<p>Although NMU isn't a top university discussed on CC I am hoping that there is someone who has had first hand experience with this school. I'm not really looking for comparisons to other schools or to have other schools suggested.</p>
<p>I am more interested in hearing about things like student life (dorms, meal plans etc) and dealing with the administration (from registering for classes to red tape with forms).</p>
<p>I am taking my son on a tour the middle of March and having an idea of what to look for or questions to ask would be helpful. From what I can gather Marquette looks like a neat city. I have the hotel booked but if there is any place to eat or visit that should be included while we are there please let me know.</p>
<p>We have looked at the NMU website and I have searched the CC forums but any additional insight would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I can’t help with the school, but I know some people who have lived on the Upper Peninsula and they loved it. The experience isn’t for everyone but can be great for some. Regional identification is strong.</p>
<p>I know you aren’t looking for others, but while you’re on the UP you might want to check out Michigan Tech in Houghton.</p>
<p>I know some people who go there and some of them love it and some of them hate it. But, I can’t really tell you any detailed information about how it runs.</p>
<p>But as far as Marquette goes, try the Huron Mountain Bread Company. It’s amazing!</p>
<p>My sons have several friends who have attended. It’s a destination college. Marquette is a funky, artsy little town set in an unbelievably beautiful area on Lake Superior. Cliff jumping into the lake and lots of hiking, camping in warmish weather and skiing nearby at Marquette Mountain and of course Mt. Bohemia will challenge the best of the best skiers and surfing when the waves are huge. Marquette at times reminded me of hilly Duluth (but smaller) and it’s “downhill” to “downtown” from the college so longboards and bikes are everywhere when there isn’t snow. There’s some Olympic training there and the funkiest fieldhouse I’ve ever seen. </p>
<p>Marquette is a UP city center so all the usual big box needs just outside town.</p>
<p>While I can’t put my finger on what qualities kids have that “hate” the UP and “hate” Northern and for that matter “hate” Michigan Tech…it’s just not right for some kids. We’ve known kids at both colleges that couldn’t get out of the UP fast enough. </p>
<p>It was my S1’s in state “safety” back several years ago because of the location and size. He was loath to go to a big uni like UofM or MSU and would not consider any of the other public schools. He was our first so we encouraged him to apply to one state public. He is elsewhere but we visited and spent some days on campus and in town and around. The campus is walkable…sort of 60s modern but not ugly. Lots of greenspace and quad areas. The dorms are set up well with wings so they don’t feel like big hotel boxes and the rooms were better than some we saw at other colleges. They seem to have a goodly number of kids from Chicagoland. I would divide the students into two chunks: regional outdoor lovers who don’t want to go to Tech and want a remote far away school, students from the UP and the local population. But the “vibe” is all undergrad on campus. My S1 would have gone in as a top entering freshman statswise, but I would have had no qualms if he had for some reason chosen to go there. The price can’t be beat, especially if you have decent GPA/ACTs as they have a number of autoawards that are pretty generous.</p>
<p>I had friends that worked at the college so my experiences with administration were more than smooth. Again, anytime you have a college in a spectacular location you “get” some great profs who live there for quality of life almost more than “life of mind.” They also have a neat program for kids traveling home in winter with hotels along the way downstate to Wisconsin, Chicago and Detroit that kids could stop and stay in if there was a blizzard. Their correspondece with us was timely and not too much. They followed up with my son after he declined with a nice letter to him telling him that all he would have to do is call them if his college of choice didn’t work out and he’d be welcome. Gave him the warm fuzzies.</p>
<p>They also have a program for kids that have less than stellar high school experiences. I don’t remember much about it because it wasn’t part of our realm. I think it involves taking kids with less than 2.0 as probation freshman with special tutorials/help/etc. It’s probably on their website which I found pretty comphrehensive.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone, especially momofthreeboys, for your input. </p>
<p>While my son has never been to the UP we did live in rural northern Wisconsin for part of his childhood and he continues to go back there for visits. He definitely is not an urban/city type of kid and is used to the outdoors lifestyle so I think the UP will suit him.</p>
<p>I agree that the price can’t be beat. It’s one of the reasons it’s on his list. Based on the website information I think he could really be happy there.</p>
