Old Dominion University

Currently in Crisis

Some of my friends sporting much more success in the scholarship department still have disgust towards the financial aid department, and for good reason.

There is a posted phone number to contact the office, but at all hours of the day, "all counselors are currently busy with other students." There is no central email address - instead, emails are supposed to go to specific financial aid advisors, who aren't very timely with replies, if at all.

Upon my initial enrollment to the university, I was too late to apply for merit-based aid, but upon later attempts at applying for scholarships (with my current GPA of 3.76 in Computer Engineering,) my advisor was less than helpful, and I've had to resort to loans to pay for my education.

Currently, I've been labeled with unsatisfied disbursement requirements, which I turned in three days ago. With the deadline fast approaching, if they don't get their act together soon, I'll have no loans for the next school year.

Commuters from Far and Wide

A large percentage of Old Dominion University's students are commuter students, and I've found that many of them don't tend to stick around campus too long. You'll see cute guys and girls around, but once the sun starts to set, you'll wonder where they went - they went home.

Additionally, with the influx of older people returning to college, the same is the case here at ODU.

Though Theres Been Past Crimes, Security and Safety Is Improving

ODU's crime rate has been highly publicized in the last year due to shootings, robbery, drugs, etc. Throughout the year, mass e-mails have been sent out explaining plans of increasing both the safety and security of the campus. Follow up e-mails have also shown that ODU is taking the crimes very seriously, and report extra measures that have been taken to decrease the occurrences. The reality is, ODU's crime rates is a direct reflection upon the city it is in. Unfortunately, ODU is placed within a major city (Norfolk) that has its own set of crime problems. I have been at ODU for a year now and feel safe due to the additional lighting, cameras, and increased security personnel. I see a campus cop car everyday I'm on campus (5X a week). The crime rates do alarm me, but knowing where the location of these crimes are has helped ease my mind. The majority of them occur late at night on poorly-lighted streets on the edges of campus, or they are in the neighborhoods that surround ODU but are not apart of the campus. I believe in future months, the safety and security will continue to improve.