Old Dominion

[Stranded in Smithfield]

I went to ODU.. good school... the dorm set up is sick... a few good bars around in walking distance... Good basketball teams...Not a college town & its kinda in the ghetto. I surfed a lot in college. Not great waves but enough to get you by if your open minded. I always say VB blows and anyone who says different has lived there too long but I think junior year I counted the days I surfed in VB & OBX at around 200 so about 3 days a week average. Possibly higher if you live close to the oceanfront (I did my last year but stopped counting days surfed). Travel from Norfolk or Portsmouth was a bear sometimes as well as the crowds but nothing you can't figure out with time to find the path of least resistance. In my experience with such a large surf or wanna-be population, it had no real surf community feel, unless you were one of the oceanfront or sandbridge born and raised crew. Like anywhere plenty of d-bags with pull based on location of birth rather than skill but lots of real solid surfers and some standouts as well. TOO MANY LONGBOARDERS catching waves based on equipment rather than skill level. The crafty surfer can score the bay, two pusedo pointbreaks, some eastern shore islands and an empty beach on a military base with some experience or some like minded friends. Of course OBX anyone can score. Just one mans experience.....

[mwill124]

Just graduated on sat from ODU after doing the 5 year undergrad engineering program and loved it. Had my mind set on Tech but got wait listed so came to ODU and so happy i did. Esp now, the school is 100 times different than when I started back in '06...new gym, like 8 new dorms, new private apts, new bars and of course everyones favorite, college football.

Ya waves in VB arent anything special but i mean you still will get plenty of small days to surf, my freshman year though when i had more time i drove to rodanthe prob over 50 times, whenever it got over stomach high i would make the trek. But besides surfing also did a lot of fishing and spearfishing down in the outer banks. Also was fortunate enough to keep my parents boat at my house my upper classmen years so we went drunk boating a lot on the elizabeth river.

Def some crime but i mean its not chapel hill and its getting better and they have plans to build a joint police dept with ODU on hampton blvd in the next year or so. I got mugged once but really prob have no one to blame but myself, was walking home ****ed up at like 3am down 39th st, but pretty harmless just tossed the asshole my wallet and kept on my way (had my ids and credit cards in my pocket so only thing they got was a few dollars and a VZ wallet....suckas!). Also the campus cops are a lot cooler at ODU then tech jmu uva..since there is actually some crime they dont worry about picking on a harmless drunk college kid bc they have nothing better to do.

I lived in the dorms my freshman year then had big house a quarter mile from campus the other 4 years. Ghent is safe but full of gays and liberal assholes and makes for a long bike ride or taxi everynight if you go out drinking. Id recommend staying close to campus makes for a bunch better college experience if your on campus and involved with the school. I always attended bball games and on saturdays before a football game the whole campus turns into a huge tailgate...its actually really legit for a AA school and the conference we play in the CAA is by far the best in the country.

All just my opinions but i loved it and all the sports teams are pretty solid and since its not in the middle of bum **** you can hit up the oceanfront or shoredrive whenever you feel like something different but def get involved whether its greek life, TA or whatever, it will make your experience a lot more fun.

[leethestud]

I went to ODU. Yes, there is a bit of a crime element lately because the university is expanding... and on one side is mansions and on the other is projects, so they are buying up projects. Its the same philosophy as building a house in the jungle- you might find a snake. Really though, norfolk is a fun city, and your a p*ssy if you think its that ghetto. There are some bad areas.. but come on.

ODU has strong engineering and nursing schools. Student population just over 20,000. There is a "party avenue" on 41st street where on a friday and saturday its just like the movies, if your into that . We all know about their basketball team from march madness, and they have an exciting football program to match.

Surf- Its no surf destination. However, there is a wave at least once or twice a week and as mentioned obx is 1.5 hours away and usually worth it. I lol'd at the "surf culture" question, a coastal edge, a 17th street, wrv, and 11 other shops is more surf culture than I need. You may want to check out sandbridge for their lack of surf culture, its a nice break. Speaking of breaks, go to first street when you get here, its like our ellis island for tourists and transplants. You wont appreciate the other breaks unless you grovel around with all of the kooks at first street first. PM if you want any more info about ODU

[Jeep_Builder]

