Old Dominion University

Academics

Founded in 1930, Old Dominion University is a public university located on a 188-acre campus in urban Norfolk, Va. The undergraduate enrollment at Old Dominion is 18,253, with an additional 5,500 graduate students enrolled there. Old Dominion’s 1,400 international students hail from 113 different countries. With a population that large, Old Dominion employs 722 full-time and 500 part-time faculty members, and the student to faculty ratio is 21 to 1.

There are six colleges at Old Dominion: Arts and Letters, Business and Public Administration, Education, Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences, Sciences, and the Honors College. Students can take advantage of the university’s 69 different majors, and Old Dominion offers graduate students master’s degrees in 56 different areas of study, and doctoral degrees in 41 different subjects. The most popular majors among undergraduates are criminology, business marketing, multi-interdisciplinary studies, health professions, English, psychology, and general studies.

If you prefer to take courses online, Old Dominion offers more than 50 degree programs through distance learning via satellite, online, video streaming and CD-ROMs.

Old Dominion is also known for its comprehensive study abroad program. Semester-long and year-long programs are offered to students in Australian, Denmark, Japan, Korea, Mexico and England. These programs place students with local host families while they study at such institutions as Kansai-Gadai University in Osaka, Japan, or Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. Summer and spring break programs, led by faculty, can include a cultural geography trip to Bolivia, Peru and the Amazon, or a study of the Italian Renaissance in Florence and Rome, Italy.

Student academic services include services for students with disabilities, evening and early morning classes, a learning center, tutoring, English as a Second Language, an honors program, a writing center, independent study, internships, student-designed majors, and a weekend college.

Old Dominion’s libraries, the Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library, the F. Ludwig Diehn Composers Room, and the Elise N. Hofheimer Art Library, containg more than 3 million books, government publications, journals, recordings, musical scores, and maps.

The Career Management Center at Old Dominion helps students find and obtain internships and jobs. Located in the Batten Arts and Letters building and the Webb University Center, the walk-in center helps students with questions about jobs, internships, resumes, and interviewing. The center also holds mini-seminars and job fairs. Students who want to meet with an advisor can make appointments online, over the phone, or in person.

Most Popular Fields of Study

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Information Summary

Ranks 22nd in Virginia and 644th overall. See the entire top 2,000 colleges and universities list
Overall Score (about) 84.9
Total Cost On-Campus Attendance $26,456
Admission Success rate N/A
ACT / SAT 75%ile scores 24 / 1200
Student Ratio Students-to-Faculty 20 : 1
Retention (full-time / part-time) 79% / 59%
Enrollment Total (all students) 24,176

Admissions

Old Dominion uses the common application for admissions, and requires applicants to submit their high school grade point average and either SAT or ACT scores. The acceptance rate at Old Dominion is 72 percent, and the freshman retention rate is 78 percent. The average high school grade point average among accepted students is a 3.3. Old Dominion has regular and early action options.

To visit Old Dominion, you can book one of their two-hour information sessions, which are offered weekdays and some Saturdays. In addition to an information session with an admissions counselor, you will tour the campus with a student tour guide. Old Dominion also holds open houses, where representatives from academics, financial aid, student services and admissions are available, and current students speak about their experiences. You also get a campus tour.

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campus :: Old Dominion University
sign :: Old Dominion University

Financial Aid

About 72 percent of undergraduate students at Old Dominion receive need-based financial aid, and the average need-based aid awarded to undergraduate students is $8,000. The university will work with students through federal and state grants like the Pell Grant, Stafford loans, PLUS loans, the United Negro College Fund, and federal nursing scholarships.

Old Dominion awards non-need, merit-based scholarships to freshmen based on academic performance. Students who are admitted as Freshmen with Distinction are automatically considered for merit-based scholarships, and applicants must have a minimum grade point average of 3.4 and an SAT score of 1200 or an ACT score of 26.

Honors College scholarships are selected by the Honors College dean and are awarded to a select group of entering freshmen who are chosen based on cademic achievement.The scholarship can be renewed for three years provided students continue to meet program standards.

Need-based scholarships are offered through the university to students who have filed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form each year. Some scholarships require students to submit a portfolio, an audition, or participation in a specific program. All incoming freshmen and transfer students are automatically considered for Academic and Endowed scholarships based on admissions applications.

Student Financial Aid Details

Ranks 3016th for the average student loan amount.
Secrets to getting the best scholarships and financial aid in Virginia.

Students

Of the 18,000 students enrolled at Old Dominion, about 53 percent live out of state and the remainder are Virginia residents. Although Old Dominion for many years was known as a commuter school, that has changed as the university has experienced growth. The campus is now home to 12 different residence halls for freshman and upper class students, and it owns and operate three different apartment complexes in the neighborhoods surrounding the Norfolk campus.

