Pre-College Student Experience

Commuter student

Residential student

This is a sample schedule from 2024 and reflects the experience of a residential student.

Evening and weekend opportunities for residential students

Our goal is to give students adequate time to relax both during the week and on the weekends. Students will have the option to participate in supervised activities outside the classroom during weekends. In the past, students have toured museums, visited shopping districts, enjoyed outdoor green spaces, and more. Students will also have the opportunity to participate in optional evening activities. The activities that we offer during summer 2025 are subject to student interest and staff availability.

PACKING LIST

Required

• Alarm clock or a cell phone with an alarm clock app
• Blanket and/or bedspread
• Cell phone
• Comfortable and temperature-appropriate clothing for air-conditioned classrooms and the residence halls, walking to and from class, and exploring Richmond on the weekends
• Comfortable walking shoes
• First aid kit, including any medications that you might need
• Laundry detergent and fabric softener or dryer sheets
• Linen set for an extra-long twin or regular twin bed
• Personal hygiene products, toiletries, and tissues
• Pillow and pillowcase
• Shower shoes
• Towel set
• Umbrella and/or raincoat

Optional

• Bedside lamp (halogen lamps are not allowed)
• Board games
• Change for vending machines
• Epipen, if needed
• Flashlight
• Hairdryer
• Hangers for your clothes
• Iron
• Media (movies, video games, etc.) to use during evening activities
• Portable fan (please note that all rooms are air conditioned)
• Portable speaker
• Small amount of cash in case you want to buy food, souvenirs, etc.
  Snacks

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Valuables
VCU will not be responsible for any lost or damaged items, therefore recommends that no valuable items such as jewelry be brought to campus.

Currency
Students are encouraged to bring a debit/credit card to cover personal expenses while
attending the program. A small amount of cash might be needed for personal expenses.

Prohibited Items

• Animals, unless designated service animals
• Alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs
• Firearms and weapons of any kind, including “look alike” weapons
• Hot plate
• Items that will use or contain open flames and/or produce smoke, such as candles or incense
• Window fans

A violation of any of the rules listed here, including any intentionally false information stated on any of the forms, may result in dismissal from the program without a refund.

The Summer Pre-College Program Head of Residence Life, Assistant Head of Residence Life, senior counselors, and counselors will live in the residence hall with students during the duration of the program. These individuals will facilitate program-related activities, and they will escort students to all meals, classes, and weekend excursions.

Students are permitted to go on unsupervised excursions when other required activities are not scheduled. Students are required to be in groups of two or more students from the Summer Pre-College Program, be back by curfew or the start of a required activity, check in and out with a counselor, and may only travel within a certain limited geographic area.

Pre-College students live on campus in VCU residence halls. Live-in professional staff and program counselors supervise the residence halls. Students live in single-gender rooms with one roommate within mixed-gender floors. The application contains a section where you can list your living preferences and interests, including hobbies, sleeping hours, etc.

VCU’s current practice: VCU asks students for some information, and assigns students to rooms after considering the information provided by the students, and if any participant in the program wants to request a roommate, VCU generally accepts the request.

Take a virtual tour of the Gladding Residence Center where Summer Pre-College Program students live.

Meals are served in the Shafer Court Dining Center. Shafer Court Dining Center offers delicious, high quality, all-you-care-to-eat options for participants with special needs and allergies, including vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and diabetic-friendly selections.

Students may park on campus for the duration of the program. The cost of parking on campus is $19.25/week. Although you are allowed to have a car on campus, please note that residential students are not permitted to drive around campus or Richmond while attending the Summer Pre-College Program. Commuter students may drive their cars to campus, but they are not allowed to use their cars during the Summer Pre-College Program session.

VCUarts Summer Pre-College Program does not offer on-campus gym services to students.

At the end of the program, your work will be showcased for your friends, family, and the VCUarts community to see!

While you are on campus for the Summer Pre-College Program, we encourage you to meet with a VCUarts admissions representative. You can learn more about our academic programs and also get a portfolio review or more information on the audition process, which can help strengthen your art school application.

Student safety and security are top priorities at Virginia Commonwealth University, and the university provides a safe, well-lit environment. Twenty-four hours a day, highly responsive campus police patrol the campus on foot, on bicycles, on scooters, and in automobiles.

Welcome to Richmond, Virginia—lovingly known as RVA—where the walls of businesses and warehouses are canvases for murals and monthly gallery walks pack the streets with art lovers and food carts.

Richmond is the perfect home for one of the nation’s leading public arts schools. Current students work, intern and volunteer with prominent museums, parks, Hollywood film crews, and creative agencies. Students have endless opportunities to explore Richmond’s rich culture and history.

Richmond is home to many museums, but two are very close to the heart of our campus. The Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, part of the relationship between VCUarts and the city’s long-standing professional gallery and creative cultures, serving as a space for internationally recognized artists, designers, performers and the community to convene. Also, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, one of the largest art museums in the U.S., is less than a mile from VCU’s Monroe Park campus.

Richmond also offers many opportunities to enjoy the performing arts! Just to name a few, the Richmond Ballet, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, and Richmond Symphony are all relatively close to campus and highly regarded.

Richmond’s rich cultural history and literary traditions go beyond the visual and performing arts. Visitors to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia can learn more about the culture and rich history of African American people in Virginia. At the Poe Museum, located in the oldest residential building that is still standing in Richmond, students can investigate the Richmond roots of the inventor of the detective novel and iconic horror writer.

No matter what your interests are, you can find something interesting to do in Richmond!

We’re not the only ones who think that Richmond is great. Check out some of the accolades that Richmond has received.

#1 on “America’s Best Towns To Visit” list
CNN Travel, 2024

#8 of the 25 Best Places to Live on the East Coast in 2024-2025 list
U.S. News & World Report, 2024

Included in the Great American Cities for Creatives (That You Can Actually Afford to Live In) list
Thrillist, 2022

Richmond, Virginia, Has Become a Culinary Powerhouse
Food & Wine, 2023

Well-trained counselors escort Summer Pre-College Program residential students everywhere they go to and from all meals, classes, and all activities. Unless accompanied by program staff, it is expected that students stay on the VCU campus at all times.

Students are permitted to go on unsupervised off-campus excursions when other required activities are not scheduled. Students are required to be in groups of two or more, be back by curfew or the start of a required activity, check in and out with a counselor, and may only travel within a certain limited geographic area.