<p>Move-in at CNU was smoother than it was for my other two kids. CNU moves 1/4 of the freshman class in a day early, thus spreading the pain out among two days. We took advantage of that, and our move-in was swift and painless. Other parents, with whom we spoke on parents weekend, were equally impressed with the efficiency of the regular move-in day.</p>
<p>CNU's dorms are quite luxurious. The common areas are among the nicest of all the colleges we've seen. In the room areas, they do wonders with cinderblock. The main problem of cinderblock is the difficulty in acquiring a cell phone signal within the dorm.</p>
<p>We met again on parents weekend. CNU schedules this family event much eariler than other schools, after the kids have been at school only two weeks. This means that the initial goodbyes can be pretty swift, as we will revisit with anything missing shortly thereafter.</p>
<p>I was impressed that, by familiy weekend, my S said that most of his professors knew him personally. CNU really emphasizes its advantage as a small school, and this appears not to be just jawboning. There are no large lecture halls on campus; all classes are small. I met far many more faculty members than I have on other schools' family weekends.</p>
<p>By fall "break" (Columbus Day weekend), my S says that every professor knows his name. He is doing well in some classes, and in some he has more work to do. He is worried about a mid-term that's coming up, but he knows that he will have to work to get results.</p>
<p>I'm most impressed that the school has shown my S that the 'system' works. You read the text, you go to class, you ask for help when you're having trouble, and your grades are good--sometimes great. Of course, according to S, not everyone has internalized this consequential sequence. We both chuckled at the kids who don't go to class and don't study, but wonder why their mid-term grades are a problem. Oh well, college is a learning process--I wish those kids well also. I just hope they discover the library and the writing center before too much damage is done.</p>
<p>Interestingly, midterms are available online. (Did any CNU parent reading this not know this? I may be letting the cat out of the bag!)</p>
<p>The biggest disappointment so far is the "deadness" of the campus on weekends. My S says that there seems to be hours on weekends when there's just nothing to do. Here, CNU suffers from its small size.</p>
<p>I'll try to update in a few more weeks. So far our general experience is positive--especially compared with the other two (fine) universities I send tuition checks to.</p>