<p>My D is still deciding between the University of Delaware and one other school. Can anyone tell us about the following:
-Freshmen dorms. We hear there is a wide swing in the quality of housing.
-Does anyone know anything about the Fashion merchandising major
-She is concerned UD may be too big-I would be curious to know if anyone else had that concern
Thanks-we are trying to help her as she decides</p>
<p>Hi, There is a wide swing is housing… there are the brand new dorms on East campus, newer suite style dorms on North (Laird) Campus and older dorms on West Campus. Each has it’s good and bad points. My D was in Dickenson Freshman year… it’s probably the worst case scenario. However she is a business major so all her classes were super close to her dorm. Had she been on the other side she would have had super long walks to class. She enjoyed the dining hall in Rodney and made a lot of good friends. They are a close knit group of 16 from her floor of 32 and all roomed together this year in the Towers. North Campus is more isolated for Freshman so yes, you get nicer suite style rooms but we hear they are less social because there is less need to leave your room. I don’t know anything about the merchandising program but I can say that UD does not feel that big once you are there and in your program. In terms of education each individual college will feel smaller and you will see familiar faces in your classes. My niece is considering Fashion Merch as a second major in the business school and is involved with the U Dress magazine. It’s a pretty big deal on campus for that major and they do a really professional magazine. From what I understand it’s a great program. I think it’s only big in the terms of the positive options compared to smaller schools my kids considered. Things like, multiple dining halls, eateries, clubs, sporting events, etc… My D has been there almost 2 years and she still has so many things she would like to do and experience at UD. You can only get bored there if you let yourself get bored. My S was considering St Joe’s in Philly. A great school. After touring the campus twice we felt like he had been everywhere and seen it all. I looked at him and said. “ok… one dining hall. you will pretty much eat 80% of your meals a week here. Are you good with that?” One gym, One quasi student center etc… I like the smaller academic feel UD gives but the larger campus options they offer. Good luck in your decision. </p>
<p>Thank You. I really appreciate the insight. It was helpful. Do you also know anything about the Greek life and did your daughter consider pledging a sorority?</p>
<p>My Daughter pledged a professional sorority. So she has a small portion of the “sisterhood” of greek life but not as much of the commitments and they are a dry sorority so they can’t compete in Greek Week games, etc… I’m a bit nervous with my S coming in and trying to learn about Frats myself now. My niece went through the initial week of rush but did not match with any of her choosing so she dropped out. Her room mate rushed a nice sorority (can’t remember it’s name) and my niece is considering rushing that sorority in the fall now that she knows some of the girls in it. </p>
<p>Fraternity/Sorority Life at UD is pretty big but only about 15-20% of students are involved. Males can rush/pledge beginning the first semester but female freshman cannot rush/pledge until the second semester (and have to have a minimal GPA to be involved). You really have to budget your time well because of the amount of time involved in rushing/pledging so that your course grades do not suffer. You really need to be aware of this before you enter the process. Actually however, the overall average UD GPA is higher in individuals involved with Greek Life as compared to those not involved.</p>
<p>Our D rushed/pledged a sorority as a freshman. Once you are a member you have to pay sorority dues each semester until you graduate (varies by sorority-the cost to our D was about $400 per semester). It is not cheap to be in a sorority at UD. Our D lived in a sorority house her sophomore year at UD which she really liked. Greek organizations identify a charity organization and then provide service/charity events/hours as part of their mission. Our D’s sorority philanthropic area was “Heart Disease in Women”. Unless things have changed sororities at UD are not allowed to host parties in their houses (those that have them-not all do) for outside members. Throughout their stay at UD members have to continue to attend a number of meetings and have to be actively involved in activities of the sorority/fraternity, so this also tends to take up a lot of time. Again you need to budget your time well. Hope this info is helpful.</p>
<p>Thank you. I sincerely appreciate the insight and time you have taken to advise us.</p>
<p>@207madison, my friend’s D graduated last year from the fashion merchandising program. Loved it, loved UDel, went to hong kong with FM for a summer and has a great job in the industry. She and her mom only had good things to say over all. She also was in sorority…</p>