<p>There is a January term. My D noticed that a lot of the hot classes are given in the winter semester, like the world religions class that you have to contribute a kidney to get into. When we went to our parents orientation, the speaker told us that most freshman don’t do winter sessions, but that many upper level students do. We seemed skeptical and he said “trust me on this, you’ll want them to stay next year.” He was right. Seven weeks is too long when it’s cold and there’s nothing to do. Many of their friends go back much earlier, so in my case, we get a lovely girl glaring at us for being stuck at home. There is a lot of study abroad, also. My D wants to go to Italy, but doesn’t really want to do a whole semester because that would disrupt the chemistry sequence for her major, so she found that next winter there’s a 5 week trip to Tuscany, with almost a week in Rome and side trips to Florence and Venice. It’s expensive, but my sanity is priceless! (Just kidding. Sort of.)</p>
<p>Linymom, how did your daughter get into the single dorms? Are you allowed to apply to specific dorms or is it just the luck of the draw. On our tour we only saw Russell and Thompson and in fact didn’t even hear about the Rodney-Dickenson complex, but as I said, it was pouring the day of our visit and I think we had a shortened tour. How do you know where your classes will be ahead of time so that you may choose, if you can choose, a dorm close by?</p>
<p>Dogsrthebest, just curious about the interview you mentioned. I thought I saw somewhere on the website that they do not offer interviews? I am a little concerned that I may have missed an opportunity for my daughter? In fact, I even inquired about an in-person portfolio review (she is applying for visual communications) and was told they only accept portfolios electronically. To the parents of current UDel students, did your daughters/sons all have interviews?</p>
<p>kik2k3, you can’t choose freshman dorms. The student gets placed where they get placed and you don’t find out until August. I think all the dorms have positive aspects, so it wasn’t a big deal for my daughter. So you can’t really match dorm with classes in freshman year. You can do it in subsequent years, though, because most departments have classes in a specific area. My D knows that almost all of her classes for her 4 years will be in the Old College area, so she is picking next year’s dorm based on that. The campus is big, but it’s pretty easy to get around. My D likes having “dorm friends,” “major friends” and other groups of friends, so it worked well for her in meeting people that she wasn’t with everyone who had classes in the same area because that would have limited her range of acquaintances. She lives across campus from her classes but it’s really not a terrible thing because the dorm is nice, the food is good and it’s a beautiful walk. </p>
<p>My D did not interview.</p>
<p>Booklady-or others - can anyone speak to the 60% female 40% male ratio. There is an older article in a Philadelphia paper about how few guys were in classes at Delaware, in the article they mentioned only 3 guys in the food court while there. I have a son who has applied. A friends son is at James Madison and has had a difficult time because of the low male ratio he doesn’t have that many male friends (thought of transferring but has decided to stay). My son thinks the ratio is great but I explained he is going to want some male friends.</p>
<p>I think in the school as a whole, there is more balance than the numbers might suggest because there are some majors that are very heavily female. In my daughter’s major there is not a single guy this year and maybe not in the entire undergrad years. There are several majors like that. There are so many kids that even though the percentages are skewed, in real numbers there are a lot of boys. And may I add that they are fine, fine speciments of young manhood! My has been very pleased since she stepped onto campus for the first time. Although when we went for her visit and saw scores of hulking young men tottering on red high heels, she was surprised and then massively amused.</p>
<p>k1k2k3: The only dorm we had seen during our visit was Russell, which is the honors housing. We had no idea about Rodney-Dickinson. D did not want a single, but it actually worked out great. (But the look on her face the first time she opened the door and saw how small it was – omg – priceless.) There is one dining hall for both residence complexes and a “mart” (Rodmart) that sells some groceries (outrageously priced, according to D). I think about 750 kids in each (Rod/Dickinson). </p>
<p>D hasn’t said anything about the M/F ratio so I have nothing to add on that. </p>
<p>She did not have an interview for admission (didn’t have one anywhere), although she did email the adcom person from our area a couple of times to show interest. </p>
<p>The campus is not small but it’s completely manageable. There is a shuttle bus, although D has walked to/from the stadium and to/from the Amtrak station. She is not looking forward to doing any of this in the cold, though.</p>
<p>My D did want to study abroad winter session this year (now) and she went to an information session in the fall. Only problem was she didn’t have the pre-requisite (of course not, she had just arrived). However, it is all good because that program was Morocco and Egypt; very happy she is not there now! She is an English major and they have a program that offers English/writing classes in New Zealand next January. That’s what she’s hoping for. You can check out all the study abroad programs on the UD website. There’s a LOT offered for winter (and for the other semesters too). D has a couple of friends around still because they go to local colleges, so she is not completely bored. But she has totally had enough of us. If she doesn’t go abroad next January, I will buy her a monthly ticket for the LIRR and she can get an internship (or just work for free) somewhere in the city! (New Zealand sounds better, right?)</p>
<p>S is very happy with the M/F ratio. 
