<p>my son is considering applying to delaware next fall. can any freshman, please give me their impression (good or bad) about their experience over the first 4 months of being at delaware.</p>
<p>i am interested in everything you have to say,... social life, dorms, food, classes, professors..</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>I just finished and so far I really like it. Classes are harder than I thought. I do a lot of work every night and it's very easy to fall behind. I felt very challenged in all of my classes at all times. My professors are very impressive in their backgrounds and each hold the highest degrees in their respective fields. The facilities my classes are in are nice and it's easy to see and hear the professor. I had two classes with over 200 people and it was easier than I thought to ask questions and get involved during class. We had class discussions a lot in one class of about 220.</p>
<p>I lived in East Campus.(Rodney/Dickinson) The dorms aren't anything special, but are very social and very easy to meet people. The dorms at Laird Campus(George Read, McKane, Smith, Ray st) are georgeous. They're very nice, but I hear where I live is a much more social atmosphere. The food is not that bad. There's different dining halls to go to and it could be much worse. Trabant is pretty bad though.</p>
<p>Social life is fun. It is easy to go out on the weekends without drinking, especially if you're a girl. You don't need to drink to have a good time, but everyone does. I must say I have found no alternatives to drinking and partying on the weekend. But, I don't mind because I like doing that. Parties are normally big and you may have to walk pretty far for a party. Everyone is pretty friendly. However, people realize why they're there and buckle down when they have to and get work done.</p>
<p>The University is very strict about drinking. You have to be very careful in the dorms and it's easy to get in trouble. UD cops are out looking for drunk people to get in trouble and may stop you if they see you are obviously drunk. But the police in Newark, University and town have their priorities ass backwards. They seem to think it's more important to break up parties than arrest people raping and robbing University students.</p>
<p>Overall the campus is pretty safe. I have never had a problem, nor do I know anyone directly who has. You just need to be smart and always walk with someone whether you're a guy or girl. Use common sense and you will be fine.</p>
<p>Overall, the school is great. Everyone is smart, and it motivates you to work harder. When deciding on UD or not, I would not worry about food or dorms. I thought a lot about that and was worried about where I would live, but now I realize none of that matters. In the big picture, food and dorms should have no impact on choosing a school. I got my 4th choice on housing and I am very happy. None of that matters once you are here. Look at what program you want, the facilities, who's teaching those classes, and what resources does the school have. UD is a very large endowment and the school has a lot to spend.</p>
<p>UD is a great choice. Good luck because I would not want to be applying to UD again because it is getting harder and more popular each year. Which is a good thing for the school.</p>
<p>wow! thanks for that great review. sounds like a winner. how is the town that the college is in?</p>
<p>Newark epitomizes the small college town. It has "Main Street" which has tons of restaurants to choose from a nice shops. They also have a 5&10 and 2 off campus bookstores. It a nice town, like any suburb you would find in the northeast. It has an Amktrak station and the SEPTA to philly runs through. It is also easy to navigate around. Looking at the school, you may think the town is the school because there are parts of the school all over. However, Newark is very big and is considered a city(NO WAY is it like an actual city). There are parts in the woods and near white clay state park where you would never see the school.</p>
<p>Overall, it's a great town for the school to be in.</p>
<p>I just typed such a long review up but it automatically logged me out when I clicked send and deleted it all</p>
<p>so here's the abriged version:</p>
<p>West campus is where it's at... you meet so many good people, no Dickinson people would trade their room for a George Reed room regardless of their private bathrooms or air conditioning.</p>
<p>Social Life is amazing, far exceeding of my expecations. This is evident in the fact that everyone was dreading leaving for winter break, as opposed to all of my high school friends who are so thankful to be back home. Parties are plentiful, cops are relatively lax unless you're more than relatively stupid. </p>
<p>The food is so-so, DP Dough on Main St. is possibly the best food on the planet. Campus dining halls are mediocre at best. Trabant offers some more selection.</p>
<p>Classes aren't that hard in general, obviously it does depend on your course selection. All of my classes were between 150-300 people, therefore making it SO easy to slack off. This forced me to mature quickly and improve my work ethic dramatically.</p>
<p>The campus epitomizes what college life should be like. I always feel safe, always feel at home, and always feel like I made the right choice.</p>
<p>I am not a freshman but I wanted to give a different perspective...</p>
<p>ehart said, "All of my classes were between 150-300 people, therefore making it SO easy to slack off." and this was NOT my experience at all. Maybe it was my choice of major or my placement in the honors program but I had ONE course my freshman year(both fall and spring) that was over 100 kids. My math classes (calc 3 in the fall and differential equations in the spring) were roughly 35 students, my basic chem was the large lecture hall(my one HUGE class), my intro engineering courses were larger but they were really easy lecture type courses, my history courses(both 300 level) were 14 students(fall course) and about 35 students(spring course), and all the other courses(a communication class, a computer science course) were like 40 students. </p>
<p>... just a different viewpoint.</p>
<p>i lived in george read and the dorms were amazing. Not only was having your own bathroom and air condition a plus, but the social life was good too. The hardest part for me this semester was balancing academics and partying. It's very easy to get distracted, but eventually you realize your limits and realistically how much you can go out if you want to maintain a good gpa. Academically Delaware is strong, but it's all up to you how hard you want your course schedule to be. If you take easy classes, then it's nice difficult to do well. I highly recommend going here.</p>