<p>UDel is my D's first choice and she'll be OOS. Unfortunately, her test scores and gpa fall below the CollegeBoard median but she has outstanding leadership positions, band & athlete, great community services and held her job position since Freshman year. </p>
<p>When we visited the school, they tooted how they "look at the whole package". Is this true? My understanding is that most state school weigh heavy on test scores and gpa. (BTW - her gpa is 3.3 unweighted and her school is rated as one of the top academic schools in our state.)</p>
<p>UD weighs heavily on SAT scores and AP scores as well as class standing - no matter what they are putting out to the general public. Six kids applied from her school the year my daughter did - 3 were accepted, 1 was waitlisted and 2 were declined. The 3 that were accepted each had SAT scores over 1950, and had at least two AP scores of 4 or above, and were in the top 10% of the class. OOS at UDEL is tough. Good luck. BTW, my daughter is very happy there, likes her profs and all of her classes. She hated living in the dorm - so we moved her into an apartment off campus after her freshman year. No complaints since. We feel she is receiving a stellar education.</p>
<p>Thanks for your reply UDMom. It helps to know what we are up against. Why did your daughter not like the dorms? Was it the people or the physical buildings in general?</p>
<p>The conditions of the dorm and facilities were never an issue. Her dorm and the furnishings were more than suitable. She liked everyone on her floor and had lots of friends. From early on the issues were noise levels, lack of privacy and the constant partying. At times, she would wake up to people passed out drunk in the hallway or in the bathroom. As the year progressed, the gossip mill began to bother her as well. There were smaller issues too - she didn’t like having to walk down the hall to bathe or use the restroom. A couple of times there was no hot water and she would have to shower cold, or there would be no water at all. I suppose any one of these issues would have been manageable, but taken collectively, it proved a less than acceptable experience for her. Her biggest disappointment was all of the alcohol, (there are drugs too) it simply wasn’t something she had expected, and she is kind of a straight-edge so it was a real source of irritation.</p>
<p>Living off campus has been wonderful for her, and actually more cost effective for us.</p>
<p>We were told when my D applied that high school schedule 4th year is very important. They also want to see a upward trend in grades from first to 4th year. My D went to a high school with a great reputation for this area and kids with your Ds GPA did get in although I don’t know the whole package with your D. Did she take the ACT? some kids do better on that my D did. I agree with UDMOM about the education at the school so far. Good luck and please let us know this spring what happens.</p>
<p>I agree with sopranodad on the ACT. If your DD wasn’t happy with her SAT score - certainly take the ACT. Also, our DD really benefited from the SAT prep course offered at her school. If you have one available in your area please take advantage of that. It is a week long - and very time intensive - but her score improved 130 points.</p>
<p>My daughter is having the same problem now in the freshman dorms. She texted me pictures of kids passed out in the hallway. She says you can’t sleep because of all the noise every night, not just on the weekends. No complaints with the rooms. Russell was totally redone, including the bathrooms and were new. The z-rooms give you a little privacy. I don’t know if she will stay at Delaware next year. It hasn’t been the experience she thought it was going to be. How can you study with the constant partying? This semester has been a real struggle! I’m sure there is lots of partying at all colleges, I just wonder if some are worse than others. Delaware always had a “partying” reputation. I can see why now!</p>
<p>BC - what happens if your D talks with the RA about these issues? If not addressed by the RA, is there a grievance process where they can go higher up?</p>
<p>My D is in Russell, and her hall seems normal, kids are respectful and observe quiet hours. </p>
<p>My son is in Russell and hasn’t had any problems. The kids do tend to sit in the hall at night but they’re doing their work and I guess there is some talking (apparently one parent called to complain and they had to stop for a while even though he said they were not making any real noise). To the best of my knowledge there isn’t partying on my son’s floor. And he certainly is not having any trouble sleeping, although a couple of weeks ago he did move his bed to the other section of the room because his roommate tended to stay up later than him at night (plus this way he’s not right on top of the window, which his roommate kept open and I think caused his bad cold last month).</p>
<p>BC, before your daughter goes somewhere else, she may want to consider how much better it’s going to be much elsewhere. It seems like a rather extreme reaction to me. Better to find some off-campus housing, but I’m sure there will be partying there – and you won’t be able to complain to anyone about that.</p>
<p>Misterbill, I think you are making a very valid point about what goes on elsewhere. If you look at the Parents forum, you will find discussions relating to alcohol use on various campuses, various kids’ experiences, etc. The “partying” issue is present on most campuses. It seems to me to be about the reaction to the “partying” and the prevalence of the partying.</p>
<p>We also need to separate general noise from partying. Some halls may be more boisterous than others, have more social kids, have less mature kids.</p>
<p>Anecdotally, among the parents I run into from my area whose kids go to UD, I’ve not heard of major problems. One of my close co-workers has a freshman son in Smyth - our kids share rides, and he and I share stories. No issues on his hall in Smyth with quiet or partying either.</p>
<p>Russell does have ‘quiet’ rooms in the common areas also.</p>
<p>I’d be interested to hear of any results of a problem escalation process - to see how the administration handles these sorts of issues.</p>