<p>D1 has been accepted into the College of Biological Sciences at U of Minn (Yay!!) and is waiting to hear whether she'll be invited to join the Honors Program. I know some folks have found out via the website, but her status still shows "being carefully considered" even though she's gotten her acceptance letter. In any case, since the honors housing is in Middlebrook Hall on the West Bank and CBS is located on the East Bank, we're wondering about transit time to cross the entire campus. We know there are buses that run, but have heard they tend to fill up quickly. Anyone have any insight/experience with having to cross the entire campus on a regular basis? Are there areas in or near CBS where she could hang out in between classes as opposed to going all the back to the dorm?</p>
<p>My D is in the exact same situation as yours, accepted to CBS and waiting to hear about honors.</p>
<p>I attended the U in the 80’s (Mech E) and lived in the superblock dorms the first 2 years then off campus south of the West Bank. The walk from superblock to Northrop auditorium is about 10 minutes, from Middlebrook to Northrop is about 15 minutes … so the physical distance isn’t a real big problem. There are plenty of places on East Bank to hang out, so she won’t have to go back to the dorm all the time. My main concern with Middlebrook is that it seems very isolated.</p>
<p>sedluhs…Thanks for the info!! Doesn’t sound like the physical walk would be too bad, but we’ve also wondered about the isolation of Middlebrook. The benefits of Honors housing would be many (like-minded serious students, location of many of the Honors events, etc.) but we also want her to enjoy everything about the college experience (just not too much!!). I know they wouldn’t be far from the other dorms, but they would miss out on some of the fun of an all-freshman living area. Hopefully we can hear from someone who lived in Middlebrook about the in-house experience there.</p>
<p>Bumping this up because D2 was just accepted and is in the same situation. I saw on another thread that someone suggested the CSE or Biology house living communities in Frontier Hall since they’re an all fr dorm.</p>
<p>Question, do you have to send the confirmation fee of $225 before the $25 housing fee, and is the confirmation fee nonrefundable? I’ve looked but don’t see the specific answers to this, and schools really seem to vary a lot!</p>
<p>Any thoughts appreciated!</p>
<p>entomom…I don’t know that the confirmation fee does that much for you at this point, but the $25 housing app fee is definitely worth doing at this point. It’ll give your D a date for priority consideration for her housing choice. If she chooses to live in Honors housing in Middlebrook I believe she’s guaranteed a spot there, but if she’s considering any of the other dorms the earlier date she has for receipt of her housing app fee the better her chances of getting the dorm she wants. It sounds like many of the LLC’s are popular choices, so I’d have her fill out the app ASAP. It’s pretty painless.</p>
<p>Thanks Wolverine! Good to know that she can put down the small housing fee w/o paying the application fee, there’s another school where she can’t do that and so will wait until later to reserve housing rather than pay a large non-refundable fee up front. Some schools seem to be much understanding than others in realizing that kids need to find out other acceptance and FA/scholarship decisions before they can commit.</p>
<p>^Amen entomom!! We continue to be impressed by U of Minn versus other schools in the way they handle the admissions process as a whole. No university is perfect, but U of Minn has been responsive and helpful any time we contacted them with questions or concerns. When we’ve left messages or e-mailed, they’ve never failed to respond in a timely fashion. From what I’ve read regarding the admissions deposit, I think it wouldn’t gain you much until at least March. U of Minn’s website says that they’ll start mailing out information in March/April to “admitted students” regarding sign up for orientation dates, etc. so I would think you’d have at least until mid to late February to make that call. D1 and I will be visiting the campus on the weekend of 22-23 Jan to help finalize her decision and check out things like the walk/ride from Middlebrook, etc.</p>
