Not most.
Certainly at a decent number of them, but the “testing center” model was never terribly widespread even at its peak.
I attended graduate school at Berkeley. All of our exams were in rooms completely different from where we had our lecture. They could be across campus in a building I had never been in before. Everyone made sure to map it out and allow adequate time to find the correct room. This was back in the dark ages, before cell phones with mapping apps.
I have a child who attends USC. When scheduling classes, there is a separate time for testing (midterms, not finals). For example, class could be on MWF from 11-12 but testing is on Tuesdays at 6 pm.
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Please don’t kill me, but I just had to share. We are rewatching The Sopranos and just finished the season one “College” episode. It is quite interesting how I connected with this episode (well, the entire series actually) differently this time around since when I originally watched Season 1 I was a newlywed and did not yet have a kid, but I digress. Tony and Meadow visit three ME LACs and “Bates and Colby” are shown, but I was fairly certain they weren’t the filming locations so I looked it up. Well, guess where they were filmed… None other than that hidden gem Drew University! I’ve never been to Drew but apparently there are a variety of architectural styles on campus.
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I’ve passed Drew many times and knew a few people that went there, but I recall it having what seemed some pretty serious financial problems maybe like 5 years back. Not sure if it’s still the case or not, but may be worth checking out for prospective students/parents.
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Drew’s endowment was $183.1M in 2019, I couldn’t easily find anything more recent.
They are apparently working on raising money from a land sale, which would convert some of that non-liquid portion of their endowment to liquid assets. It’s not a great sign, but it’s a way of buying time to try to fix whatever the structural issues are.
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Somehow my comments about LAC airport proximity (which should in retrospect have been stated as selective LAC proximity) turned into Drew bashing… which was not my intent. I have some very good friends (that we’ve vacationed with) who are Drew alum.
That said, Drew’s finances are a major concern. Last summer, out of 905 private institutions reviewed by Forbes magazine, Drew ranked as the second-weakest for financial grading.
The Strongest And Weakest Colleges In America — Behind Forbes 2022 Financial Grades
The school is attempting to sell 1/3rd of the campus to a developer. That would dramatically change the “movie set” feel so many above have noted. It feels like a desperate effort to sure things up, but for how long?
Drew is a private institution with an 80% acceptance rate that costs over $60k. That’s a really tough combination. When you have options like Rutgers, TCNJ, and Rowan all costing in the low to mid $30k’s, private schools like Drew are going to have a harder and harder time making the financials work.
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While it’s list price is $60k, Drew only had 3% of entering freshmen pay full price. 74% had financial need and received aid of $37k on average, of which $32k was in scholarships and grants. 23% had no financial need but received $23k in scholarships and grants.
Only 343 entering freshmen but middle 50% SAT was 1120-1300. In Fall 2020, Seton Halls average SAT was 1229 which would translate to a bit higher spread. Elizabethtown College and others in the same athletic conference may be similar to Drew.
It’s too bad such a long-standing school is struggling like this. The area has to be one of the most expensive in the country to operate any entity. Drew also competes directly in North Jersey with Ramapoo College in Mahwah.
For anyone, not that familiar with the school, it’s considered a public LAC, Ramapoo is in the Watchung Mountains, a beautiful part of the state. It would be a good choice for kids looking for outdoor activities like hiking and mountain biking and even close enough for some relatively fairly decent NY State skiing. Decently close to both Newark and Laguardia and public transportation into the city.
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@James_West , I grew up in Mahwah. The college is actually Ramapo, not Ramapoo. 
Ramapo is one of NJ’s public colleges.
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FWIW, Ramapo College is not really “in” the Watchung Mountains, but rather in the Ramapo River valley, that (in that area) flows along the Ramapo Mountains (which are part of the Appalachian Mountains).
But yes, a bit to the South East lies Campgaw Mountain, which is the terminus of the Watchungs.
For those interested in geology, it may be worth noting that the Ramapo Mountains are an extension of the Hudson Highlands. While these physiographic features are proximate to the Paleozoic strata predominately associated with the Appalachian Mountains, the rocks themselves were formed in an earlier era (the Precambrian). The Watchung hills are Mesozoic (Triassic) in age, and are represented elsewhere (but are differently named) as exposed sills in New Jersey (the Palisades) and New York State. In terms of time, at least 289 million years separate the formations of the (older) Ramapo Mountains from that of the (younger) Watchung hills.
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Wow, I grew up in the Watchung Hills - our house backed up on the Watchung Reservation - but never knew this bit of history.
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I must put all the travel peeps on what colleges would be easy to visit if flying into Charlotte! I’m very limited in where our midwest/south city flies into.
Davidson
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UNC Charlotte, Davidson are close. Within 3 hours-UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech.
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I believe Elon and Clemson are also within 3 hours of Charlotte.
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I need to get a map out! We drove to Clemson for summer camp a few years ago and it was about 7 hours I think? I remember driving through Furman nearby.
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University of South Carolina is only about 1 1/2 hours from Charlotte.
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Clemson is about 2-2 1/2 hours from Charlotte
I’m not sure what the out of state percentages for these schools are, but UNC Greensboro is 1.5 hours, App State is 2 hours, UNC Asheville is 2.2 hours, and UNC Wilmington is 3.5 hours.
Depending on how much time you have, some of these areas are lovely tourist destinations as well (App State and Asheville-mountains, Wilmington-beach).
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