Hello, I am a northerner who is a hard working student who does well in school. I like a lot of extra help especially in math and science. I am also involved in a lot of after school activities and sports. For college, I am majoring in nutrition and dietetics. I have some questions for anyone who has gone or goes to U Del, knows about it, or has been in the nutrition and dietetics program:
- How is the food
- is the program for nutrition and dietetics cut throat,/ competative? Is the nature of the school competative and cut throat?
- How is the extra help/ teacher availability/ willingness to help?
- how is the athletics?
- What is the housing like?
- How are the people?
Thank you so much!! I also applied to Texas Christian U, Dayton, St. Louis U, U Pitt, James Madison U, Purdue and UCONN. I need to make a decision in 28 days I need help!!! Thank you so much for whatever you can tell me 
- Food is typical for a University setting. It is not Mom's home cooking but is OK. The variety is pretty good at most of the cafeterias.
- All the majors in the College of Health Sciences are very rigorous in nature but if you budget your time well you should be OK. Students overall at UD are smart and competitive but I would not categorize a lot of them as "cut throat", at least not to any greater extent than you would find at a school of similar caliber.
- The Office of Academic Enrichment offers the following help for students that seek it out (check out their website for more specifics):
- INDIVIDUAL TUTORING: Available at nominal rates, and free to members of some programs. Consult the TUTORFIND DIRECTORY here or in our office.
•DROP-IN TUTORING: Free of cost to all students, drop-in tutoring is available for math, chemistry and physics. Check the DROP-IN TUTORING SCHEDULE for our current offerings.
•GROUP TUTORING: Free of cost to all students, group tutoring is available in over 30 courses each semester, primarily in the areas of mathematics, science and business courses. Courses are continually being added to the list, driven by student requests. To help a group tutoring session get set up, come in to the Office of Academic Enrichment and sign up in the Group Tutoring book (on the tutoring desk in reception area). Watch the GROUP TUTORING SCHEDULE for sessions that have already been scheduled. Once a session has been scheduled, all interested students are invited to attend.
•SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION: These group review sessions are conducted in several courses each semester at the request of specific programs or faculty. SI is a non-remedial comprehensive academic support program that provides assistance through regularly scheduled group study sessions. Each group is led by an experienced tutor who attends all class sessions, takes notes, and reviews readings. Students become actively involved with course content and develop strategies for mastering the material and preparing for exams.Peer tutors are trained by our staff, and prices are regulated to keep this service affordable.
- UD is at an FCS level (old Division II) for football which still is very big on campus. Most of the rest of the formal athletic prpgrams are in Division I. Club/extramural athletics are also available and are very big on campus.
5.Most of the freshman housing is in new/renovated dorms completed over the last 3-4 years so overall they are pretty nice. Most of the dorms have communal bathrooms/showers on each floor.
- Overall our D found the student body to be friendly and supportive of each other. Obviously there are always exceptions but you probably would not want to hang around these students anyway.
Good luck in making your decision.
@Mwallenmd - can you speak to the party scene? My D is a non-drinker/non-partier and from what she has heard, UDel has a bit of a “party school” reputation. There are all kinds of videos on YouTube touting “day rage”, basically saying “if it’s nice out, we’re drinking.” While I would caution anyone not to put too much stock in online videos, I must admit, we have heard from various sources about the party school atmosphere. Did you find this to be true? I can’t imagine that in a school the size of UDel, there aren’t plenty of non-party types, but my D has reservations. And what about Greek life? Does it completely dominate the social scene? Is it socially detrimental to not participate? My D loves the school and I really think it could be the one for her, but she has some nagging concerns about fitting in.
UD has a historical reputation of being a party school. UD began to clamp down on this and there some pretty stringent prohibitions regarding the use of alcohol/drugs in the dorms. Students who violate these rules face some pretty severe sanctions including being put on Probation and expulsion for repeat , and even some first time, offenders. Obviously at many schools similar to UD you are going to have a percentage of students who don’t have enough self-control to avoid becoming involved in excessive parting. With the rigor of course work at UD you won’t last long if you major in “partying”. Sadly a small number of students find this out each year. At UD about 20% of students are involved with Greek activities. That leaves over 13,000 students who are not involved. UD has a wide variety of social activities, clubs, organizations, athletic activities available that don’t center around partying so alternatives are available if a student seeks them out. In addition there are varying degrees of “partying” even for those who choose to participate. The majority of students at UD are very serious about their studies and usually there is a minimum amount of partying Sunday thru Thursday with the majority of students who are interested in such activities being involved, again to varying degrees, on Friday and Saturdays. Most students who do this are able to establish a balance between studying and engaging in party type activities and most do in a reasonably responsible way. Our D was in a sorority at UD and while Greek activities are big on campus, students who elect not to become involved with Greek Life have many other things they can become involved with, as previously noted, and certainly are not viewed as “outcast” students. Just FYI sororities at UD that have residences are not allowed to hold open parties at their residences. Overall, IMHO, the amount of excessive parting at UD is not significantly different from others schools of a similar caliber. Your D should be fine if she seeks out some of the many alternatives available. But she must take the initiative herself to set up her own social network. UD will not do it for her. Hope this info is helpful. Good luck to your D.