<p>Thanks for mentioning the hotel program if there is a blizzard. I will be sure to ask about it when we are there as it is a concern of mine, though we still have family in northern Wisconsin he could probably get to if he needed a place to stay on the way home.</p>
<p>One last thought, I’ve looked at hundreds of college websites for my boys…and Northern’s is my favorite by far. Well organized and easy to find “stuff”, lots of info for parents that isn’t too fluffy, good search capabilities, loads fast yada yada yada.</p>
<p>Don’t be discouraged by the weather in mid-March. It may be snow or else just mud. For restaurants, try Up Front or the Vierling downtown, or New York Deli close to campus. If the snow has cleared, drive around “The Island” (Presque Isle)</p>
<p>Having lived in N Wis (presuming close to the Mich border, not the “up north” for those from Madison et al) you know about isolation and weather in the UP. Sounds like that lifestyle may suit your son. I gather you then want to know if the college environment would work. Looks like others have given great insights. Know people from the UP. Green Bay is some 3-4 hours drive, twice that to Chicago. Marquette gets lake effect snows. All of this is fine for the college student who is fine with winter, the classes and people make the difference. Good luck.</p>
<p>We know two kids who graduated from Northern MI and loved it. One transferred from Madison because she wanted a smaller, quieter school. She’s in an excellent grad program now. My D1 toyed with it as a safety because these kids liked it so much, but decided she wouldn’t have liked being so remote. That’s definitely a significant attribute.</p>
<p>Just thought I would add an update. We visited on the 17th and both my son and I were very happy with NMU. It was the first school we visited that he requested a T-shirt from.</p>
<p>The students and the staff were friendly and went out of their way to make us feel welcome and answer any questions we had. There were 5 families (including us) on our tour of campus–2 from Wisconsin, 1 from Iowa, 1 from Arizona and 1 from Kentucky. The NMU website listed a fairly high number of OOS students and that reinforced for me that it was true. Shortly after returning home my son received a very nice letter from the admissions rep we met with. </p>
<p>Driving through the big woods to get to Marquette reminded us both of northern Wisconsin and it certainly was beautiful. Marquette itself has a cute downtown and on the outskirts are all the necessary stores and restaurants my son could want. I could see though a young adult who liked to shop a lot may not find it adequate.</p>
<p>I am very glad we have found a university that my son likes, is affordable and that he is above their guaranteed admittance levels. </p>
<p>Thanks again to all who replied to my initial request for information.</p>
<p>Thanks Emmybet. It’s a relief to have at least one place for sure he knows he wants to apply to next fall and that he would be happy to go.</p>
<p>I’ve been following your posts regarding your daughter’s acceptances. She has a lot of good schools to choose from and I’m sure she’ll do great whichever one she picks.</p>
<p>If I could only get one of mine to go to NMU. I really liked it! They have this crazy attitude about driving to the UP from the lower half…do they still give every student a free laptop? They were one of the first really “connected” colleges in Michigan and I used to drool over the gorgeous landscape pictures in their literature.</p>
<p>Yes they all still get a free laptop that is replaced every 2 years. They also started a text book rental program (not all books are covered though) and have a really good used book program. Additionally, laundry is free in the dorms so no having to remember to bring quarters.</p>
<p>President Obama was in Marquette not too long ago to discuss wireless coverage in rural areas, mainly because NMU has such a good program.</p>
<p>Our tour guide also went over the hotel program for students traveling home. If a student is tired or the weather is bad they can show a card provided by the school along with their ID and receive a low cost hotel room. Hotels that participate are in several states.</p>
<p>Oh good…it was all those “little” things, like the hotel program, the laptop program etc. that impressed me. Most of all NMU has done a very good job I think of communicating to the parents about “parent things” and communicating to the kids in a very real and mature manner. I liked that. I don’t need a college telling me to “let go”, I need a college thinking to have a plan on what is going to happen if the dorms close for christmas and a blizzard starts after they’ve been on the road for a couple hours. I appreciated that as a college, they think through these very real situations as opposed to spending time telling us things we don’t need to hear.</p>
<p>Two of D2’s HS pals are sophomores at NMU and really like it. We’ve seen some pics on FB of ice caves & so forth that are incredible. Good luck!</p>