<p>Which school is a better choice</p>
<p>I would say loyola is better, not just becuase its ranked higher, but becuase it’s a really good college with a lot of resources. You can get involved in a lot of things loyola. They help you out with internships and the classes are not of large sizes. I’m a rising freshman, but I already know the classes are going to be great. I don’t know about financial aid at University Scranton, but Loyola by far is one of the most nicest universities out of the ones I applied to.</p>
<p>I didn’t apply to Scranton University, but personally that’s becuase I applied where I was interested. Good luck with your college applications when you apply.</p>
<p>You really cannot go wrong with either school. I know parents who have children attending both universities and are very happy with their kids’ choices. Since both schools are Jesuit and have a similar number of undergraduates, they share a lot in common. The locations are quite different. Loyola is in Baltimore, but has a suburban feel. The downtown and inner harbor areas are only 15-20 minutes away. The U (Scranton) is in Scranton and has a little more of a city feel, yet Scranton is a small city. Loyola has a beautiful campus with great amenities (gorgeous fitness center, great dorms, etc.). Scranton has a beautiful new student center and has plans to add a new fitness center and some dorms within the next year or so.
You need to visit both campuses and get a feel for which school is right for you. You will find admission for Loyola a bit more competitive as evidenced by their 30% increase in applications for the the class of 2014. However, if you succeed at the University of Scranton, you will find yourself with many terrific options. I have met successful doctors, lawyers,and business leaders from both schools as both have produced a ton of accomplished people.
It may come down to your preference in location, your intended major (although this may change), and final cost based on your financial or merit aid package.
Good luck with your college search.</p>
<p>funfatdaddy has it right about Scranton. I can’t compare Loyola and Scranton because I have not been to Loyola. But in addition to the newer student center, Scranton also opened a new sophomore dorm, and a new science complex is under construction to be completed for fall, 2011. The fitness center to which he referred will be in new upperclass housing that is in the works. That will also house some new dining options as well. Loyola’s acceptance numbers for gpa and test scores are a little higher than Scranton’s, but the academics at Scranton are rigorous. Loyola may have a little better name recognition. But really, both are great options.</p>
<p>My son has visited Loyola and Scranton. He loved the Loyola campus and got a great feel for it this past spring. He has also been to Scranton 2x and really liked it saying he could see himself there. I have done much research on Scranton because it seemed more viable financially than Loyola. In comparing some numbers my son would get about 10-12k/yr at Scranton and little to nothing at Loyola. While merit money is not the end all of our decision we do want to weigh all the factors and what would be best and of course what choices he is willing to make. I think if FA was of no consideration Loyola would be his choice today. However, as Kitty56 wrote, completing new science building and starting a new Jr/Sr dorm/dining service/fitness center. That will likely increase the number of applicants and thus the raise the bar of admission.</p>
<p>Scranton is a town that once was glorious but has fallen on hard times. I visited Scranton a year ago and found that besides one shopping mall and the train museum there is not much to see or do in Scranton. Ironically, Scranton was once a major railroad hub but now you can’t get there by train. In contrast Baltimore is easily accessible to points north and south via AMTRAK train. You can easily get to Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York, etc. Baltimore has the beautiful inner harbor area for shopping, restaurants and museums, plus nightlife in Fells Point. Personally, I would never consider Scranton due to its isolated location, no matter how good of a school it may be in other ways. I believe the opportunities for culture, entertainment, jobs and internships would be much better at Loyola in Baltimore.</p>
<p>ok will notWhich school</p>
<p>One of the things you need to consider is once on campus is the cost of entertainment. Going to downtown Baltimore can be expensive, cab rides, cheesecake factory, all adds up. I’m not sure what the kids are doing in Scranton except I think they have the best St. Paddys day celebration in the north east.</p>
<p>A friends on who attends Penn St can get by on a week with $20 and feel like he is living large- visited friends at Georgetown and he ran out of money by lunch time…</p>
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<p>My S is a freshman at Loyola and loving it. It is true that entertainment can be pricey in Baltimore, but there is so much to do. My S is into music and there are lot of lower cost concert venues in the Baltimore are like Rams Head Live in Baltimore and the Recher Theater in Towson. I donÂ’t mind the extra entertainment costs since S earns his own spending money. There is a lot to do in Baltimore and nearby DC. Additionally, his food bills have been much lower than expected. At first I did not like the idea of an ala carte program and food is not cheap at the Loyola dining facilities. S also eats like 5 times per day. My home food bill went way down when S left and I was expecting S to use much more of his dining dollars. Originally I thought he would go through $2500 in a semester and now I can see it will last the whole year and likely all of next Fall. (At Loyola your dining dollars do not expire and you will get back what is not spent at graduation.) Living in apartment style housing has S and his roomies cooking and eating in a lot more than I ever expected. They often will chip in and buy groceries at Costco or WalMart. There also is a PeaPod truck (through Giant Foods) that I have seen delivering to his dorm building. My S now finds the suburbs of his big city home quite boring as he loves being at a city school.</p>
<p>funfatdaddy — Your son’s food bills have been lower than expected at the Loyola dinng facilities, but what is the total being spent on his food when you add the Costco, Peapod, etc to the Loyola tab?</p>
<p>We have a D accepted there & we are trying to figure out what the costs will be—we are not looking forward to guessing at the dining tab, trying to keep that to a minimum, and also trying to calculate what she will spend in groceries purchased elsewhere. </p>
<p>I think our home food bill is not likely to drop as much as yours did, because we are feeding a skinny little girl! ; – ) although she can make salsa disappear pretty fast.</p>
<p>JRZMom…S spent around $500-$600 on groceries together with $800 at the dining halls this past fall semester. This is a good estimate and he is eating very well. S put on another 6-7 lbs. of mostly muscle. S loves his workouts 4x week at the FAC. S also knows where to find the free food. He has been invited to meals by other parents and other students in the dorms. Several activities have offered free pizza. There also are the free midnight breakfasts offered by Loyola to all students every Friday and Saturday night. S had one professor offer the entire class dinner and a debate at his home.
I just picked S up earlier for spring break and he said again on the ride home how glad he was he chose Loyola. It has been a great fit for him. He really is enjoying his friends, the small classes, and his activities.
Good luck to you and your daughter in your college search.</p>
<p>“S also knows where to find the free food.”</p>
<p>I lol’d when I saw that line!</p>
<p>In Feb we visited another school’s Accepted Students Day. It ran all day & they gave the kids and their parents a salad, sandwich, cookies & beverages buffet lunch; this was arrayed on two sets of long tables at either end of a big hall upstairs from the main dining hall, and we sat and ate in a large room next to this hall.</p>
<p>When the alloted meal time was over & the AO staff called the parents & admitteds to leave with this & that group for the next tour, we were in nearly the last group to leave the hall. As we walked from the room, abt 2 doz young men who looked like they had been hanging around the door walked quickly into the hall we had just left, and they cleaned up those leftover sandwiches & cookies from the platters in less than three seconds! My H was laughing—“Here comes the hoard of locusts!”</p>
<p>funfatdaddy–</p>
<p>I forgot to say Thank You for the $$ info on what your son is spending this year! That looks like around 3k/yr which is less than most dining plans for freshmen (who are often made to take 20 meal plans that they don’t use all of) – but then in later years they can go for the 7 or 10 meal options.</p>
<p>JRZMom…Also my S is pretty disciplined when making extraneous purchases. He doesn’t load up on a lot of lattes and smoothies which can add significantly to the dining plan bill. He makes his own coffee in the room and likes to buy his extras from the grocery or club stores. Having a full kitchen makes a big difference.</p>