But seriously, he has plenty of male friends and doesn’t find the ratio to be an issue at all. Just looked at the figures, and for his class it’s 57% women, 43% men.</p>
<p>He didn’t interview.</p>
<p>He is also bored to death at home (except on the weekends, when he can see friends who go to college near us), and can’t wait to go back on Sunday. This is the first time he’s ever been eager to return to school! He’ll definitely do winter session next year, and might even do a summer session if he can’t find a job or internship (most in the journalism world, which is what he’s interested in, are for juniors and up). It’s been nice having him here to shovel the driveway, and for his company (I work from home), but I won’t miss the extra cooking and laundry!</p>
<p>Booklady: I work from home too. But my D is asleep for a good part of my work day. Then she wants my car. I do have her on chauffeur duty for her brother, though! I will miss the driving help when she finally goes back!</p>
<p>Snowspud:
The Winter session runs from right after New Years for 5 weeks thru the 1st week of Feb.
The majority of students from all classes do not attend this session but this is when most students go for Study Abroad. You have to pay additional tuition for classes taken during this session at a per credit hour rate. Study Abroad requires tuition for the courses plus a variable charge for the cost of going abroad (figure about $10,000 total at least -this is not inexpensive). Study Abroad courses are available on all seven continents. </p>
<p>Additionally:
I suspect most freshman students who return home for the Winter Session during their first year find it as stressful as we parents find it and subsequently figure out some other way to be involved with something else during this session (if they are not taking courses at UD or going to Study Abroad). This is one advantage of living in off-campus housing after freshman year (students can stay there with their roommates or with friends during at least some of the time during the break - this reduces the stress for all concerned). Statistically I believe more students live off-campus than in dorms after the freshman year. FYI a lot of the so-called “off-campus” housing includes apartments that are actually literally on campus or right off it. My D lived in an apartment for two years on Main Street that was actually closer to her classes than most of the dorms. During the Winter Sessions she was able to work at two nursing externship positions she was lucky enough to have been accepted into. She was not only able to get additional experience in her nursing major but also made some money. Many of her friends also worked at jobs in the Newark area as well during the Winter Session. Some of them also took courses at the same time. Hope this info is helpful.</p>
<p>Mwallenmd,
Thanks, very helpful and insightful. Gives us a lot to think about when we compare schools. D definately wants to study abroad. I can see how Jan. Could be a very long month for students and parents! Great information from everyone!</p>
<p>Admissions dept does offer interviews although I am not sure how much bearing they have on anything other than the fact that it shows interest and an attempt to meet someone face to face in the Admissions Dept. I would imagine if the interview goes well then it never hurts to have one. When we were there, there were loads of other potential applicants doing interviews as well. The interview info is under the Admissions page on the website as something to add to your visit. For the person who mentioned portfolio, one of the reasons my D did the interview was to get some of her work in front of someone. My D is applying to Fashion Design and they do not require nor ask that you submit a portfolio so the interview was one way for her to bring her work and present it. As luck would have it the person she met with, although not a Fashion Design Major, had a huge interest in Fashion and took the time to look thru her work. Will this help, who knows?? It certainly can’t hurt. The reason she did the interview was two-fold, portfolio presentation and an additional step to show her interest. My D has emailed the Admissions Counselor that handles our state stating her desire to attend UDel. She has not heard anything back, which I am sure doesn’t mean anything as I know they are VERY busy, but hopefully the note from her shows her interest in attending.
