Drexel Campus Visit

<p>My D was not initially considering Drexel but we decided to do the tour since it is close to home. I would say Drexel is a good choice for students interested in an urban campus and opportunities for coop. We were favorably impressed.</p>

<p>Most majors at Drexel offer the choice of either a 4 year/1 coop or 5 year/3 coop. Prospective students are asked to apply for a specific major- this is not the school for kids who are completely undecided. </p>

<p>The campus is integrated with the University City streetscape- you do have to cross city streets- Drexel's campus abuts U Penn at 33rd and Chestnut St, and Drexel students are able to use Penn's library. Many new buildings and more under construction. One notable new building is the integrated science buidling, with a huge "green wall." <a href="http://www.drexel.edu/biology/news_ISB.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.drexel.edu/biology/news_ISB.html&lt;/a> A new home to the LeBow College of Business is under construction. <a href="http://www.buildinglebow.com/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.buildinglebow.com/&lt;/a>
The info session stressed the coop learning approach, and the fact that Drexel has been on USNWR's top 10 up and coming schools for the past 3 years.</p>

<p>Drexel is known for their engineering program, and our tour guides (all three of them) were male engineering students. But there are many other programs available at Drexel- about 70 majors in all. <a href="http://www.drexel.edu/undergrad/academics/majors/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.drexel.edu/undergrad/academics/majors/&lt;/a> Minors are available in business and entrepreneurship. <a href="http://www.drexel.edu/catalog/ug/all-minors.htm#e%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.drexel.edu/catalog/ug/all-minors.htm#e&lt;/a> The approach seems to be to dive right into the students major field of study, though gen ed electives are included in later semesters. This may be a good choice for very focused students.</p>

<p>The student body seemed very diverse and included many international students. In the dining hall, we heard many languages being spoken. The students did not seem to follow any particular "type" as there are everything from engineers, to business students, to film/ design majors. </p>

<p>Our tour included a very spacious dorm room- that is, it seemed extremely spacious until our tour guide told us that it usually houses 3 students and not 2. Freshman are required to live on campus. Not clear whether there is any guarantee of housing after that.Big college sports don't really exist here at Drexel, though they are proud of their basketball team, and there is Greek life available. </p>

<p>Overall, the students seemed very happy, and I think that Drexel has a lot to offer, despite its high price tag. Merit aid is available for high stats students. One of our tour guides mentioned that Drexel turned out to be less expensive for him that in-state tuition at Rutgers.</p>