Any Drexel Questions/Prospective/Accepted Students

<p>About 7% of students are in active "Social" frats and sorority greek life. this does not include the other different types of frats and sororities though such as business fraternities, honors fraternities, etc. It definitly feels like there are more though and just walking around campus you always pass a bunch of people with some type of greek letters.</p>

<p>I would say Drexel University's social scene definitly does NOT revolve around the frats. A few reasons include most Drexel frats are small especially compared to Penn frats and so they can't hold that many people for huge parties. Drexel student life also heavily regulates fraternity and sorority life and therefore can't throw an animal house type of party. frats who have including those who hazed heavily have gotten kicked out. Most of these frats have only one big party a term (and technically that's all they are allowed by drexel). The other stuff are smaller socials, some open, some closed.</p>

<p>However the members in fraternities and sororities are very active, compete in their own sports league, do a lot of philanthropy, and usually throw all types of events around campus especially during Greek Week.</p>

<p>piano09: "The Pennoni Honors College considers a variety of factors in evaluating a student's application for admission: high school GPA and class rank, high standardized test scores, the rigorous of your high school curriculum, evidence of academic and extra-curricular achievement, and your personal statement. During the 2005-2006 academic year, the average PHC student had the following academic profile: a GPA of 4.0 and were in the top 7% of their HS class, math and verbal SAT scores of 1370, and engagement in significant other activities."</p>

<p>That's what the website says for honors kids. However most of the ones I personally know have lower SAT scores (maybe 1250+) and HS gpas in the 3.8 range. I know BS/MS kids who aren't in Honors, and usually the scores are higher for kids who are in combined programs, or offered S.T.A.R.</p>

<p>My contribution to the whole frat/sorority thing... I heard there's actually a frat this year that go no bids. I know a bunch of kids who have never been to a frat party. From what I've heard around there are usually only two frats that have parties worth going to. The social scene definitely does not revolve around frats. I do see a lot of kids with Greek letters around campus, but maybe it's because I'm in the Honors college or another factor concerning the people I know but I know maybe, 3 people in Fraternities/Sororities.</p>

<p>zach,</p>

<p>thanks for the info, i was thinking management for sure, i visted drexel a few days ago and was dissapointed with their campus, maybe there was something i missed? it did get the 3rd ugliest in nation lol---ultimately the programs matters the most, drexel, nova, or temple?</p>

<p>tcf4141,</p>

<p>First of all you picked the wrong time to visit the Drexel campus. Its best to visit it when school is in session (which is all year long, even in the summers), except for this winter break. I remember the one thing that stuck out at me when I visited Drexel was that there was so much stuff going on. There's always activities or music or concert in the quad, there's always people playing volleyball on the sand courts (when its warm enough of course), and soccer on buckley green - especially on the weekends.</p>

<p>I think everyone would say Drexel's campus is certainly not the most beautiful out there, however its definitly not the "ugliest" as many people believe and you have to keep the following in mind.
- Right now is probably the most amount of construction Drexel's been doing. They are in the process of building a new integrated science building, adding onto the athletic center to make it state of the art, building a new dorm, etc. In fact just recently the famous drexel dragon was taped off for some sort of construction around there. I believe you came at the worst possible time.
- Drexel is continuing to build several open green spaces. They just opened up a huge green space on Powelton and they just recently added a state of the art tennis court behind the 7/11 (that many penn students are known for coming up and playing on it). Buckley turf and green of course is always a big attraction. They also spent thousands of dollars rennovating the quad, putting jumping fountains in, an ampitheater, and all other sorts of stuff.
- Although Drexel's construction creates inconvienences for all of us (especially when they are expanding the library!! as they've been doing the last few months), everyone realizes this is for the good of the college. We are listed as one of the fastest growing colleges in the United States and we have a new law school (as well as a new law school building and library) and continuing to grow in the future. In the next few years they are planning to build a big hotel next to 30th street station. And don't forget about the new drexel police force to make everything even safer. There may have been a time a few years ago where the campus was one of the uglier ones but I think its very decent and I enjoy the walk on campus.
- I will say however, that if your primary goal in selecting a college is its beautiful campus, you may want to rethink about going to college in a city school. Me myself, I hated the colleges in the suburbs with the rolling hills and you have to walk a mile uphill to class every day. Drexel is action packed and if you are truly looking for a way to relax there are many places in philadelphia you can go to do that. Penn's campus is virtually connected to Drexel's and its campus is very beautiful and many Drexel people go on runs along the Schuylkill riverbank bike and running path known as "Kelly Drive".</p>

