<p>So excited for the new Blue Hen parents! I was in your shoes last year and remember how happy my DD was to make the deposit for UDel.</p>
<p>I know there are a few parents of freshmen active here on CC (zoosermom, jbevang, me) and parents of some older UD students, who would be glad to share info with you.</p>
<p>Feel free to ask away. I can share our experiences and I'm sure the others will chime in too!</p>
<p>Great idea, Linymom!
Feel free to ask away. My son and daughter are very happy freshmen at UD ! I had a zillion questions last year and this board was so helpful to us.</p>
<p>Hi Linymom, thanks for offering to share your experiences. I actually do have a couple of questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Which admitted student day did your daughter attend and what were your experiences on that day? My knee-jerk reaction was to register for one of the weekend day-long decision days, but I am now thinking it may be better to do one of the weekday visits so that my D can see the campus in action and possibly sit in on a class in her department.</p></li>
<li><p>If you did not receive a scholarship for freshman year, can you apply for subsequent years? Do you have to be an honors student to do this?</p></li>
<li><p>Since my daughter did not receive scholarship money, it will difficult for us to send D to UD, without taking on large loans. Can you give an impression of how you feel the quality of education, and all other variables of UD compare to its costs?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks again, appreciate your input.</p>
<p>1- Can you comment on the quality of academic advising?
2-Can you comment on the quality of the housing ?</p>
<p>My D is a true city kid, without either car or driver’s license. Will UDel be a place she can get around without a car and get out of, to Philly or elsewhere?</p>
<p>Any parent have any experience with any of the Christian student groups on campus?</p>
<p>k1k2k3: </p>
<p>We went to the admitted students day on a Saturday. However, we drove down on Friday so DD could sit in on a class (easy to arrange with the dept she was interested in). In addition, we met with financial aid that day (more on that below) and went to Hillel that evening for dinner and the service.</p>
<p>You can get a great deal on Priceline for Newark hotels (just put in 3* and you will get either a Marriott or Hilton property; can even get the Marriott on campus) - $50 or $60. Makes staying overnight easier to handle financially.</p>
<p>DD did not get a scholarship so we went to financial aid. They weren’t that helpful. I believe he said that merit aid was possible after freshman year but I remember it was not much. I have to check back on that as DD is doing pretty well and maybe she can get something for next year (anything would help!). Not sure if you appply or if you get it for achieving a certain GPA.</p>
<p>I am really happy with the education so far. Even her two intro classes last semester were not very large. I see a lot of growth in her attitude towards classes, her studying habits, her writing (giving her a lot of credit for this). Professors have taking a personal interest in her (even more when you go talk to them during office hours) and notice when you sit in front and attend every class. </p>
<p>Brave Ulysses:</p>
<p>My DD has had a good experience in academic advising - starting as “university studies” with an advisor during orientation in the summer and through registration for spring semester; she really liked that advisor but has a new advisor now that she has declared a major; not sure she has met with her yet.</p>
<p>Housing: we only saw honors housing during our tours - if you go to Decision Day, try to get over to Rodney and Dickinson if your D/S is not in honors. 1500 freshman live over there on west campus (including my DD and jbevangelista’s DD). Good location - close to Main St, close to DD classes. Rodney has air conditioning! Only thing I don’t like is that it is primarily singles – I don’t like this for freshmen. Other than that, this freshmen complex is very typical. Looks like great options on the Laird Campus (north of Main St) for upperclassman (today is deadline for applying), but I haven’t seen those yet. DD is excited about these options.</p>
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<p>My DD does not have a car and I don’t want her to have one either. They have buses there (during their Freshman Experience class, someone came in and explained the buses to them - only $1 to the nearby mall - Nordstrom opening soon; huge Forever XXI and a brand new Target - no sales tax either!).</p>
<p>There is also an Amtrak train station pretty much on campus. It’s good to be there, but not a lot of trains stop in Newark. You can check the Amtrak website - but when they are there, you can get to Philly, NYC, Balt and DC. I think there is a commuter train there too (to Philly).</p>
<p>I am currently looking for a way for DD to get to the Wilmington Amtrak station for a particular trip home - haven’t found anything cost effective yet.</p>