This will be the last school my D hears from which is painful since it is top on her list.</p>
<p>Hi dogsrthebest, I was the one who referenced the portfolio, and also asked about the interview. I didn’t realize that Fashion Design doesn’t require a portfolio, I can understand why you would want to have someone see her work in that case. My daughter applied for visual communications which does require a portfolio. Other schools she applied to had the option of doing and in-person portfolio review, which like you, I feel is the best way to go in order to “explain” your work, show your thought process, etc. When I contacted UDel through email, they responsed that they do not do in-person portfolio reviews but instead want an electronic submission through slideroom. Except for a confirmation from Slideroom, you don’t really hear back from UDel that they received the portfolio. My D called the art department and was told that the Slideroom confirmation is all she would receive. Hopefully the portfolio got to the right person. This hands off electronic age makes us old dogs a little anxious. Also, I remember on our tour they told us the top three most competitive majors for admission are engineering, nursing and, to add to our anxiety, art! Go figure… the waiting continues…</p>
<p>zoosermom wrote:</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Make sure you’re not looking at the honors sections (starting with 080). Those seem to be capacity 22.</p>
<p>My son is looking forward to going back today, but I am not going to have him do winter session next year. He is already a year ahead because of credits he came in with (plus a summer class he took at the local community college last year), and because of his double major and required sport management internship, he probably will not be able to graduate in less than 3.5 years. And I’m still upset about them charging $500 extra for the dorm after making a big deal about it being included when we visited before he decided to attend.</p>
<p>My D is a sophmore and LOVES it as well. She lived in Russell freshman year. Don’t worry about the freshman housing - it is one year and then they will have many different and better options. Regarding the lack of A/C it is only a factor for the first few weeks of the year and the last few weeks-she’ll survive. D grew up in the south (we live in NY now) and was worrying about the no A/C as well. Now she’s living on Laird campus and has A/C. Anyway, I concur with all the others - great campus, great everything. D loves everything about UD! And yes, this 7 week break is WAY too long. Not good for anyone.</p>
<p>The winter session thing is a tough one because so expensive if OOS and any scholarghip does not apply toward winter session. We would love for her (and she wants to) do study abroad next winter but we just don’t know if we can swing it financially. A few questions - if anyone knows - do the program fees include the airfare? Because on website it says something about transportation not being included but not sure if that meant airfare or something else. Also, has anyone tried to get scholarship for study abroad, and have you been successful? Looked into it - differrent types of scholarships - and see there is need based and merit based. I do not know if we will qualify for any need based (haha even though we truly can’t afford it). D is in honors program with a 3.73 cumm GPA - how much of a shot does she have at a merit based scholarship? Does anybody know of anyone who was awarded this, and the type of credentials they had? Any info would be appreciated, as I know the deadline for next winter will come soon. Thanks.</p>
<p>rrj82: My D is applying for study abroad (and the scholarship - not the need-based one) for next winter break. I don’t have experience to share with you but do want to note that, from what I read, the program fee includes transportation from whatever US airport the group leaves from to go to the program site. So if they leave from PHL, the program fee does not include the cost to get to PHL.</p>
<p>D just called and her bus got back to Newark. She is back in her dorm now and sounds very happy! I admit to some sad moments today, but am planning to visit her in early March -that’s not so far away!</p>
<p>
Some are honors and some aren’t. Depends on the class.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My D is a year ahead also because of IB/AP credit, but she definitely wants to go abroad and I don’t relish another winter break at each other’s throats. Her major requires X00 hours of internships, so she is hoping to do one entire semester as an away internship somewhere.</p>
<p>LOL, everyone went back today. D’s floor is watching the Super Bowl together now. Shrieking and sharing snacks. She just sent me texts about the food questions.</p>
<p>D is currently in Honors and living in Russell. She wanted a roomie and put that on her housing prefs form. Friends of hers in Rodney got singles. They did not put in for a roommate so ended up in singles. A few peeps on her floor were in doubles but alone in the fall. They just got roommates today (Spring semester). </p>
<p>Warning: Russell is hot. D is on 3rd floor and it’s super hot in Sept. and still hot in the winter. No A/C. They did have their window fans going 24/7 in Sept. The heat was oppressive. As Zoosermom said, Russell is clean, fairly bright & decent sense of community. Many of the peeps on my D’s floor eat dinner together. There are 2 “Breakfast clubs” on her floor according to when you get up. Lunch is up for grabs since they are too busy to match up schedules. Bathrooms in Russell (end of hall arrangement) have been spotless every time I’ve used them.</p>
<p>D is a foodie so critical of the food. Russell has good food because it’s fresher & has higher turnover (a lot of other kids come to Russell to eat). Kent is prettier with better ambiance. Pencader is best. Rodney food is awful. That’s the word from her.</p>
<p>Some classes were huge like Calc & one of her others. 100+ students. I feared she might have problems with that, but she was fine. The TAs were decent and she has had one-on-one communication with all her profs. She finished the first term with a 4.0. </p>
<p>My D did take a class during the Winter Session, but it is steep (for us) financially. She also worked on campus during the session both fall & winter. Winter session is a bit boring (according to her), but her UD friends @home were going nuts and dying to return. 7 weeks is too long to be idle since so many of the other schools return before UD does. </p>
<p>Like Linymom’s D mine is going to rush too.</p>
<p>Hmmm… don’t remember if they asked on the housing form if you wanted a single or not. DD definitely wanted a roommate and answered all the roommate questions.</p>
<p>DD showed me the rush schedule - starts on Wed and bids on 2/21. Am excited for her… that will be fun plus she has a full schedule of classes that she is looking forward to.</p>
<p>Now it’s time for me to get used to a pretty quiet house again. My DS (hs soph) is not nearly the whirlwind that DD is!</p>
<p>Yep. Rush orientation on Wed. Stressful but fun!
I know mine also wanted a roomie. I was surprised when a lot of the frosh got singles. AND with A/C!</p>
<p>Zoosermom- you’re hysterical…
Thanks for all the info everyone. We’ll be reading this more closely in a few weeks…</p>