More about University of Delaware?

Parents Forum
1

<p>Thinking about including one state University on D's college list--we are overseas so have no "home state".</p>

<p>U. of Delaware has come up on our radar a couple of times: program in English with journalism concentration, location within 2 hrs. of NYC, honors college in Ds range of SATs.....</p>

<p>Would be grateful for any first or second-hand information. Is this a campus where a student could feel at home and a sense of community or would it be large and anonymous? Website says only 10-13% are in Greek system. What's the social scene like? Out-of-state stats seem fairly impressive, in-state admits 70%--what's the academic atmosphere like? Would this school be better than UMass Amherst for a serious student non-party type?</p>

2

<p>I toured Delaware a couple of weeks ago with my daughter and was very impressed. The campus, imo, was gorgeous, much nicer than many others we've looked at. The adcom stressed that it is not so much a state university as a state assisted one, receiving only 20% of its budget from the state. She said the school is very financially sound(lots of money from DuPont and Gore--as in Gore-tex) and nothing is on deferred maintenance. The main green has gorgeous buildings on either side, there seemed to be 3 main classroom buildings quite close together. Main street was right off campus, an easy walk with lots of nice eateries. On the downside, the dorms we saw were pretty depressing inside, but some apartment style dorms off campus were being torn down and rebuilt. The school didn't feel overly large and anonymous to us. I'm not sure if it's considered a party school or not. A lot of kids from my area have gone there and I haven't heard of any who haven't been extremely happy with their choice. There were many posts on CC in the past by a Delaware student, Mark UDel. You can maybe look them up. I know my daughter is more interested in Delaware after the tour than before.</p>

3

<p>I would second everything sjmom said above. Delaware is a gem. Niece is considering it for engineering and she and her family were very impressed- honors program is strong.</p>

4

<p>My husband grew up in Newark and attended U of D for one year. We looked at it with my daughter when we were college shopping. I liked it and the honors program looked great. Don't be fooled by the lowish in-state stats, the Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania borders are 20 minutes from Newark so many of those state residents are more familiar with U of D then they're own state U's, so even though there's out of state diversity on paper, I bet the majority of students are from those surrounding states. Nothing like no sales tax for shopping too!</p>

5

<p>I'd say sjmom got it right. Try for the Honors Program, which has among its benefits better housing. Stats for Honors freshman are posted on the UDel site.</p>

<p><a href="http://honors.udel.edu/co-curricular.html#4%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://honors.udel.edu/co-curricular.html#4&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

6

<p>We have first hand experience with the University of Delaware. I'll try to highlight a few things. First, the campus is beautiful and well maintained. Dorms are varied. Freshmen honors students live in the Russell/Thompson/Lane complex. Plain dorms but great location and nice community feel to them. I understand the Rodney/Dickinson area is farther from campus, more of a party atmosphere. Not sure about the inside of those buildings but I'm sure they're nothing to write home about. Upperclass housing is in older dorms along the green area. Much of it has been updated and is really quite nice. Again, nice location. Older dorms (Pencader) are being torn down and new ones being built. Beautiful new one might be ready in the fall? Location though is far from main campus. On to academics. Honors does provide a nice intro to the school with better advising and automatic housing in Russell complex. Class size is between 15-25 for some honors classes but others are just kind of a add on component. Admittance to the honors program is getting increasingly difficult. Our student has had some great classes and advisors that have helped her in many ways and have gone out of their way for her. Partying seems to be no more or less than at other large schools. Or small ones for that matter. Yes, the out of state numbers are misleading because the states border Delaware but does provide some change from all attending from the same high schools. We are out of state and along with DuPont and Gore we subsidize the school quite nicely! Because of a merit scholarship the cost was just slightly over our own state costs. I'll try to answer any other questions.</p>

7

<p>WE toured last year and although our S wasn't interested, he prefered an urban campus, they offered half out of state tuition and the Honors Program which involves the top 14% of students and has one of the better dorm settings in the middle of the campus square. I thought the red brick and green space was beautiful. Steps from the little town of Newark that seemed to have some old taverns, dry cleaners and the like as you would see on a real Main St, then also book and art stores, cafes, coffee shops. Evidently some dorms are further off campus and a friend's son described those settings as very alcohol oriented. Check the PR and Fiske guides. I think there is a fair amount of drinking, perhaps the mid-range for colleges, but not on the big time party school lists. Short train ride to Phila., NYC, DC make the location great. Near enough for skiing and the beach.</p>

8

<p>I can't speak to the academics/honors program, but we really liked U Del. The campus quad is beautiful with its Georgian brick buildings and well maintained lawns. The building interiors we saw on the tour were impressive. </p>

<p>The campus is sandwiched between a residential neighborhood, with many of the buildings owned by the college, and downtown Newark with many shops/restaurants that cater to students.</p>

<p>The dorms, while certainly not as nice as the other buildings on campus, were no worse than the dorms we've seen at other schools.</p>

<p>The only downside I saw may be for athletes. The athletic campus is separated from the main campus by an Amtrak station. There is, however, a shuttle bus that makes the 1 mile trip frequently.</p>