First-year students are usually placed in one of five residence halls:

  • England House, a 156-student residence of double rooms that share bathrooms with its own kitchen, study lounges, a laundry room and community room;
  • Gresham, a complex of two three-story residence halls that house a total of 423 students who live in double rooms set up as suites. Gresham also features study lounges, laundry rooms, and late-night eateries;
  • Rogers, a two-building complex that accommodates 437 students in suites with double rooms and shared baths. Rogers features study lounges and laundry rooms, and Rogers Main serves freshmen who are enrolled in the Old Dominion First-year Experience Program;
  • Scotland House, a three-story residence hall with room for 270 students, all of whom live in double rooms with a shared bathroom. Scotland House also has a kitchen, study lounges and laundry rooms for residents;
  • and Whitehurst Hall, a large, six-story coed residence that is home to about 594 freshmen, in suites with double rooms and shared bathrooms. Whitehurst also has study lounges, kitchens, and late-night eateries.

While there is plenty of housing for upper class students, it is at a premium because of the size of the university. So upper class students find themselves at the mercy of a lottery system, which rates students based on a formula that considers their academic standing, involvement in the school community, home residence, and need.

The Old Dominion campus is entirely wireless, including all classrooms.

More than 250 student organizations will keep any newcomer to Old Dominion busy, with a number of academic clubs, a debating club, LBGT organizations, international student organizations, political groups, religious groups, a speakers forum, and a number of performance and arts groups.

Dining at Old Dominion provides students with everything from Starbucks to bakeries to BBQ. There are 16 places to eat on campus, including the Rogers Dining Hall, which offers an all-you-care-to-eat buffet, made-to-order entrees and sandwiches, a soup and salad bar, and vegetarian and vegan entrees. The Waves Cafe, located in the Virginia Beach Higher Education Center, provides grilled fare like burgers, hot dogs, french fries, and mozzarella sticks. At the Webb University Center, the main campus gathering place, you can eat at Grille Works, Chick-fil-A, Quiznos, Pizza Hut and Pan Geos, a wrap and salad place. Whitehurst Hall, the largest freshman dorm on campus, has its own all-you-can-eat dining hall, Legends.

The Lion’s Den at the Webb University Center features a pool hall/game room, with ping-pong and foosball tables, as well as arcade games. The Student Activities Council also sponsors ODU After Dark, a night of free games and free food, which lasts from 8 p.m. until midnight. Student organizations also hold dances and other events that give students a chance to meet and socialize. ODU even has its own makeshift beach on the edge of campus. Whitehurst beach has a gazebo, grills and a dock, volleyball courts, and sand.

At the end of each school year, the Student Activities Council sponsors “Campus Chaos,” a day of fun and games that culminates with a series of concerts.

Old Dominion’s Ted Constant Convocation Center also hosts entertainment with top-name bands throughout the year.

Student Enrollment Demographics

Student Graduation Demographics

Athletics

The Old Dominion Monarchs and Lady Monarchs are members of the NCAA Division 1, with 18 intercollegiate teams that include baseball, basketball, football, golf, cross country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, wrestling, volleyball, sailing, rowing, tennis and swimming and diving. Since 1969, the Monarchs have won 28 team and four individual national championships in sailing, field hockey, women’s and men’s basketball, wrestling and women’s tennis.

Old Dominion has 12 athletic facilities for its students — a new basketball practice facility, the Bud Metheny baseball complex, a soccer complex, the Ted Constant Convocation Center for basketball games, the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center, Foreman Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium, where ODU football games are played, a rowing facility, a sailing center, a swimming and diving facility, a wrestling facility, golf facility, and the Powhatan Complex, a 48,000-square-foot facility built in 2008 that houses the Monarch football training program, along with the Lady Monarchs field hockey and lacrosse teams.

The Old Dominion Student Recreation Center is a new facility that offers students sport,s wellness and fitness activities including a hardwood gym, multipurpose courts, an indoor swimming pool, a multi-level workout studio with cardio and strength machines and free weights, an indoor running track, three exercise studios, a cycling studio, three racquetball courts, wireless Internet access, an outdoor field, and an Einstein Bagels shop for sustenance.

Bibliography

  • “Old Dominion | Old Dominion University | Best College | US News.” US News & World Report | News & Rankings | Best Colleges, Best Hospitals, and More. US News & World Report. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.
  • “Old Dominion University.” College Education | Scholarships | Admissions. Web. The Princeton Review. 18 Apr. 2011.
  • Old Dominion University. Old Dominion University. Web. 18 Apr. 2011.

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