<p>How many kids stay on campus during the weekends?</p>
<p>A good percentage of students go home on the weekend – being from Ann Arbor (about 2.5 hours away), I go home occasionally (for this semester, when I don’t have to march at a home football game). My roommate lives about 20-25 minutes away and goes home every weekend.</p>
<p>That being said, it’s not like they roll up the sidewalks on Friday night. You can still find lots of stuff to do on the weekends, and the campus athletic events (football games especially) are very fun to go to.</p>
<p>My parents will always miss me, however =P</p>
<p>GVSU is heavily supported by the moneyed powers that be in GR. They wanted a college in GR that they could be proud of and they make sure they have it.</p>
<p>Would you say most kids go home on weekends? How would you feel if you had to stay every weekend? My son went to a summer camp there and loved the school. I just worry because he won’t be able to come home much because of the distance.</p>
<p>My friends there never come home and they are happy as can be. One told me that the local kids usually do go home (he is like 40-60 minutes away and does not consider himself local). He said he would estimate that 30-40% go home. He went on to say that it’s not a big party school, but there are still parties on the weekend and people hanging out in the lounges and having fun. I’ve never heard him complain about being bored. He has a big group of friends and they are all together having fun every weekend. It sounds like their dorm situation is really, really great.</p>
<p>Hmm. DD attends GVSU, and I can agree with some of what is being said.</p>
<p>Amazing campus, and great football team. Fabulous dorms, especially for honors students. Excellent merit scholarships for out of state students (we are from the Chicago area). Easy transportation between the two campuses. Good study abroad program.</p>
<p>Downside: a lot of kids still go home for the weekends. If your student is friends with them, that could be a problem. Grand Rapids sounds exciting based on the above amenities, but these are not amenities that all kids will take advantage of, or can afford.</p>
<p>DD is so bored that she is actively looking for a part time job just to have something to do.</p>
<p>Not very organized in the financial aid department. I thought Mizzous tuition bills were hard to understand until I started looking at GVSUs. Hard to get answers to financial aid questions- caught them in more than one mistake.</p>
<p>Except for honors classes, the classes are too easy. </p>
<p>There are a high percentage of kids who are extremely religous. Not a bad thing , unless your kid is not. They all seem to have trouble finding something to do- football season only lasts so long, and good weather only lasts so long. A lot of movie renting. </p>
<p>Don’t flame me :-), this is just my opinion. I wish DD would have gone to Mizzou or U of I and gotten more of the college experience.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I’d characterize it as extremely religious, but in general this side of the state of Michigan has fairly strong family values or call if “small town life” and many families do attend church on Saturday or Sunday. Those that would be characterized as “extremely religious” tend to go to one of the many, many church affiliated colleges in the midwest. It’s definitely not a “wild and crazy campus” and doesn’t have the party rep that Western has or some of the other unis in the public system. But that’s not a bad thing and as one person pointed out GVSU has it’s share of weekend parties and the escalation in entering freshman GPA and test scores is, I think, the payoff, along with great facilities.</p>
<p>Vderon, I hope your D finds her feet as there is so much to do in the area that costs nothing to very little and tons of stuff on campus. It’s a school with 20,000 kids+ it’s not an anomaly the university. That said, a part-time job will introduce her to new people and give her something to do plus put some pocket change in her pocket!</p>
<p>[GVSU</a> debuts plans for $40 million business school in downtown Grand Rapids | MLive.com](<a href=“http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/10/gvsu_debuts_plans_for_40_milli.html]GVSU”>GVSU debuts plans for $40 million business school in downtown Grand Rapids - mlive.com)</p>
<p>The friend I mentioned before who goes is an atheist and has never complained. <em>shrug</em> I guess it’s just a matter of finding your people, like anywhere else.</p>
<p>I’ll try to express it a different way. DD was a Chicago suburbs girl, with lots to do . Easy train ride to downtown Chicago, and our suburbs were loaded with entertainment and shopping. She was on a championship hip hop dance team that traveled all over the country and she went to Germany, London and France before she was done with high school.</p>
<p>Some of her new friends at GVSU had been nowhere, their senior prom was their first date, and they would hesitate to bring home a boy that was not of their religion. </p>
<p>That’s the difference I am talking about. I have no problem with organized religion, my kids went to a lutheran school up to the 8th grade.</p>
<p>Grand Valley recruits heavily from the Chicago area, without considering the different lifestyles that kids from Chicago are used to. Allendale is not anything like a Chicago suburb.</p>
<p>The other point is that Grand Rapids gets some serious weather, even worse than Chicago. The kids tend to stay in when it is dangerous to go out ( snowing) or freezing cold, which is often. Almost all the girls gained the freshman 20. They stay in and eat.</p>
<p>Some of the my daughters friends from Michigan were already looking to transfer to Michigan State their freshman year. One boy that I met her freshman year told me directly that he “needed to get out there”. He did. He drove into a tree while drunk 2nd semester and was killed. Apparently he had been drinking a lot on the weekends, supposedly out of boredom. Stupidly he would go out driving on the icy roads while drunk. </p>
<p>Every school has their problems. I’d like to say GVSU is perfect. It’s funny, tho, it looks perfect, it’s beautiful, but there are pros and cons just like everywhere else.</p>
<p>I’m just suggesting that you think about the kind of kid you have when considering GVSU. I blame myself . DD would have been better off at DePaul in downtown Chicago, or at a bigger school.</p>
<p>I think most cities in Michigan, if not all, are going to seem a little lackluster when you’re used to what Chicago has to offer, I could see that she might not love Allendale. I have never heard anyone complaining about the religious aspect or about everyone they know getting fat because they can’t go outside, but perhaps the group of kids I know are outside the norm. I’m not surprised that a lot of the kids don’t seem to be as well traveled as your D. For a lot of Michigan families, and I imagine a lot of the Michigan families that are attracted to GVSU, that kind of travel is a luxury.</p>