<p>In my opinion, on aesthetics alone, U Del has it all over UMass.</p>

9

<p>I heard rumors of increasing crime incidents on campus--any truth to this?</p>

10

<p>You can check crime stats for any school here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.securityoncampus.org/crimestats/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.securityoncampus.org/crimestats/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>My friend's daughter in Boston just chose U Del for engineering over RIT, WPI, U Vermont, Northeastern and Clarkson. She loved it and is really looking forward to going there. She thought the campus was great, the profs accessible, and the kids were friendly. She is also a musician and is looking forward to playing in some sort of an ensemble there.</p>

12

<p>As far as crime, there are areas of Newark that are less safe and sad to hear that last week a U of D student, living in an off campus apt. , was raped and murdered. I don't believe anything like that has happened before but it is worth noting.</p>

<p>I think Mass is bigger and the weather not as good as Del. unless you like to ski/snowboard. I think DEl. is also seen as a "rising" institution that keeps improving its academics. I agree that the sports areas are little further away but that is not uncommon in large schools.</p>

13

<p>My son visited the UDEL campus when the national science olympiad finals were held there a number of years ago. He also liked the campus and the feel of the campus. Whoever mentioned DuPont and big bucks is right. Very nice place. We still have our fighting blue hens cup from the event!</p>

14

<p>Not a parent, but a HS senior going there in the fall...</p>

<p>The engineering faculty was really great, the campus was amazingly well manicured and fairly compact.... also close to some major cities but not directly in an urban area. Dorms are okay, diversity is lacking. Seems like everyone is New York/New Jersey/Maryland/Rhode Island/etc and middle to upper middle class whites. Amazing study abroad programs and interesting winter break which allows for an optional winter term that you can study aboad on or just stay at home. The honors program is fairly popular but not in the engineering dept. Also very generous with merit money. I'm not a stellar student and got more than I expected. </p>

<p>Check it out... I think it's a nice school!</p>

15

<p>Would you consider this a suitcase school? Would an out of state student staying on the campus on the weekend - coming home just a few times a year - be happy with activities, etc.?</p>

16

<p>When we went on the U of D campus tour, I believe that our guide said around 75% of the students stay on campus on the weekends.</p>

17

<p>DD is a junior in the Honors Program, and loves UD. She chose it over NYU and hasn't regretted the decision for a second. The campus is lovely, as others have commented, and the dorms are probably no worse or better than you'd find on most college campuses. The really horrible dorms (Pencader) are in the process of being replaced. DH and I were on campus yesterday for Honors Day ceremonies (brag, brag - DD has highest cum. in the junior class Early Teacher Ed. program. Boy, were WE knocked out by that fact!), and drove past the new dorm that will replace Pencader - even DD ooo-ed and ahhh-ed. The Russell complex, which houses a large portion of the freshman honors students, is unimpressive physically but has a sense of spirit that just won't quit. DD loved it so much that she became a Russell Fellow (sort of a mini-RA there specifically to help the Honors kids) so she could stay on as a sophomore. Her biggest complaint about upper-class housing is that nobody leaves their doors open the way they do in the Russells. Next year she'll have a single, and I know her door will be propped open most of the time.</p>

<p>I definitely would not call UD a suitcase school. LOL, I can probably count on one hand the number of times DD has come home for other than a scheduled vacation. There's always something going on on campus, between sports, clubs, movies, concerts, shows, a capella groups, improv shows - if you want to be entertained, the possibilities are endless. Of course, there's also Main Street for the drinking crowd, altho the school and local police have clamped down significantly on underage drinking. There are frats and sororities, but they don't seem to rule the place the way Greeks often do at other schools. </p>

<p>Regarding crime, yes, a student was murdered in an off-campus apartment last week, but that was the first major crime we've heard of in years. Needless to say, the school and police are working hard to crack this case, and a police artist's drawing of a 'person of interest' are posted all over campus. You can't walk a block without seeing the drawing - hopefully they'll catch this guy soon. Meanwhile, this brings home the fact that nowhere is truly safe from people with evil intentions. DD viewed it all as just one more reason to live on campus, but that's just her opinion. </p>

<p>Pyewacket asked if this is a campus with a sense of community, or is it large and anonymous. Frankly, that depends on the student. I'm sure that it would be possible for a student to disappear into the woodwork if s/he so desired, but I've never met anyone there who didn't share a strong sense of community. LOL, I was in a shoe store today and when I mentioned to the store owner that my daughter was at UD (it came up in conversation, honest), he got all excited and literally jumped up and down while telling me that he was also a Blue Hen, circa 1993. That's the kind of loyalty the school seems to engender. DD was the classic square-peg-in-a-round-hole in HS, but found a large group of like-minded friends at UD. She doesn't drink or smoke, and no one bothers her about it, which was a fear she had going into freshman year. She is who she is, but she's still one of the group. She's totally comfortable, she's working hard, and she's doing well. We're thrilled with her time and experiences at UD, and recommend the school highly.</p>

<p>Oh yes, she also went to New Zealand over Winter Break. Not too shabby a way to earn 6 credits, I think!</p>