The University of Richmond is an idyllic campus on 350 acres 15 minutes from downtown Richmond, Virginia. According to Princeton Review this year, it's the number one Most Beautiful Campus in the country. To be honest, I'm not sure it beats out Swarthmore, Yale, Bryn Mawr, or Brown, my personal favorites for campus beauty. But it is lovely.

With just over 3100 undergraduates, Richmond offers an amazing academic experience that we see with small liberal arts colleges. In fact,

Princeton Review also ranked Richmond 3rd for Best Classroom Experience and 5th for Most Accessible Professors.

Students here do not apply directly into any major and 70% of students participate in research before they graduate. And the Richmond Guarantee ensures that students receive a $5000 stipend for otherwise unpaid summer internships or faculty mentored research. Also, here's a fun fact: the University of Richmond was the first school in the US to establish leadership as a major; the Jepsen School of Leadership Studies is very impressive and worth a look!

Socially, all students get into the Division 1 athletic events for free, and Richmond offers the kinds of events that we just don't see at huge universities, like midnight munchies in the dining hall during finals with a DJ. What I really love is that in order to get university funding, clubs at Richmond must be open to all students and the events that they host must also be open to all. A lot of the students are quite wealthy and many of them are very well-dressed. I noticed this on campus and I noticed it at a nearby hotel I stayed at for a week while many prospective students and their parents were coming and going.

Admission is highly selective. I was pleased to hear again that they expect 4 years of the 5 core academic subjects at the highest level the high school offers to be competitive as an applicant. We know this is true for the super selectives, and it's great to hear them be transparent about it. With a 23% acceptance rate, Richmond is now in the same room as Smith, Villanova, Wake Forest and Skidmore. What was a regional university not very long ago is now nationally ranked, and what we call a hot school. Richmond is on the rise!