<p>So in summary keep the following things in mind: 1) as an urban city college drexel is action packed and there's always stuff going on, 24/7 all throughout the year literally. 2) Drexels going through a lot of construction for the good of the college and especially for the good of the incoming students 3) if you still are not completely satisfied with Drexel's campus, keep in mind that being in Philadelphia in university city with access to tons of culture, museums, and events going on will more than make up for the campus</p>

<p>I hope this answers your question. Also be sure to check out the following websites for more info: Drexel</a> Green, Schuykill</a> Banks, Welcome</a> to UC Green, and University</a> City District, Philadelphia, PA</p>

<p>I'm a little curious about how the trimester thing works. I read somewhere that there's school in the summer? Does everyone at Drexel go to classes in the summer? When are your breaks?</p>

<p>btw, thanks for all the info on the frats/social life. That just got me thinking - do students do a lot of things in center city ever? Is there a lot of participation in events outside of the college activities? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>buzzardsbay,</p>

<p>TRIMESTERS
first of all they are quarters, not trimesters. Not everyone goes to classes in the summer. There's more information on the Drexel admission website, but basically there are three ways you can do any curriculum at Drexel. 4 year with no co-op. 4 year with one co-op. 5 year with three co-ops. I think something like 96% of all kids do a co-op option, most of them 5 year which is the best (maybe i'll get into a post later on about the plus and minuses of them later). Since the co-ops are 6 months long Drexel evenly distributes students between classes: fall/winter co-op: spring/summer AND classes: spring/summer co-op: fall/winter. All freshmen have a typical freshmen year however with a regular summer break between your freshman and sophomore year, its only your middle years where there is a difference. We also have a three week winter break (which is why I have the time to write this giant post), fall break (between summer and fall terms) and a spring break (between fall and spring terms). As I'm writing this I realize its pretty hard to explain so read about it here: Drexel</a> University | Undergraduate Admissions | Co-op Opportunities | Co-op Options - Drexel Undergraduate Admissions</p>

<p>There are many advantages of having school in session during the summer. There will constantly be events just like the other seasons. Some clubs are active, and there's always friends you know playing beach volleyball or something on campus. Even though I'm a 5 year co-op I've never taken classes over the summer since the spring/summer is when I'm working. Since Drexel lets you take one free class during your co-op, you can easily take a night class during the spring and during the summer. People usually take these classes if they are trying to squeeze in an extra minor, spread their classes out so they are not taking a full course load during school, or maybe even graduate a term earlier. Also, all the services that are offered to you during school are offered during co-op. The dining hall is open, the athletic center, just about everything. I think its a great setup to have an education. After all, the argument that since most colleges have semesters with a summer off so it must be the best way to have a college experience is an appeal to tradition fallacy.
(believe it or not, dozens and dozens of other schools are starting to mimic drexel's co-op program because of its huge success) Its kind of hard to grasp the concept initially since only a few schools in america work this way, so tell me if you have any more questions or its still confusing.</p>

<p>LIFE OUTSIDE DREXEL
Obviously the big attraction of coming to Drexel is beautiful Philadelphia. With an endless supply of restaurants, culture, museums, nightlife, shopping, malls, etc, its always your escape from campus. A walk to Center City from Drexel is about 15 minutes, or you can just hop on the trolley which has a station on campus, or take the subway, or the SEPTA bus, or one of Drexel's free shuttles, or a taxi, or a bike. At my time at Drexel I've known some people who'd go out and have fun practically every day and those who don't go out at all. When you get to college your going to have the tendency to get lazy and relax on a couch and watch TV during the weekends (at least for me). There is just so much stuff going on and Drexel makes an attempt to introduce you to the city of Philadephia.</p>

<p>All freshmen get a "cultural passport", which is an actual little passport and every page is a museum or some type of attraction. The cool thing is that its all free for you. That's right, an expensive ticket to the Philadelphia Orchestra, World Cafe Live, or Philadelphia opera is free. So is admission to the art museum, franklin institute, etc etc etc. You can see the full list on this website: Drexel</a> University - Cultural Passport - Home . in fact, every year if you get each page in your passport stamped (you go to all 31 attractions), I think you get like a $1500 scholarship in funds to the Drexel bookstore (or something like that). It seems like a win-win situation although I only ended up going to three or four during my freshmen year.</p>

