Meet the Richmond Class of 2016

The admitted students of University of Richmond's Class of 2016 hail from 47 states and 75 countries, according to the Richmond website.

So far, there are 500 members in the official "Richmond Class of 2016" Facebook group created by the Office of Admissions. Posts from next year's freshman class range from sports club inquiries to general excitement about becoming a Spider.

"I never thought I would actually be excited about going to school, but I couldn't be more excited about going to UR," one group member posted. "My senioritis has now officially set in completely."

On Saturday, April 14, the university hosted Experience Richmond, an admitted student event. The day's activities included academic exploration panels, an activity fair and a bus tour of the city of Richmond.

A banner displayed in the middle room of the Heilman Dining Center read, "Welcome Class of 2016." All three rooms in the dining hall were filled with groups of parents and next year's freshman class.

Freshman Louise Andersson, a tour guide, said the event was special because it gave admitted students a chance to bond.

"After the information sessions, there were current U of R students in different color groups that broke off with admitted students to do ice breakers," Andersson said.

Andersson said common questions from admitted students included how important Greek life was, what subjects were fun, whether students went off campus often and how the parties were.

Andersson, a native Swede, is fluent in three languages, and fluency in foreign languages is becoming increasingly common at Richmond. Of the students admitted to the class of 2016, one in eight speaks a native language other than English.

According to the Richmond website, of the students admitted to Richmond this year, there were 87 valedictorians, 604 straight-A students and 255 students who scored at least one perfect 800 on an SAT section.

Contact reporter Jenna Robinson at jenna.robinson@richmond.edu