<p>Delaware Express Shuttle has worked well for the Philly airport.</p>
<p>Main Street is of course right there and DD loves that.</p>
<p>I don’t have any experience with the Christian groups on campus. Perhaps someone else can address this.</p>
<p>
My D has a personal advisor in each of her two majors. This information is posted on UDSIS, along with contact information and office hours information. This is the first semester with the second major, so she hasn’t had an advisement meeting yet, but in the first major the advisor registered her for classes at her orientation over the summer. She then met with my D once during the first semester to touch base, again to register for the spring semester, and always answers emails promptly. Since the classes for the major are in the building for the major, they run into each other often. D had a change of heart about something over the winter break (after registration but before classes started) and wrote the advisor a long email. She responded the same day with information and insight, bringing up something my D had said to her earlier in the fall that was relevant. It couldn’t possibly be more personal. With the caveat that this is a small department.</p>
<p>My D is in Russell, which is very by the library and the bookstore. The dorms aren’t as pretty as some of the others on the outside, but the inside is completely renovated, very comfortable and extremely well maintained. There’s a kitchen, laundry room and two lounges on the first floor. One regular lounge and one “quiet” lounge. The only complaint we have about the dorm is that there is construction fairly close by. Next year my D has applied to be right on the green at Main Street, across the street from the Trabant student center and directly across from the building housing her major (Old College.) My D chose a large school for the range of class options. She has a little bit of a weird life plan, so she needed an institution with a very wide array of classes to make it work for her. There are tons of classes available. She has only had small classes, but that’s because she is in a very small major, but even in her general ed classes, they haven’t been large. Professors have well-articulated office hours and are very easy to find.</p>
<p>
My D is a city kid, too, and we aren’t providing a car for her. There is a very extensive bus network on campus that goes to nearby places, as well. There is a train station right on campus (which you will hear about till your head swims at parent orientation), there is a student run bus service up to the NYC/NJ/LI area on weekends and holidays. The campus participates in Zip car, also. It’s pretty easy to hop on the train to Philadelphia from campus. My D hasn’t needed a car because there is so much to do on or right near campus. </p>
<p>The first weekend they’re on campus there are tons of events, including religious meet-and-greets. My D did go to one or two, but being the not-morning person that she is, she hasn’t gotten up to go to church.</p>
<p>Hi LINYMOM, I’ve been reading some troubling reports elsewhere about crimes, assaults, thefts and even rapes on campus. And on the Review there was an article yesterday about a Jogger robbed on South Chapel St. What’s the saftey like at Delaware?</p>
<p>I also read in another thread here that Winter Term classes with room and Board and tuition cost over $5k. Apparently at some other schools (i.e.Elon, Middlebury) there is no additional charge. Do you know anything about those</p>
<p>There is an additional charge for winter sessions, so that information is correct.</p>
<p>The safety is very good at UD. There is some crime. It’s an open campus with a lot of people. There’s simply no way around that. My D graduated from an NYC public high school in the inner city, so she has street smarts and finds the campus area to be like a country club! There are plenty of safety features, there is a police presence, but none of that is a substitute for common sense. Someone walking alone at 3 am, drunk, with electronic devices on their person is asking for trouble. My older D attended a small LAC in Pennsylvania which had more crime, including several muggings and a stabbing on campus. UD is not a closed campus in the middle of nowhere. There is crime, drugs, alcohol, the whole gamut of the college experience. Of course, that stuff is on every campus.</p>
<p>mhc: I get the crime reports in and around campus/Newark and there are some incidents. If you read them, you will see that they are usually incidents where an individual is walking alone, late at night or in the wee am hours. I don’t like reading about this, but it is there and I think it is just everywhere. You have to use common sense when walking around at night - in groups, with friends watching out for friends, etc. Your take on this will depend on where you are coming from and your expectations. Unfortunately, it is the real world. My DD recently visited a friend at Temple Univ in Philly – now the situation there would concern me. </p>
