Hi there!
My daughter got into the ID DAAP program, and we are planning to go up to visit UC sometime in Feb/March (we live in FL). She was invited to a ‘Bearcat brunch’ (looks like an open house with reps from school, financial aid, depts etc. on hand) on Feb 18th… Is it better to do a structured visit/open house like this or create our own visit? I’d appreciate any suggestions, thanks!
Congratulations on your daughter’s acceptance into DAAP ID! My daughter is a junior in DAAP Interior Design now. They’ve got an excellent structured visit program, and you’ll be here while school is in session, so you can do a little of both. I’d listen to the talks, eat the brunch, and then head out on the campus tour (likely the only way to actually see a dorm room). I’m not sure whether a college visit is included, but, if not, stop by DAAP yourself to get a feel for the building. I can’t say enough about all the DAAP programs, and the built-in Co-op is critical now, since businesses want experience right off the bat.
So, if you do come in February, be aware that “this ain’t Florida”. It’s winter, so dress accordingly. Also, the campus has it’s fair share of hills and valleys. If it’s icy, you’ll need to be careful, and they’re usually good about closing the campus and cancelling classes if it’s really bad. March might be better in that the temperatures will be moderating, and while you’ll miss the nicely-bundled presentations, Admissions always has presentations and tours set up (call them to make sure). And you can visit Financial Aid to chat about the Cincinnatus Scholarship on your own. The campus is beautiful and the architecture is stunning. The dorms (for freshman) are typical shared bathroom down the hall, mainly quads, with a few doubles, and 1-2 singles. Being out-of-state (Chicago), my daughter was required to stay on campus her freshman year, and she stayed in Daniels, which has two DAAP floors. Calhoun is essentially the other freshman dorm, although Turner is available if your daughter is in the honors program, and there are a few rooms available in the Stratford dorms across Clifton Avenue.
As for where you’d stay while visiting, I’d say the Marriott is worth the extra cost, over the Hampton Inn. Campus Shuttles will take you the short distance to campus, or you could just walk. Be aware that this is an urban campus, with its share of seedy looking individuals that can be found around the campus neighborhoods. My daughter, however, has never had a problem, and the campus police are omnipresent. Many, many students live just off campus in the surrounding neighborhoods, and while there is some crime, it’s minimal, and easily avoided by taking the usual measures (traveling in groups, not texting/chatting on the cell phone while walking). The campus also provides a Nightride service that will pick you up from, and drop you off anywhere within, I believe, a mile of campus.
The campus strip on Calhoun has tons of restaurant options, and the Short Vine area is really up and coming too. Kroger is set to open a new superstore (expanding the old one) just across Jefferson Ave from campus for groceries. You can get from one side of the campus to the other in 10 minutes, and with the hilly nature of the campus, your daily exercise routine is built into your walk to DAAP everyday.
Good luck on all your campus visits. Let me know how the visit goes.
Balthezar, thank you for your informative, thoughtful response! Based on your comments, we are going to skip the Bearcat brunch and have decided to schedule a trip closer to March! After talking to admissions I learned that we can schedule a personal tour of UC and a DAAP ‘college close-up’ at our convenience, as well as visits to financial aid and housing…
My daughter also got into the ID programs at SCAD and Auburn, so we will schedule those visits in Feb (while it is frigid in Cincy!). Thanks again!
My daughter went to SCAD for a summer camp. It’s a great program too, but there’s no campus as such, and it’s just “creatives”, which is fine, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not a traditional college experience. There is no comparison with regards to the tuition. If I recall, they did give her a nice merit scholarship, but Cincinnati was both closer, and still considerably less with its Cincinnatus scholarship.
Yes, my daughter went there last summer - loved the experience, but not the small art-school feel or the urban campus! It is a lot closer to us than Cincy and they have been very generous (with the merit scholarships as well as matching our state scholarship Bright Futures) which I hear DAAP isn’t…fingers crossed!!
Hi FLMom. My daughter is also deciding between UC DAAP and Auburn for their industrial design programs. She did love auburn but UC is her choice because of the direct admission to the program and the co-op experience. Also doesn’t hurt that we are from Cincy! I just wanted to say, let me know if you’ve got any questions about UC or the city in general. My older daughter is a sophomore at UC. This is our first experience with DAAP though, so I don’t have much knowledge to add there. Good luck with your visits and decisions!