Also an ODU grad here. I read through the thread so far and all I can do is agree with most of the folks above. I started there in '02 when the Village and the Ted were both still under construction. The quads behind web didn't even exist, and crime around the area was actually a bit worse than it was when I graduated in '07. Also did the 5 year engineering program and it paid off for sure. Lots of employment opportunity in this area and like has been mentioned, the local campus bars aren’t “bad” really for the college experience, and 41st street is a good party scene for sure if that’s your thing. The school is gaining more and more reputation every day as the programs there are really top notch. The traffic in the area is bad at times, but honestly you miss a lot of it if you can time it to not be on the interstates when the bases let out and a few major side streets have the lights timed pretty decent these days so you can make much better time. The biggest frustration around Campus, atleast for me, was the constant barrage of out of town young transient navy personnel just douching the place up. My wife graduated from the Art program in 2008 and she is doing great because of it and I have some co workers here that just graduated a year ago and an intern that just graduated this spring and as I yelled over at her desk and quizzed her she agrees that it’s a good school and that Norfolk, even though it has sketch spots, isn’t terrible, and that the surrounding areas like Chesapeake, and spots in VB can make up for it. For living near campus but not on Campus, check out Colonial place. I lived back there for a few years in school on Pennsylvania Avenue. Nicer area that is close to campus with cool old houses on the water.
One thing that going to school at ODU will give you that Tech won’t is that the city doesn’t exist simply to support the school. Here, you go to college and have the campus life in the surrounding 20 city blocks and then beyond that, it’s the real world. There isn’t an entire city wearing school logo shirts and catering to your college lifestyle needs babysitting you for 4-6 years of your life.

As for surf, I started surfing when I started going to ODU because I grew up out in the woods outside of Charlottesville. Envious of the folks that grew up around the coast and have been surfing since they were kids. I have met a lot of hard headed want to be and self proclaimed Pro-Amateur non sponsored loud mouths that surf near the ocean front. I prefer Sandbridge or the OBX any day for the lack of people, except tourists during the summer. I bought a house just minutes from the state line so its literally less than an hour to the north end of Nags head for me too and we load the boards on the Jeeps and hit the offroad areas, where they aren't closed because of effing birds, and spend the weekend down there on a break without worrying about being on someones's spot, or about some 15 year old TRYING to drop in on you because they think they are billy badass. Granted the VB area isn’t the best surf on the east coast, or even close, but you can’t surf at JMU, Tech, or UVA. So for in state tuition, and surf, it’s a pretty good choice.

[jonmharrell]

thank you this actually really helped a lot. now more excited to go.

[bushwood]

I can tell you that UNCW would be a better surf school as far as a more surf friendly enviroment, but as a guy that surfs VB whenver possible, you could do a lot worse than ODU. The area is coming along, and honestly you would be going to school that is pretty legite. But I assume your going to college to get an education first and foremost, and your looking for a good time when your here. We dont get world calss surf, not too many places on the east coast do, but you will be at the closest university to world class surf. In fact wehn you start there in August you will be in the outer banks prime time window for surf. The outer Banks (Rodanthe thru Buxton) gets world class surf in the fall, might not be for days on end or anything but when tropical activity meets highway 12 overhead drainers are on tap. The surf in VB is weak mushy and most the time not all that good, but I am just happy to to live close enough to a place with rideable surf, and honestly I have fun in waist high surf with a little push, and with the right groveler and warm water i dig knee high surf too!

[zaniac07]

thanks for all the info
I think I'm going to visit this coming weekend to check it out more

[Stranded in Smithfield]

Speaking of breaks, go to first street when you get here, its like our ellis island for tourists and transplants. You wont appreciate the other breaks unless you grovel around with all of the kooks at first street first

ha ha! When I moved to VA in highschool I always surfed there because I thought it was the place to be seen. Some rippers there for sure, if you rip hard enough you can get the photogs to look your way, and sometimes it is the only spot breaking BUT it is packed equally with those that have no clue making it not worth the hassle in the warm months. If there are waves North End has some gems and Damneck picks up its share of swell. Early mornings, late evenings, or even by the light of the boardwalk alone at first street. Otherwise you may be bumping rails with foamies, jr. bodyboarders,Navy crowd in port, folks whose board length greatly exceeds their skill.

I can tell you that UNCW would be a better surf school as far as a more surf friendly enviroment

I loved my single year at UNCW ... didn't finish but surfed and hung out a fair bit...too far from OBX for my taste and all the little towns between Wilmington and the Banks are full on speed traps (3 tickets in a year). Plenty of good spots to surf around Wrightsville and the core banks. I think I surfed on average more there than when I was in VB (especially in the warm months) and the nightlife was wwwwaaaayyy better. Similar conditions & more often than not I wouldn't describe them as stellar but enough to get you by and less polluted by inland folk on vacay.