<p>Winter session - Ugh. Yes, it’s too long. And if you want to do something on campus (classes) or study abroad, it is additional money. I had no idea it was not an additional charge on other campuses! My DD applied for study abroad for next January. If she doesn’t get in to the program she wants, I am hoping she comes home and gets some sort of internship or work experience in an area of interest (even if they don’t pay her); would like to make that time period productive in one way or another!</p>
<p>THanks to all for the great info. Linymom, I’m not familiar with something you mentioned in your response: “and went to Hillel that evening for dinner and the service.” What is Hillel?</p>
<p>Hillel is one of the Jewish organizations on campus. There is also Chabad. DD has been to events at both this year.</p>
<p>[University</a> of Delaware Hillel - Home](<a href=“http://www.udhillel.org/]University”>http://www.udhillel.org/)</p>
<p>If you are Jewish and have a UD freshman, I would recommend that they attend Freshman Fest (thru Hillel), which is two days before freshmen move-in day. Gets you in before the crowds and allows you to meet 200+ other Jewish freshmen. I believe it is Aug 25-26 this year.</p>
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<p>Just wanted to say that this year one of the freshman dorms, George Read, is on the Laird Campus (it’s part of what’s known as the Independence Complex). It’s fabulous: large doubles, each two connected by a large bathroom, individual heat/AC controls in the room, nice study lounges, etc. When we saw S’s room for the first time we were amazed at the size. He and his friends love it up there.</p>
<p>You can see pictures of the various housing options here: [Housing</a> Tour](<a href=“http://www.udel.edu/has/tour.html]Housing”>http://www.udel.edu/has/tour.html)</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips on transit and whatnot. D is heading down this week for the scholarship weekend, and hope she comes back with a good sense of the personality of Udel (at least of the honors program).</p>
<p>I would not count on much, if any, merit scholarship money becoming available unless you were awarded it at the time of admission. My D graduated from UD last summer (nursing). We are from OOS. She was not awarded any merit scholarship money prior to admission. My D’s GPA each year at UD ranged between 3.5 - 3.75. She was invited to join numerous scholarship honor societies at UD. We were told by the Financial Aide Department that all students were reconsidered every year for merit scholarship money but she was never awarded any. This was just our experience.</p>
<p>How wonderful that your D is going into nursing. You must be pleased. Yes, I have heard regarding many schools that scholarships beyond those offered at admission are few and far between (regardless of what the schools say) and I assume UDel is no exception to that general rule. I guess the schools know that once you commit, you will find a way to stay in. The trip my D is making this weekend is to interview for a certain set of merit scholarships offered to incoming freshman. So, we know she is admitted, but do not have financial aid / merit information yet. Looking forward to having that resolved one way or another.</p>
<p>momof2giants – my older daughter was invited/attended scholarship weekend last year…it was good, a little intense, but good. My daughter believes that everyone invited last year was offered either full ride or full tuition. Whew! It is a beautiful thing.</p>
<p>UD became my Ds #1 as a result of how special they made her feel. And truly, they still make her feel special. Her advising has been strong and she is really enjoying her college experience.</p>
<p>We are Roman Catholic & although I attend mass weekly, my oldest didn’t always want to participate. She lives in Russell, it is near the Catholic center & she and some friends have taken to attending weekly mass. They also go to some of the social activities, because they are fun & free – like a hay ride, cosmic bowling, ice skating and Friday pizza dinners. I think a couple friends also did a bible study, but it conflicted with a study group of hers.</p>
<p>It is a great school and will be a great fit for some kids.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input pamom … how nice your daughter had gotten connected to the Catholic activities on campus.</p>
<p>Any thoughts on the similarities / differences with UDel and UMd (academics and personality)? D is also up for scholarship at both schools (we are OOS for both). Proximity to DC is a big plus for UMd; however, UDel has a program not found at UMd that she is interested in.</p>
<p>My d got into udel with some merit money but her first choice is umd because it is bigger and seems to have more of a “rah, rah” atmoshere. Is there a lot of school spirit at udel? Are there a lot of social/entertainment things on campus on the weekends?</p>