My son got an invitation to go in October, and he and my husband are going to make the trip out for the visit. Anybody else going?
Please give a recap of DSD after the trip. My son received the same invite but those dates do not work for us. However, he will be doing a campus visit on Oct 12.
@funding The date worked only because they have a break that week. He will miss only a half day of school to go.
My daughter and husband are going on Oct 10th. Have been to the campus a couple of times before but want to find out about the honors program and if there are any advantages to doing it.
@Pjv041799 I look forward to hearing what you thought about it. My guys are going to the one later in the month.
@funding @Pjv041799 How did the campus visit go?
Cold and wet! That said, things clicked for my S. The tour was good (Union, Love Library N/S, Rec Center, Dorm room, the usual) and our student guide did a nice job. We only had two students (Engineering) in the tour group so plenty of time for questions/discussions. The student guide asked some good questions to the prospective students and in general provided valuable information.
We then met withe Engineering Dept and had a tour. The person talking to us was very helpful and provided great reading material for the various disciplines. Things were going well to this point and then got better. The student tour guide for Engineering happened to also be from the St. Louis area and shared some common interests with my S. We then wrapped up the day with conversations with Admissions and reviewed scholarships, honors, accepting admissions and refunds if S decides to go someplace else.
Other than weather the only negative for me was that we did not have time to eat in a res hall. We did take a look inside one but the day was full with meetings/tours before our long drive back to STL.
My son is looking for a strong academic experience while the wife and I are looking at value. This could be a good match depending on how things work out at UNL and the other schools under consideration (Purdue/match, ISU, CSU, Stanford/reach).
I second @funding on the general good feeling after the visit.The organizers were exceptionally welcoming and accommodating. Motivated and knowledgeable student guides. Lots of time to ask questions. The campus is newer and well equipped. Engineering buildings are in a good state of repair and appear well funded. Dean Perez personally pitched the school to prospective students and answered many questions. He did not rush us to get out of the meeting. According to him, the engineering department hired 60 new faculty during the last 4 years. There is a lot of new construction in the works or underway. Students get paid for research. The honors dorm we visited was not new but comfortable. The food was very decent, as far as college cafeteria go. Overall, just a good feeling. Most of the students, however, were locals, which means the student body may not be as diverse as in some other places. Easy to get from point A to point B, and the campus feels safe. Certainly, looks a good value proposition - but it is DS19 who will be deciding, not us.
My son really enjoyed his visit on scholar’s day this past Wednesday. He was very impressed with the opportunities for research at the University. He thought the campus was very nice and everything was well-equipped. Nebraska is definitely a major contender for him, and he’s going to have a very tough time deciding.
DD just got accepted, we are 9 hours away so looking forward to a visit when it works into the schedule. Thanks for sharing your impressions.
@ Reebtoor - We attended distinguished scholars day earlier this month and my daughter has officially decided to attend UNL because of it. The day was great - full of information, friendliness and overall excitement about the campus and opportunities that await. There were only two in her group for her college (Journalism) so they were paired them with the Computer Science kids (I think) for general sessions and campus tour. After the general sessions, she and the other student received a personal, one-on-one tour and meeting with the College of Journalism recruiter and advisors. I can’t say enough about how open and welcoming they were with her. It was clear they “knew of her” and her academic achievements and even alluded to scholarships that she would be offered as an incoming student. The advisor was so friendly, informative and generally interested in her and even exchanged phone numbers and email with her encouraging her to text her at any time with questions she had. As far as the honors program itself, it was covered in the general sessions and seemed very focused on research opportunities and higher levels of learning. My daughter is more interested in the technology available and advanced hands-on experience and access to internships so I am not sure she will go the honors program route. The business school has their own specific Honors program which is a very select group (about 45 in each class) and seemed to be pretty structured accordingly. So overall, glad we went and although she will probably not do the honors program she was highly impressed with the opportunities and UNL itself.