<p>During freshmen year I was big on attending other events put on all around philadelphia. In fact there's an organization thats made up of the chamber of commercre and all philadelphia colleges that does that. It's called campus philly- check out there website here: [url=<a href="http://www.campusphilly.com/%5Dcampusphilly.org%5B/url"&gt;http://www.campusphilly.com/]campusphilly.org[/url&lt;/a&gt;] . This organization is amazing, they put on events almost every day all over the place. From discounts at restaurants to huge college concerts. Every year they have a huge festival called college day on the parkway where thousands of students come from all over the place and its one big spectacle. Another example is "restaurant week" which usually happens twice a year I think where like 100 of the most expensive restaurants in Philadelphia offer all there meals to students for like $25 or something rediculous like that all week long. pretty crazy...</p>

<p>So to answer your question: There are many students from all different colleges that go all over Philadelphia and there are endless events, and opportunities. I know people who go to metal concerts every weekend, I know people that go to sporting events all the time, the girls who shop nonstop in center city, those classy people who go see operas... and everyone in between. and then there are those people that don't make an effort to go out and experience the full Philly experience. Center city is huge. I'm more of a late weekend sleeper person but the key is to just find a group of fun and adventurous friends.</p>

<p>Thanks for the response man. </p>

<p>quick question: does drexel susperscore the SAT?</p>

<p>Not sure about that, you'd have to call admissions and ask them about the process.</p>

<p>I would have to disagree with Zach that honors doesn't make a difference. I am in the honors college at Drexel and I can honestly say it has been worth it. They put me there automatically when I applied for drexel..but some kids have to apply for it separately.</p>

<p>He is wrong about the fact that it is all the same classes. Almost all of my business classes freshmen year were with all honors students and they were designated "honors" classes. These were generally higher level classes taught by the better freshmen professors. You were given additional workload over the non-honors curriculum, however we were not babied through any of it and definitely got more out of it than the non-honors.</p>

<p>You would also be required to take an "honors 200" course your freshman year. Each section of the class taught something different, so it was really kind of random what it was about. They give these classes to the more highly regarded professors/guest lecturers...and they come up with a topic they want to teach...and give it to you in an open forum kind of way. My class studied the way human thought processes have changed as a result of religion/technology/global events...etc. Its only 1 credit but it was pretty interesting.</p>

<p>You will also be required to complete a certain number of honors credits after freshman year. You can either take designated honors classes, or do an honors option on one of your regular courses. This would mean you approach the professor and tell them you want to honors option it... and they will either give you an additional research project/ assignment to complete by the end of the term for honors credit..or they'll ask you to come up with something on your own.</p>

<p>I lived in the honors dorms last year in race. I don't know that it was all that important but it was nice being surrounded by students who were in pretty much in all your same classes if anything. It made getting group projects done a lot easier. This year they mixed race street up with honors/non honors.... I think the dorm got a lot more fun though.</p>

<p>The advantage of picking classes early is probably the best perk. You can pretty much get dibs on the professors that everybody wants at the best times. Two of my semesters during freshmen year I had completely off thursdays and fridays because I managed to pack all of my classes into monday - wednesday. I also only had one class before 10am...that was with 18 credits btw.</p>

<p>The honors lounge is also nice to finish up papers last minute in a clutch, or print something in a hurry before class. The free printing saved my butt on many occasions last year.</p>

<p>There are a lot of honors events/luncheons..etc too. I don't go to to many but they definitely offer additional networking opportunities with university higher-ups</p>

<p>And while it might not be the be all-end all on a resume... if they're stuck between two people after co-op interviews... knowing you had honors classes could make the difference. Also you get the graduated with honors on your degree.</p>

<p>Overall i'd say its definitely worth applying.</p>

<p>Also, his facts about Greek life are a bit off..I'm in a Fraternity at Drexel so maybe I can help you out.</p>

<p>The main overlaying fraternal organization is the IFC...or Interfraternity Council... on Drexels campus this consists currently of 10 social fraternities....3 new fraternities have returned to campus this year, and 3 more are coming back within the next year so there will be 13 or 14 by the time you are here. Slightly less than state schools...but still a significant portion of undergrads. The chapter sizes range from about 25 members to 120+ members. That fact that one person gave about a fraternity getting no new members last year is false.... they've actually been growing faster than they ever have. </p>

<p>The PHC is the governing body for the 5 major sororities on campus which all have 80 - 100+ members.</p>

<p>There is also a multi-cultural fraternity council that governs all of the minority
fraternities and sorrorities which there are a number of.</p>

<p>On top of that there is several of honorary fraternities and business fraternities.</p>