we brought our daughter for college visits during her spring break. we went onto the UC website to set up our tour. we then came back once she was accepted for orientation. she is a pre-junior ID student. she has gone through 2 co-ops thus far and has loved the experience of working, gaining knowledge, and getting paid doesn’t hurt either (paid for her rent when she was out of town for co-op). she has just uploaded her portfolio and resume and on february 14th it goes “live” to start interviewing for her summer co-op. she was accepted to UC, virginia tech, drexel and appalachan state for ID but opted for UC because of the co-op program. she didn’t have much of a social life her freshman year because ID is very demanding, and this semester she opted to join the DAAP tribunal, a new organization called DAAP makers market where she is on the organization committee and even did informal recruitment for a sorority (she just got a bid). she lived in daniels hall in a quad but unlike others who loved living on a DAAP floor in Daniels Hall, had a horrific time in her quad. her second semester at UC we paid the extra money, and had her moved to a single in Daniels (she loved not having to share a room with anyone so she could do her ID work without worrying about keeping anyone else awake). she now lives off campus in a house we purchased (real estate is lots cheaper in Cincinnati then in Maryland where we live). we rent the other rooms out to UC students.
Thanks, daapmom!
BearcatFan2 - Thank you! We just got back from visiting Auburn. Loved the campus, department, students (sooooo friendly and polite!). Seems like a lot more gen ed credits required than DAAP, and I’m not crazy about the summer studio that keeps only the top 45 students - seems like unecessary pressure and competition…!
Hey FLMom. My daughter had the same hesitation about the summer competition at Auburn. It seems like a very stress filed time for sure. The fact that UC has a direct acceptence into the various design programs and the strong co-op opputunities really sold her on DAAP.
Good luck to you and your daughter!
Hi @FLMom2Four we live within commuting range of College for Creative Studies, which is one of the top ID schools, my daughter had a wonderful summer experience in their product design program, and she’s also been accepted to the very competitive University of Michigan, but nevertheless she’s still set on going OOS to DAAP. Despite the OOS tuition my wife and I will support her decision, for several reasons. Reason #1 is the coop program. As an undergrad I went to a university with a mandatory co-op program and had co-op rotations at companies in the industry I wanted to work in. It was great confirmation that my intended career field was the right choice for me, and those co-op assignments opened the door to the company I wanted to work at, where I’ve now been for 25 years. Reason #2 is the reputation of DAAP, in our case the Industrial Design program. The company I work for probably employs over a hundred industrial designers. Our chief ID recruiter was actually the one who turned us on to UC when we were looking at CCS, Art Center, SCAD, etc., when he told me the best talent he is seeing from any of the colleges he visits for recruiting is at UC DAAP. Reason #3, and this is a personal one for our daughter, is the high school she went is very focused on academics and she is comfortable in that milieu, so the fact that DAAP admits on academics is a validation of all the hard work she has put into excelling academically. Good luck with your daughter’s decision. I hope you have a great visit to the campus.
Thanks, @DAAPDad for sharing your decision process…we are at the point that if our daughter chooses ID, we will bite the bullet and pay for OOS!! The coops, calibre of students, employment prospects etc., all make DAAP our top choice. Unfortunately, our daughter now says she is unsure if she wants Industrial or Graphic design (says 75-25% in favor of ID)!! I suspect it is cold-feet, coupled with all the discussion re finances and her acceptance to UF (very competitive)!! We are heading up to Cincy in early March…hopefully that provides her with some clarity!
@bearcatfan @Balthezar or others, hoping a current parent can advise. Visited UC last summer and took the campus tour and the engineering “closeup”. S is accepted and wants to visit again in a couple weeks. He contacted admissions and asked to if it’s possible to meet with a professor in his major and/or to visit a class. Admissions came back and is saying he can do the closeup again, but that’s it. They also never mentioned the fact that he could have attended a Bearcat brunch today. I find this a bit strange and disappointing. At two other colleges he got to meet the head of the aerospace engineering department (and we didn’t even ask to meet anyone specifically). I don’t want to discourage him from visiting but it’s a long trip and I’m a little afraid it will be a let down. Choosing UC is a bit of a risk. We are OOS, we don’t know much about it other than what’s on paper (and CC of course). In other words, he’d like to get a better feel if UC is the right choice. Any words of wisdom?
@4getit Current CEAS student here and CEAS student ambassador. I would recommend that you call the CEAS Office and ask about a private family tour with a student ambassador. We give them all the time to families who are visiting again or for who the regular tour times do not work. Most often, the ambassador giving your tour will be from the same major that your son is interested in. It’s pretty similar to the college close up, but a one-on-one tour allows us to go more in depth and show more of the college. If you talk to the office, you may also be able to arrange for your son to shadow an ambassador to get a better feeling for what classes are like. As for CEAS in general, I could not recommend it more. I’ve never reconsidered my decision coming to UC, despite acceptance at some other more expensive and nationally recognized colleges.
@ucceas2020 thank you for your reply and advice. It’s good to hear from someone in CEAS especially. My son will call tomorrow and hopefully work something out.