<p>The walk from the west bank to the east bank is not bad at all. In fact, there is a skyway that conncects both sides above the washington ave bridge. It takes around five minutes to cross from west to east, but you also have to factor in other things such as weather. So I would say anywhere from ten minutes to fifteen. Here is a website that gives you the walking times: [Parking</a> and Transportation Services - Walking](<a href=“http://www1.umn.edu/pts/walking/index.html]Parking”>http://www1.umn.edu/pts/walking/index.html)</p>
<p>Make sure she/he checks out the gopher way underground/aboveground pathways which allows you to walk indoors the majority of the way. I am not sure if she will need it too much, but there are some connections on the west bank as well. Here is a link to the map that shows you the gopher way: <a href=“http://www1.umn.edu/pts/files/Walking%20Guide.pdf[/url]”>http://www1.umn.edu/pts/files/Walking%20Guide.pdf</a></p>
<p>I have heard the same thing about the shuttles, but I am sure she will be able to find a spot, especially since she is on the west bank opposed to the superblock like me. I think the walk would be fine though. Yeah, there are a bunch of places to study. I know there are a ton of places in Coffman Union Hall. Here is a link to some study places: [Coffman</a> Study Locations : Coffman](<a href=“Coffman Memorial Union | Student Unions & Activities”>Coffman Memorial Union | Student Unions & Activities)</p>
<p>Here is a link to the shuttle times in case you do not have it: [Parking</a> and Transportation Services - Busing](<a href=“http://www1.umn.edu/pts/busing/index.html]Parking”>http://www1.umn.edu/pts/busing/index.html)</p>
<p>I can’t help you out with study places by the CBS place because I am a new student this
Spring (Moving in tomorrow). I have heard some great thing about the biomedical library being very quiet and never busy.</p>
<p>jeremmed77…Thanks for the info!! Since you are familiar with the walk times, I’m assuming you’ll be living in Middlebrook? If so, D1 would be interested to hear further impressions once you’ve settled in and lived there for a while. We’ve heard from a couple of current Middlebrookers that the dining hall there is better than the others on campus. If you wouldn’t mind, could you please post again in a few weeks or whenever with updated impressions? Thanks again.</p>
<p>^Disregard, I read your post again and saw you’ll be in the Superblock. Thanks again for all the info. :-)</p>
<p>Sure, I’ll post again on Tuesday after I have used the campus connector. I will know a lot about the walk time since my major’s department is located in the West Bank. Have you toured Middlebrook yet? I want to transfer over to that hall because it is closer to where I will be most of the time anyways.</p>
<p>^Haven’t toured Middlebrook yet. D1 and I will be visiting campus in a little over a week, and we hope to tour the dorm then. Are you in Carlson or Arts and Theater since your classes are on the West Bank?</p>
<p>No, I am majoring in Biological Anthropology. I have no idea why it is located on the West Bank though.</p>
<p>The walk time from the superblock to the West bank was fifteen/sixteen minutes for me today. Tomorrow I will be using the campus connector so I will let you know how that goes too.</p>
<p>^Thanks for the update jeremmed77. Hopefully the campus connector is a smooth process for you tomorrow. Of course the next logical step will be guided video tours and a hyperaccurate GPS mapping of the entire campus, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it…West Bank reference intended. Thanks again!!</p>
<p>It actually was only really busy around 12:30ish. I took the bus from the West Bank to the Superblock and it only took about five minutes, but there were a lot of people. The first bus filled completely up. Luckily, a few minutes later another empty one showed up so it all worked out. I have to take the shuttle everyday so I am glad it is not as bad as some people thought it would be. The actual bus stops are really obvious since there are usually a lot of students waiting for it. In case you didnt’ know, you do not need a U card to get on the Shuttle. Let me know if you have any other questions. I will be checking this website whenever I am bored. Aren’t you touring Middlebrook soon?</p>
<p>^Great info jeremmed77. Glad to hear the buses run fairly often in case you’re not able to get on the current one. You’ve been very helpful, and we appreciate it!! D1 and I will be visiting campus this weekend and hope to work out a tour of Middlebrook with the admissions folks. We’ll definitely post if we come up with any other questions. Hope you enjoy your time at U of Minn. Go Gophers!!</p>
<p>Numbers in Honors?</p>
<p>Off-topic but does anyone know how many students are in the Honors program at the U of MN Twin Cities?</p>