<p>Grand Valley recruits heavily from the Chicago area, without considering the different lifestyles that kids from Chicago are used to. Allendale is not anything like a Chicago suburb.</p>
<hr>
<p>Good heavens … recruiters are supposed to stay away from areas that are different from the area in which the college is located because the kids might think the area is just like home?! Why on earth would kids from Boston even consider schools like Hamilton, Amherst, Colgate, Middlebury … if that is how one is to look at selecting a college.</p>
<p>I went to school in the Michigan town Michael Moore made famous. Believe me, it was NOT the type of location I was used to, or even the type of location I “preferred.” However, the school was terrific <em>for me</em> - and I had a wonderful time. Plenty of students left before graduation, for many reasons. That’s not uncommon.</p>
<p>If your D is not happy, she can always transfer. She is not tied to the school just because she is there today (of course, this must be HER decision). My D transferred schools after freshman year & has been very happy with her decision; she is now a senior. My S is currently a freshman at a school 45 minutes north of GR, and he will also be transferring after this year. Frankly, I believe that for both my kids, the schools they attended freshman year were actually great decisions … every experience helps to make our kids the adults they will become. I’ve said it before … the road is not always straight, but the path they take will get them where they need to go. </p>
<p>If your D decides GVSU isn’t what she had hoped it would be, she should not be afraid to transfer. One is never “stuck” anywhere!</p>
<p>There’s an incredibly strong dance program at GVSU. Tell her to look into it. There’s also many great dance opportunities in GR. Allendale is rural even though it’s 20 minutes to a thriving city but the campus retains it’s rural feel. I can understand why an urban kid might feel out of place. My kids are at a rual college in another state and every year they have huge fall off during freshman year from “city kids” that are shell shocked. It will be interesting to see if your D finds her people.</p>
<p>"There’s an incredibly strong dance program at GVSU. Tell her to look into it. There’s also many great dance opportunities in GR. "</p>
<p>Oh I wish. She hurt her back senior year of high school and can no longer dance , at least competitively. It would have helped a lot if she could dance.</p>
<p>She has applied to transfer to 2 other colleges, but going in as a senior might be tough.</p>
<p>She was trying to tough it out because of all the merit money she got, but I told her it would be okay to take on a few more loans and I would help her pay them. </p>
<p>She did the college program at Disney, realized how excellent UCFs hospitality program is, and is trying to go there. They only take a small number of out of state transfers, because they garantee admission to Florida junior college grads with 2.5 or better GPAs. I’m praying she gets in. </p>
<p>She needs a change. No disrespect to GVSU.</p>
<p>Oh, gosh - I didn’t realize that she is a junior. You’re right, she probably won’t be able to transfer (although it’s worth exploring). Can she study abroad next fall? That is always a nice change of pace.</p>
<p>She will be studying abroad 2nd semester. She did the Disney College program last year, and study abroad this year… I feel bad. She is not happy, and she is trying to escape. I so wish she was having a good experience.</p>
<p>The good news is that her grades are excellent. She is carrying a 3.8 gpa. Many of her friends lost their merit scholarships after freshman year, so its great that she is doing well.</p>
<p>I understand - part of the college experience is lost when the fit just isn’t quite right. With her excellent GPA, though, maybe she will decide to apply to grad programs & get a great fellowship/assistanceship at a school that suits her better. Yes, the experience as a grad is far different from that of an undergrad - but it can be wonderful, and it is a more mature kind of thing. She will have a great education, and she can move on to make some terrific memories in her life in other ways. I was surprised to find out, many years after college graduation, that some of my classmates had far different memories of college than I … I LOVED it, and they tolerated it. Almost 30 years later, though, they have had such wonderful lives because of the education they received that the lackluster college experience no longer has any sting. I am sure your D will find the same thing in the future.</p>
<p>I have not, as a student, witnessed anything religious at all on campus. I don’t know what religious people are because they don’t feel the need to share it. There isn’t a Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or any other “vibe” on campus.</p>
<p>And yes, GVSU is not Chicago. But I would say that it’s the student’s fault for not researching and accepting that beforehand. If you’re stubborn enough to say “I don’t want to go to this school because I can’t go clubbing to 1284390382403298 different clubs around the neighborhood any night I want”, then you probably need more education before you consider college…</p>
<p>"And yes, GVSU is not Chicago. But I would say that it’s the student’s fault for not researching and accepting that beforehand. If you’re stubborn enough to say “I don’t want to go to this school because I can’t go clubbing to 1284390382403298 different clubs around the neighborhood any night I want”, then you probably need more education before you consider college… "</p>
<p>Whoa. Just whoa.</p>
<p>First , I did I say I blamed myself. I should have talked to DD about how it might not be a good fit. </p>
<p>Second, who said anything about clubbing? DD is not old enough to go clubbing, and that was not on her list of things to do in Chicago. Your naivete is showing.</p>
<p>"you probably need more education before you consider college… "</p>
<p>What? Plenty of people choose the wrong college for them. Plenty of people transfer. DD is a junior, and has never been happy there. She stayed because they offered such great merit scholarships, and she knows that we have had financial difficulties since my husband was laid off a couple years ago. How is that immature ?</p>
<p>Are you a freshman? If so, I suggest you wait until after the excitement of football season, and see how you feel when you are feezing waiting to catch a bus from Allendale to Grand Rapids to go to class.</p>
<p>Then you might realize that nothing in life is perfect, including GVSU.</p>