<p>All but one of the IFC fraternities have houses on or very close to campus. Most of these are located on either 34th street which is smaller double row homes where there is either a fraternity and sorrority connected... or two fraternities. Then there are larger single houses located on powelton which are all old mansions. </p>

<p>I live in my fraternity house on powelton right now. You must be at least a sophmore to live in a fraternity house due to the fact that you can't break housing, but you can rush/pledge as a freshman. Theres a little over 20 guys from my chapter living here now and we only pay 1300 a term to live there which is less than half the cost of the dorm. </p>

<p>As far as parties go... we are most certainly allowed more than 1 per term. You are allowed 2 registered socials per month as a normal chapter ...and then if you meet the requirements to be a 4 star chapter you get 4 per month...once a week or 12 per term The parties are generally about 100000 times better then any house party you would be going to where you pay 5 dollars to wait in a crowded basement in a half-hour long keg line...only for it to be busted 20 minutes later by public safety. These house parties are usually sausage fests too because most girls stick to the greek-life parties. Usually fraternity socials will be joint socials with sorrorities or open list socials that are invite-only to friends of brothers.... any girls on campus are usually allowed into either one...guys only if they're on the list. Its not because we're being di*ck heads...its because we get thrown off campus if we don't do it that way. A lot of times sororities from other schools in the area will do a joint party with us which is great because drexel girls are rather hit or miss anyways. While you shouldn't join a fraternity just for the parties...and they won't even let you become a brother if they think you are trying too... it definitely is a lot better than anything else you'll find around campus.</p>

<p>I couldn't imagine being here without greek life. It definitely makes the social scene infinitely more interesting. While it doesn't dominate the entire school... greeks are everywhere on campus.. almost all of my friends from freshman year joined various fraternities. There are so many perks to doing it besides the social apsects as well... my next co-op is with a company owned by one of our alumni for example. Definitely worht looking into.</p>

<p>Zach, Green and Dee- This is probably the best thread on specific college information I have seen on CC. You are doing an excellent job. Drexel was a "safety" on my son's list, but it is now under serious consideration. Thank you and I hope you will be able to find the time to keep up the great work!</p>

<p>My son applied to Westphal just prior to the Dec 1 EA deadline. He has not received anything via email (as I know others have) or by regular mail but we signed on to check his materials status today and were stunned to see a message congratulating him on his acceptance. It says a letter is going out but we have no idea how old this message is. We've never signed on before. Has anyone experienced this form of acceptance and know about how long it will be before he gets a letter?</p>

<p>@outofstate-
I got my decision on the website and got the letter about a week later. So hopefully it'll be about the same. The envelope will have any merit scholarship offers and lots of information. For me, it also had information about the BS/PhD program I was accepted into, etc.</p>

<p>to everyone who is posting about the actual application process (eg: how long will it be to receive this), I strongly recommend you call admissions and make sure you speak to someone or go to <a href="http://ask.drexel.edu%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://ask.drexel.edu&lt;/a> . I would not use this message board in hopes that someone else has a similar situation so you can give you any type of assurance. Additionally, I doubt official admissions people troll these message boards who would answer your questions (in fact its probably against some drexel privacy policy anyways). I remember I didn't even officially apply to Drexel and got accepted (at least i thought at the time... although apparently I filled out an application when I was visiting and my guidance counselor sent in all the required material). My point is that with rolling admissions and a process that results in more scholarships given out than many other colleges, certain processes might be different than other colleges that you are used to and might especially vary from person to person. I hope this helps and good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks Fantom. My son's acceptance material was in the mail today. </p>

<p>Zack, I am sure that you are correct, it is hard to make any generalizations off of the experiences others have had. So many variables are involved with different schools and programs that rolling admissions is probably different for everyone.</p>

<p>when should i receive information regarding scholarships if i have gotten any. I got my folder in the mail today</p>

<p>Does anyone know how the financial aid is at drexel? I'm specifically talking about merit scholarships? I've heard its good, but I was just wondering what current students had to say</p>

<p>Bionic- my son received notification of his scholarship in his acceptance letter in the folder.</p>

<p>I submitted my application for Drexel in mid-december.....when should I hear back from them?</p>

<p>Hi Zack
You have provided so much useful info. My son was accepted to the Music Technology program at Drexel as well as the one at Northeastern. Do you know much about the reputation and quality of the Drexel program? Do students really like it? Any light you can shed would be helpful...and comparison to Northeastern especially helpful.
Rosedae</p>