These are notes from a visit we registered for on UMN site for my D who is an admitted student for Chemical Eng. Throughout application process D has been in touch with her regional admissions counselor who also offered to arrange meetings with professors or class sit-ins during our visit. We didn’t do any of that but did appreciate the offer.
We have been to “the U.” We arrived 3/30 evening and stayed at the Commons Hotel on campus in the East Bank. It is close to all including a light rail stop. It has free Wi-Fi but no meals and parking is $17/day extra.
The first night after checking in to our room we encountered a thrill. D checked her portal and saw she’d been admitted to UC Berkeley. Wow! With the excitement we were hungry. We drove to the Mall of America to window shop, check out the built-in amusement park rides and eat. We had dinner at Burger Burger which was very tasty. D said it’s definitely one cut above In-N-Out. Other observations were this place is huge with multi-floors (at least 4) and chandelier string lights throughout. And it is very clean.
We headed back to the hotel where we walked around campus and found some nearby dormitory halls. We were getting tired and it was a little cold out so we headed back to the room.
Next morning we walked to Jones hall for our 10:45 check-in. We saw some interesting buildings we really liked on the way and could appreciate the mix of new architecture and historic buildings. It was really cool seeing the MN downtown skyline as we walked around campus. There aren’t a lot of students riding bikes but there are numerous bikes parked in designated stalls. Many folks were walking and some riding skateboards.
We checked into Jones Hall and got our agenda packet. D filled out a student profile card (ie top X% class, test scores, preferred contact info, etc.). After a short wait in the auditorium we were escorted into smaller groups to the Robert H Bruininks Hall . It was a newer building with cool architecture and curved stainless roof and the windows had stainless shield with holes and we could see the skyline through the tinted windows. D pointed out how cool the windows are. There we were brought into a very unique classroom. It looked like it held about 60-70 students (8 or so circular tables that seated 8). And it had microphones on each table on a small raised 2nd table top tier. Many different projectors and TVs and screens filled this unique room.
Once more groups were brought in we heard from Patrick Stumpf in Admissions. He is a UMN graduate (astrophysics and now per the website Public Relations Consultant). He spoke and showed slide presentation for nearly an hour. He is loud and energetic and showing notable alumni (ie Art Fry for post-it notes and Robert Gore for Gore-tex as chemical engineers) speaking of opportunities as a student on campus: research for undergraduates, learning from professors who are innovators in their field, able to switch between colleges as students learn their interests, encouraged to attend courses across majors and colleges. It was a very good and motivational presentation as he spun about from the center of the room to address everyone in every table at some point. He also mentioned that our particular room was designed by students to promote collaboration.
Campus Tour: Later we were separated into tour groups where our guide would give us on a quick campus tour of the residence halls and neighboring structures. We did a quick introduction in this group and realized that it’s for prospective and admitted students. Students in our group were juniors in high school so they weren’t admitted students. They were all CSE as far as we could tell. Our guide was Erin who is a freshman and not in CSE. She had lots of enthusiasm for campus and some different interests from others on the tour. For instance, she hated math, but it was nice to get her perspective of campus. She had good insights on greek life and feedback on residence halls. She was excited to live in territorial. D was surprised she knew as much as she did even though she is a freshman. We were brought inside Frontier (part of superblock) and D thought the room felt like an asylum. It had dark walkways, bathrooms far from rooms, and smallish quarters. Pioneer (adjacent to and the usual dining hall for Frontier) will be closed next 2 years for renovations and so students will feel the increased crowds of one less residence and dining hall. Frontier has Taylor House LLC for CSE. It also has tutoring office and group resource room. Erin said if she had to do over her meal plan she’d switch to 11 meal/week plus $250 cash card at campus restaurants. Other options are unlimited meals and 14 meal/week plans. Also $100 cash card is an option.
Other observations of campus: not a lot of greenery. Grass is brown / not yet recovered from winter. There is not a lot of construction. Some around the physics building but that was mainly the extent of construction activities and noise.
We saw the bookstore, student rec center – free with tuition (rock climbing is extra), molecular science building exterior, study areas, walter library for CSE, IT center, computer lab where students can use computers if they don’t own one. MS Office software is free through the school for its students to download using specialized download software. Books can be ordered online for pickup at bookstore. Sold back through Facebook groups / community social media sites.
Eng Facilities Tour: Back to Jones Hall where we are divided into groups for the 30 minute facilities tour. All the prospective students have departed and this is for admitted students. After brief introductions we are shown around the engineering facilities (nanotech, civil) and shown the exterior of others. ChemE lab is Smith Hall but closed access for visitors unfortunately. The Civil engineering lab is the tallest building on campus but it is all underground. It’s big enough to construct and test girders made of various materials. We also stop by some empty engineering classrooms to see the size and seating orientation. It’s said to be interactive and collaborative.
Slide Show: Back to Jones Hall where the freshman admissions staff shows a slide presentation of the benefits of campus. He emphasizes the shift from classrooms with rows of students taught by professors to interactive classrooms where students also learn from each other. He’s asked about tuition increases but doesn’t disclose the plans to increase 7-10%. He says the amount of increase is unknown and that increases are common in higher education. He’s asked about employment rate of CSE graduates within 6 months. He says it’s at 94% hired within 6 months. Lots of trivia presented in auditorium throughout day (17 of Fortune 500 companies in Metro Minneapolis, school established 1851, 77% of graduates find work in the state, etc.)
We headed out to the bookstore, purchased a shirt for D. Got some pics by Goldy gopher statue which earlier Erin had said students rub Goldy’s teeth for good luck on finals. We walked Washington pedestrian bridge to West Bank before heading back to hotel.
Things we would like to see next time – chemical engineering facilities, sports stadiums and/or events, Catholic center/church, and spend more time looking at off campus housing and surrounding neighborhoods.
Lesson learned: no rental car needed next time. Everything is accessible walking or light rail, bus. Light rail from campus to/from airport is easy and cheap - $1.75 for 2 ½ hrs of riding. Walking the campus can be far but terrain is mostly flat.
Final Note: D has decided against UMN based on her assessment of fit from our visit. We think it would be a great education but now knows she prefers a smaller college town. UMN was one of her top choices going in to this visit so our time on campus proved very important.