<p>I am beginning this thread to open up a forum for general questions about Marquette University, answered by parents and students. I know when I was researching Marquette after my daughter expressed interest in the university, I would have LOVED a thread where I could ask general questions. I hope this thread helps someone! </p>
<p>I am a parent of a freshman daughter from out of state. I responded to some posts on another thread and it seemed that there may be general questions out there that would merit its own thread. If I can help in any way...great!</p>
<p>We live in Colorado but have family in Chicago. This has helped for some of the shorter breaks Marquette has. My daughter came home for Christmas of course, and will be home in 2 weeks for Spring Break. But for Easter and Thanksgiving she was able to take Amtrak to Chicago to spend with family. They also had a “Fall Break” for 5 days (W-T-F-S-S) which she could have stayed on campus but it was early enuf in her 1st year that she was homesick and wanted to come home. We ended up meeting in Washington DC for a long weekend. </p>
<p>I would say that there are lots of kids from Wisconsin and Illinois that now offer a place of refuge for holidays. That helps, especially if you don’t have family close. </p>
<p>She has used transportation from the school to the Amtrak station but said sometimes it is more convenient to use the bus. There is a shuttle to and from the airport that has a special rate for Marquette students to/from the airport that we have used but she has used the bus also. Depends on the time of day. </p>
<p>My daughter has flown Frontier and United to/from Colorado/Milwaukee. I am able to plan far enuf ahead to snag some good deals. </p>
<p>She began her year in Carpenter but because of roomate problems she moved to Cobeen. All girl dorm. She loves Cobeen, or more importantly her floor. She began on a floor that had mainly the volleyball team so she misssed all the freshmen bonding that takes place. Her new floor in Cobeen is full of freshmen and she was welcomed in with open arms. Her choice of Carpenter was because she liked the idea of a room with a private bath. I tried to tell her the importance of just jumping into the communal living…she learned. :)</p>
<p>Something for those living far away, my daughter is going to store her stuff at Marquette for the summer. We are just in the process of figuring this out but what she tells me is:
She will pack her things in boxes, they will cart it to a summer storage location and cart it back to her dorm room next Fall for her. She is in a quad and they will share the cost at $25/each per month. I thought that was a great deal especially saving me having to recruit family or come out myself. Sounds good to me!</p>
<p>For me, Montegut as well I suspect, this is fascinating. Please keep it coming!</p>
<p>My son is considering the dorm engineering specific–can’t think of the name. Has your daughter ever mentioned her thoughts on this? Maybe not best to spend all your time with basically the same people? </p>
<p>We live in Wisconsin, and I know we would be thrilled to host future friends from a distance. Nice solution for everyone. Frankly, so is the storage!!</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the engineering dorm questions…perhaps someone else (yes…time to stop lurking and jump in! ) could answer that question for you. My daughter is not a partyer (at least she wasn’t when she left for college!) so she wanted a quieter atmosphere. Being on a floor short of other freshmen was terrible for her. She also did not know anyone else going to Marquette so she did not have a choice marked down for a roomate.</p>
<p>In my opinion roomate selection went pretty poorly for her. She had a mega-partyer for a roomate, one who is no longer at Marquette. This roomate also insisted on men in the room doing things that are saved for pay-per-view tv…enuf said. It was a disaster. But we felt like lessons were learned and God blessed that situation with her present room.ates and friends. It was quite an eye opener.</p>
<p>There was no survey to take that would have matched roomates with like values/ideals/habits when she was filling out her housing form. NOW I know better for my high school junior daughter. :0</p>
<p>Not a partyer here, either. We’ve been leaning toward the study floors, etc. Maybe someone will weigh in on the benefits. One of the other schools he is looking at has an extensive form for matching up roommate interests/values. I think filling it out will be time well spent. </p>
<p>As you said–at least Marquette handled the situation well for you. That’s great to hear.</p>
<p>Thanks for the storage info? Do you have to move all your stuff out over Christmas and all these other breaks?</p>
<p>Thanks also for the airport info. We’re considering Amtrak to Midway so we can do a direct flight from Midway to New Orleans through Southwest. Any input on this?</p>
<p>We are also interested in an engineering floor. If anybody has input on that, please post!</p>
<p>How did y’all do the DC hookup? Would love to do that. </p>
<p>The bus you speak of, is that the public bus they get passes to? Does that go to the airport or the Amtrak station?</p>
<p>Sorry for all the questions, but am so excited to get info!</p>
<p>No Montegut, nothing needs to be moved out during break time. </p>
<p>As far as travel, we chose United and Frontier because we live about 5 hour drive from Denver International Airport. So my daughter has to fly from Milwaukee (MKE) to Denver to our regional airport. Right now those flights are under $200, I can fly my daughter home this May from Milwaukee for under $100 + luggage fees. Flights out of Chicago are actually more expensive right now. I never know the rhymn or reason for that! </p>
<p>I’m not sure how close Amtrak makes it to Midway (MDW) where Southwest flies out from. The Amtrak fare has been this year about $45 RT from Milwaukee to Union Station Chicago. What a cab fare would be from there…I’m not sure if all that hassle is worth it, especially for your student. Start checking which airlines serve Milwaukee and then do your research from there. You may be pleasantly surprised!</p>
<p>The public buses, which they student fee pays a pass to, goes both to the airport and the Amtrak station. I know my daughter took the Milwaukee bus to the airport to surprise a friend coming in…she took some kind of campus shuttle to the Amtrak…I think this is correct, but not sure. In any case, transportation is easy to figure out for the kids. </p>
<p>We had a trip planned for a conference in Washington DC already when my daughter informed me she had a “Fall Break” and wanted to come home because she missed us so much. The airfare to Washington DC was SO CHEAP ( she had to fly thru Detroit on Northwest) and she was a pro on airport shuttles by then, that she met up with us easily for a L-O-N-G weekend. We had so much fun and all our hotels were already paid for. </p>
<p>An aside, I just got a call from my daughter yesterday that she got an RA position for next year…something she had to apply for and interviewed for…no room and board fees for 2009-2010. Yippee!</p>
<p>Congrats on the RA position! What year is she in? That’s a good idea. Son would probably love to do that. </p>
<p>But, boy, that’s a tough job, lots of responsibility. Will pray for her. </p>
<p>I remember my RAs from college. They were exceptional young ladies who I still credit with being a positive influence on my life. You should be very proud of her.</p>
<p>Lots of interest in Amtrak because my son’s only cousin on husband’s side lives in Ann Arbor, and he really wants to see her while he’s up there. They don’t drive, and mentioned taking the train sometimes to Chicago, so he wants to look into visiting them when time permits.</p>
<p>Big advantage of college in a city is the accessibility of air travel. We’re really trying to avoid needing a car until maybe necessary when son starts co-oping or interning. Hopefully, public transportation is so good there, he might be able to do without one even then.</p>
) could answer that question for you. My daughter is not a partyer (at least she wasn’t when she left for college!) so she wanted a quieter atmosphere. Being on a floor short of other freshmen was terrible for her. She also did not know anyone else going to Marquette so she did not have a choice marked down for a roomate.</p>