students can go to the tables to learn and become involved on campus. The school also offers a wide variety of majors. If you make the effort, the professors are almost always willing to set up an appointment with you if you are struggling. The only downside to Dayton is that it isn't really a college town. However, there is Brown Street which is a 5 minute walk from most dorms. It has many stores and restaurants. On the weekends, many students go to the "Ghetto," which is the student neighborhood or to bars if they have an id.

Bernardo

Overall, I view UD as a wonderful university. It's an opportunity that one cannot pass up. In terms of size, it's neither too large nor too small. It's just the perfect size. UD is about 7,500 undergrad students. My favorite aspect of the university is the community. Broadly speaking, students at UD are not hermits. In general, UD's community is very hospitable and warm. For example, students exchange greetings with one another on the way to classes. As well, a number of students leave their doors open for floor mates to come in and lounge or study. Typically, professors make themselves extremely accessible and leave their office doors open to students for "drop in" questions or tutoring. Academically, it offers a wide variety of disciplines. UD stresses the importance of a "well-rounded" education by incorporating a number of humanities classes in the curriculums of the various colleges. Another point of emphasis at UD is experiential or "hands on" learning. For example, engineering students are typically on a five year academic plan which includes at least two semesters of Co-ops or Internships. Another example of this experiential learning is Flyer Enterprises. It's a student run company on campus with a number of coffee houses and snack shops. It is composed of students from top to bottom. Recreationally, there is just about any club imaginable on campus. There are intramurals, athletic clubs, academic clubs, religious clubs, fraternities, sororities, and professional clubs. Recently, the university completed a new turf field for use by intramurals and club tournaments. If you're looking to get in shape or just burn off steam, there is the RecPlex which contains several basketball courts, smoothie bar, rock wall, weight room, pool and much more. The University does a wonderful job of providing a number of recreational opportunities for students in an attempt to promote the "well-rounded" development of the "whole" student.

Maggie

When it comes to the University of Dayton, the old nursery rhyme saying "it's just right" comes to mind. Upon stepping on campus for the first time, I knew I'd found the school that I'd be spending the next four years at. The campus is so beautiful, and the constant talk of "community" is not merely to attract new students: it's a way of life. It's small enough that you walk to class and find friends and familiar faces, and yet it's big enough to allow privacy and the chance to meet new people every day. A large majority of students stay on campus or Brown St. (street right next to campus filled with restaurants and shops) because there is really no need to leave. There is so much to experience on our campus and it's impossible to find yourself with nothing to do!

Eric

First of all, I am the oldest child in my family and my parents oth went to different schools than me. I was all alone on my decision to go to UD and I couldn't have chosen a better school in the state of Ohio. I obtained, in my four years here, a quality education as a biology major, concentrating in pre-dentistry, and a psychology minor. I got involved in several campus organization that were heavily advertised around campus. The campus is constantly being updated and made morer appealing for students. The class sizes are great. A small amount of general education classes have large class sizes, but the majority of the class sizes will be between 20- 40 students. The faculty here is amazing. They are willing to get to know you personally and help make your experience a good one. The student neighborhood is amazing. Over 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body lives on campus and you can walk everywhere in under 15 minutes. The safety on this campus is always being upgraded, and there isn't much violence at all here. This is the happiest campus in the country, and you can really get to know people here.

Amanda

The University of Dayton emphasizes the idea of community. The students here are really friendly and you get to know a great number of people really well. The relationships I have made here will continue on even after graduation.

Jesse

The best thing about UD is that it is easy work. I would change to location and the amount of diversity. The size is perfect. People either do not know what UD when I tell them I go here or they tell me their friends loved/hated it. Most people spend their time in their rooms or houses. The surrounding town sucks, if you don't have a car you will die of boredom. There is a lot of school pride, especially when it comes to basketball.

Andy

Best thing about Ud is def. the teachers. I cant complain about any of my professors, you can tell they care about your grade. It is also a very pretty campus. other than that .. ud students are very judgmental. if you dont dress a certain way you will be judged and if you think outside of the box you will be judged. weekends only consist of ghetto parties no one goes to the city or the river. actually it is looked down upon. and nightlife is usually dead by 1am. If you come from a small highschool... maybe you would like it here.. if your highschool is big and diverse... look somewhere else. NO DIVERSITY. alot of downtime. alot of insecure people here.

Steve

The best thing at UD is the academic scene. Professors are well spoken, care for you, and design challenging curriculum. I would definitely change the student culture, students do not do anything interesting, they are just a bunch of drunks. I spend most of my time in class or in friends' dorms. Our closest thing to a "college town" is a student neighborhood called the "ghetto". This is where drunk students walk from house to house on weekends. The school pride is nothing like I hoped it would be. UD a student body and it almost feels like a HS. (we use a High school football stadium). Nobody goes to the football games. The city is falling apart and does not offer much either. In short, I would not recommend UD due to the heavy emphasis on alcohol and lack of other stimulating productive activities. You are much better going to a big ten school or larger institution. Only go to UD if you either a.) a raging alcoholic, like to smoke pot, and like small schools or b.) want to become a marianist brother and are very religious

Connie

Best thing about UD is how friendly everyone is and walking through the student neighborhood (the ghetto) on a Friday night will lead to shannigans whether you know anyone or not-- people will offer you beer. The roomate and parking situations suck- most students have a roommate everyyear, and if you do not buy a parking pass at the end of the year for the next year chances are you'll spend close to $200 in tickets a semester-- i have for the last 3. The school is small compared to others (OSU & Miami) but thats what makes it sweet- its easy to make friends (I have 7 kids I keep scheduling more than one class with every year who are in my major) A walk to Brown St. or any other campus event takes no more than 10 min. Most time is spent in ones resident hall/apt./house with friends- some brave souls work out at the new gym or go to the library- we also have a cafe/art gallery and apts called artstreet that offer cool things all year. DAYTON IS NOT A COLLEGE TOWN- freshman do not venture into Down Town Dayton- or surronding black suburbs at night unless you know where you are going-- you would need to take a car to even get into trouble but I have heard some crazy stories about prostitutes and drug dealers talking/messing with kids when they pile into their cars and go looking for trouble in places they have no reason to be- UD's administration has switched in recent years from following the Marianist tradition to following the money tradition- regulations and fines are stiff and frequent- chances are you will recieve more than your fare share- plan on spending 500 in fines over your 4 years- trust me on that one. We keep having dumb drunk kids fight eachother- football players and frat boys- no seriously just those two groups have been arrested in the last semester for aggravated assault. complaints- housing, PARKING, fines, and hard classes

Lauren

The best thing about UD is our sense of community. Everyone is always very welcoming towards each other and you can always count on seeing a friendly face everywhere you go. UD is the perfect size, not too small, not too big. I feel very comfortable here because of its medium size. We are not really in a college town considering the city of Dayton is on one side of us and the wealthy Oakwood is on the other side of campus. Still, our campus is amazing and you don't really feel the need to venture off campus very often. The administration here for the most part is great. I am a psychology major and so far I have loved every single one of the professors in my department. People have a ton of school pride as a student and also as an alumni. I work at the bookstore on campus and whenever alumni come in they always have the best stories about all the crazy things they did at UD and how much they miss it. People just never want to leave here.

Ben

UD is the perfect size, it is a close knit community, where you can walk across campus and have to plan an extra ten minutes in order to accomodate stop and talking time with people. The campus however is also large enough, that if you want to avoid someone it is also possible.