<p>My child has been accepted to both, but unfortunately we have not been able to visit Marquette.<br>
Can someone compare the facilities for me?<br>
Classrooms, buildings, dorms, etc.</p>
<p>We recently visited a college and were really disappointed in the facilities - being out of date and generally not kept up very well. Would have to pick Marquette and have that be the case there. Since we have visited Xavier, I thought maybe a comparison by someone who has seen both would be helpful.</p>
<p>I wish I could provide a comparison, but I have never been to Xavier. I’ve been to Cincinnati, but never to the University. </p>
<p>Marquette is an urban campus and has been renovating and building new facilities for some time now. The Union is virtually brand new. Raynor Library is new. The new Law school library just opened last fall. The engineering Discovery Learning Complex is under construction and will open in August of 2011. Also the Al McGuire athletic complex is also brand new. Some buildings are a bit older, but over the past 25 years or so, the campus has really been revitalized by a number of initiatives.</p>
<p>The campus is right in the middle of Milwaukee and the neighborhoods to the north and west of campus have a reputation of being pretty tough. Campus security does an exceptional job keeping the campus safe and none of the students I know personally have ever voiced concerns about safety. Its like any other urban campus I guess - the students need to be smart and aware. East of campus is downtown Milwaukee and Lake Michigan with an awesome lake front.</p>
<p>My sister attended Marquette back in the 1980s and I recall the campus seeming rather dreary to me back then. This is not the case today. Seems to be a lot more green space and it looks pretty up-to-date now. I’m quite happy with it for my son. Some academic buildings are older but all seem well kept and up-to-date.</p>
<p>Most dorms seems to be a bit older but they are all pretty nice inside with nice big clean rooms. McCormick might be the exception in that the rooms are smaller and they seem to be more beat up. Still, McCormick may be the most popular dorm because of the social environment. Kids love living there I am told.</p>
<p>I’m sure there are others who can provide better answers than I. Just thought I would offer what I have seen from my recent visits.</p>
<p>I can’t comment on Xavier, but I am a Marquette grad and my daughter is a freshman there. Marquette is located in an urban neighborhood just west of downtown Milwaukee. The area around the campus is primarily older residential and commercial. Marquette has done a tremendous job of revitalizing the area and have built many new academic and administration buildings within the past 10+ years. I think at least one new building has opened in each of the past 6-7 years. A beautiful new law school building just opened last fall. The new state-of-the art engineering building will open this fall. Most of the older buildings have been completely renovated as well. Marquette’s current president (who is sadly retiring this summer) has been responsible for this building boom and transformation. There’s a mix of older dorms (McCormick, Tower, and Schroeder) that have small rooms but are no different than most other schools dorms. Newer and fully renovated (within last few years) dorms include Mashuda, Straz, McCabe. New student union, library, sports arena, and parking decks have been recently added. </p>
<p>I can say that MU has really made an effort to provide excellent facilities and has spent the money to do so. I recommend a visit if possible; websites only provide a limited view of what’s really available. It really is a great campus</p>
<p>Linda, check my post on the Xavier board regarding my visit.</p>
<p>I enjoyed the school and actually preferred it for a business (Finance) degree. Their new business college rocks. I would have been happy had my son chosen XU.</p>
<p>XU is investing a ton of money in upgrades and I expect their ranking will climb as more people become aware. </p>
<p>The main reason he choose MU over XU is that his high school (4500 students) is as big as XU. And he concludes (probably accurately) that MU and the larger enrollment transaltes into more opportunities (social and educational).</p>
<p>I suggest you make a list of items that are important to you and attempt to rank each.</p>
<p>My main question is in regard to facilities. We have been to Xavier and have seen the great improvements, new buildings, etc. We are wondering how the physical facilities compare at Marquette. Not having been there makes it hard, and really most other things are equal, or MU has an “advantage.” However, if the actually facilities are superior at Xavier, that would make a difference, thus the question.</p>
<p>Thanks newsdrms, I’ll check it out.<br>
The major is engineering - which we know there is a difference because it is offered at MU and Xavier’s is a 3-2 program with the Univ of Cinn. </p>
<p>I just had wanted someone who has visited both to compare the actual facilities - buildings, grounds, dorms. All else equal, probably leaning towards Marquette, but wanted to get a sense of the campus in comparison to X’s. We visited another school last week that was high on the list, but the buildings and technology were out of date and it looked like maintenance was not done regularly on them (needed a good paint job inside, dorms were horrible). It would have been a huge step down from high school, so that’s out.</p>
<p>You might want to try to look into the new Discovery Learning Complex for engineering that will be opening in August. It will be an additional engineering building to the ones that exist already (Olin and Haggerty, I think). I believe its intended to be a center for student project teams working on some pretty cool things. I understand one project has students designing a satellite and after launch the students will be able to control its operation from MU sort of like Mission Control.</p>
<p>Any recent updates to Marquette’s or Xavier’s facilities since spring 2011? Daughter is accepted at both. We’ll be making visits in the coming couple of weeks, but hoping someone can say if there are any new buildings to keep an eye out for other than those discussed in previous posts three years ago.</p>