@momofsenior1 Ok. I’m embarrassed but can’t remember where you D is!
That’s Purdue’s tower in the picture. That’s my guess.
@OCDaddy lol! Huh?
Colgate and Holy Cross have two of the strongest alumni networks out there. One is in a remote location, the other not.
As for areas near campus, there is not much walkable from the Richmond campus, Davidson is adjacent to a cute town like Bowdoin is. Wake is walkable to a little village but not quite adjacent.
In @momofsenior1 ’s profile picture. I was just trying to guess the answer to your question.
It’s not the neighborhood…Uptown New Orleans where Tulane is located is not gritty or quaint. Stately and picturesque would be more accurate. It’s that in the hot, wet, always humid environment of New Orleans, as soon as you build something it begins to decay…and much of Tulane was built a long time ago. Gates rust. Wood rots. Brick mildews. Sandy soil and the massive roots of ancient Live Oaks wreak havoc on streets and sidewalks. Most Freshman dorms are old and gross…a rite of passage. When it rains hard as it often does, parts of campus flood and mud results.
Again, it has plenty of pluses to offset those minuses…lush natural beauty, incredible historic surroundings, a singularly unique culture, plenty to do within walking distance and even more a short streetcar or Uber ride away. They are in the process of executing a plan to build new underclassmen dorms to replace the current eyesores. All of the recently completed new buildings are impressive…the B school, the Commons, Mussafer Hall…with lots and lots of glass to bring the beautiful outdoor scenery inside. They don’t match the beautiful old brick and stone buildings on A quad though. So as compared to the Stepfordish uniform perfection of the Richmond campus or the buttoned up nature of Davidson’s, it will have warts. And if one is looking for warts, that is what one will see.
New Orleans and Boston are like 2 of my favorite places to visit. Either campus would be a great experience. BC campus and being in Boston is awesome. Spent 3 months for an externship at hospital programs. BC students back then loved their experience. It’s an absolutely great city to go to school in. Much easier commute also. Lol
Late to the conversation about Denison food and summer visits – starting next fall, all seniors will all have on-campus apartment housing with full kitchens. Seniors are not required to have a meal plan though can choose to have one.
My senior cooks dinner in his apartment but still grabs lunch in Slayter or the dining halls when convenient. Until senior year, all students are required to live on campus unless they are local and live at home. That residential requirement was added when greek life was changed to non-residential in the '90s, presumably so that frats didn’t move to off-campus houses and defeat the purpose of non-residential greek life. My student says the food is fine, as even the best locally sourced beef hamburger and home made sweet potato tots get old after a while. As a visitor to campus, I think the food is really good, especially Slayter, with rice bowls, soups etc.
Slayter is open during the summer for lunch. One of the dining halls is usually open lunch and dinner for part of the summer, between June O orientation for first years, camps etc. I’m not sure if the dining hall would take “a la carte” purchases from visiting families not associated with a program on campus.
@OCDaddy I think you’re right! @momofsenior1 how I wish I had an engineering or comp sci kid to send to Purdue. I hear great things and it’s close to home!!
@wisteria100 There is a reasonable little commercial area about a half-mile walk from Richmond’s campus. Not a whole lot but about 20 businesses - shopping, banks, restaurants, and nice in a pinch for someone desperate to escape campus. There’s another on the north side of campus a little further that is roughly the same size. But yeah, not a ton. Great neighborhoods to run, walk and bike in but not a whole lot else. Obviously there’s a whole lot more within just a few miles.
Yeah our friends who have a daughter who will be a freshman next year at Richmond said there’s a little neighborhood to walk to with a smoothie shop and a few other places. I’ll be curious how D compares that to Brunswick. I know it will be way different. S19 lives on the north side of the campus so it’s probably half a mile for him to walk to Brunswick. That’s not far.
Richmond is somewhat unique in that regard. Campus is a bit of an isolated, secluded enclave. You really need to have access to a car or can use the campus shuttle which regularly runs to Carytown and other surrounding areas. There is plenty to do and I really enjoy the city of Richmond, but realistically the areas off campus that kids like to go to are not really accessible by foot.
@pishicaca I hear Wake is the same way.
^ I agree, and IMO Richmond has more going on than Winston-Salem
When we visited Richmond, we ate lunch in the little area that @OCDaddy mentioned. I wish I remembered the name, because it was excellent. I think the name had something to do with a dog (I love dogs and I think one of us also ordered something with a dog in the name). Oh and there were lovely bikes all over campus (all matching, clearly just campus-honor system bikes). I wonder if those are allowed to be ridden to that little retail street area?
Anyway @homerdog , my S19 so far drove home for the long break and flies home for the shorter ones. He is flying to visit his sister for spring break and yes, will pay to leave the car at the airport for the week. If he sets up driving just one other student, it will more than double pay for the parking and gas!
I used to live in Richmond and I enjoyed it a lot. So many local haunts tucked away, that are unique to Richmond.
UofR is in the CCV (Country Club of Virginia) area or the ‘Prestigious West End’ as we used to call it. Kids will definitely drive/uber to Carytown, The Fan, Shockhoe Slip and Shockhoe Bottom to eat and drink. I advise you at least drive through those areas (via Monument Ave for most of it) if you aren’t going to eat in any of those areas. GPS will take you down Cary and back up Main, but try to drive the entire length of Monument Ave either coming or going to Shockhoe Slip, and cut back over to Cary or Main. If you can park and walk around any of those 4 areas, even better.
A bit farther southeast is Church Hill and Rocketts Landing. They are still being gentrified.
Not sure if anything has changed or has been refined concerning OP’s daughter’s major, but if still in the liberal arts / humanities area (non-science, non-math, & non-tech), then a strong alumni association may be important if grad school is not a certainty.
@homerdog Hi. Thanks for the response. I know that you are fully up on the BC setting. I was responding to another post. Also depending on how one approaches campus can effect ones view of the general location.
Coming in from Hammond St by The Longwood tennis club and private schools versus Cleveland Circle can define ones viewpoint. I like both aspects being part of the location.
But it is funny that technically not fully located in Boston or a college. lol
@homerdog, re food…A couple of years ago when my D and I were in Penn Station in NYC waiting for a train (of all things) I had a chitchat with a man in line wearing a U Richmond sweatshirt. Turns out he was the head chef/director of dining or something like that at Richmond. He was clearly so proud of the school and said something about the food being ranked among the best in the country. Now, maybe all head chefs would make that claim but that little tidbit lodged in my brain so I thought I would pass that on for what it’s worth…
When D19 and I visited Richmond 2 years ago, the main cafeteria space was very nice, and the food was great…top tier based on our visits.