Overnight stay & interview-Feedback welcome

<p>I am bringing D to visit Muhlenberg next week for our first visit and her interview. I have 2 questions I was hoping to get some feedback from Muhlenberg veterans or students.</p>

<p>Overnight Stay: The school recommended the Wingate Inn, as well as Comfort Suites, Holiday Inn Express and Howard Johnson Inn and Suites. They are all on Hamilton Avenue. Does anyone have any recommendations?</p>

<p>Interview: Has anyone gone through the interview process? Is it informative or evaluative? Any feedback or advice would be appreciated.</p>

<p>I have to say that Muhlenberg really impressed me with the way they set up my D's visit. They bent over backwards to design a terrific day of class visits, meeting with a professor, etc. It was the best experience I have had with an Admissions office regarding a visit. Hopefully the school will impress D as much. Thanks for all feedback!</p>

<p>My D did an interview in August. It was both informative and evaluative. We didn’t know much about Muhlenberg before visiting, but the visit was so amazing that it’s positively her top choice. Not only was Muhlenberg t-shirt worthy, it was SWEATSHIRT worthy. D paid for that out of her own money, no less. Every person we met on the tour was gracious, accommodating, friendly and just downright wonderful. The campus is gorgeous, the area is fine, and we all loved it. If D is admitted and the finances can be worked out (hubby has graciously offered to sell a kidney) D will be going there in the fall. I’m betting your tour will be just as great.</p>

<p>My daughter is a sophomore at Muhlenberg and we have visited numerous times. I would recommend the Wingate by a substantial margin (from our experience). My daughters interview was both informative (for her, mom and dad) and I believe evaluative. They wanted to get a good feel of her interest, maturity and ability to survive 2500 miles from home. Needless to say our experiences were like most everyone elses in that all the students and staff we met were helpful, pleasant and fully committed to the Muhlenberg experience. More importantly her experiences as a student have been consistent with all of her first impressions! She enjoyed the first visit so much that she changed her application the next week to Early Decision, was accepted and has never looked back. Make sure and check out the admissions info as a large number of the students come from Early Decision. Good Luck!</p>

<p>boneman: can you post regarding your daughter’s impressions of the social life on campus and off?
there are some other review sites that really bash Muhlenberg as having “nothing to do at night” “If you want a social life, don’t come here”…that sort of thing…this would probably be helpful to the OP and zoosermom as well…</p>

<p>my daughter is a junior who is VERY interested in Muhlenberg and loved it on her first visit; this conflicting information is concerning to her parents…</p>

<p>I appreciate the assistance and booked the Wingate, thanks for the feedback boneman</p>

<p>zoosermom: I love the “t-shirt worthy” line, I thought my D was the only one that signaled her preference for a college by asking to visit the bookstore. God forbid she actually tells me what she thought instead of me trying to read her mind or determining if she likes the college from whether she buys a shirt. </p>

<p>rodney: I am pretty sure I read the same reviews as you and it had me a little worried at first. However, I also heard that it is a very friendly student base. D is a little shy and reserved, and not a party girl by any means, so the friendly students is important to us. This will be our last visit to any school before she makes a decision, thank god. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the feedback and assistance!</p>

<p>Daughter has not had any issues in finding plenty of things to do at night and on the weekends. She is a dancer so many weeknights nights are filled with rehearsals (and some Sunday nights). She has found the atmosphere friendly and welcoming. She has day trips to NY, Philly, Apple Picking etc. This year she has been much more active in going to weekend parties and this was a kid I would have described as somewhat social but shy. She has definately found plenty to do. Last summer (even though she worked all but two weeks), she just had to fly back to School from Seattle just to visit friends that were performing in the Summer Musical and then on th NJ to visit her roommates. As you can probably tell she is not having a problem with the social life. I hope this helps</p>

<p>tx boneman…</p>

<p>D is a senior. She has never expressed any frustration about a social life, but she has a tendency to make things happen. She is not a drinker, but has people over for pictionary, or to watch a movie. She is a theatre kid, and is frequently busy with rehearsals either for a show, or her acapella group. </p>

<p>We have never stayed at the Wingate- Boneman do you find any cigarette smell there? I hate the smell of cigarettes, so I always stay at hotels that do not allow smoking. We stay at either the Courtyard by Marriott, or Residence Inn near the airport. The Residence Inn is starting to look it’s age, and the Courtyard is nicer. Either are about a 10 minute drive to campus. The Wingate is closer, right next to Dorney park and probably a 5 minute drive to campus.</p>

<p>We also live far away (in Ca.) and D was spent several summers at Muhlenberg doing a summer show. She has been pleased with her choice of schools, and so are we.</p>

<p>My son’s experience was the same…maybe we’ll be meeting in the fall! Interview was both evaluative and informative. He went back last month and spent a day in classes - totally cemented it! We’re going back next month for an audition. The only anxiety is finances. He wants ED., but husband was out of work for 6 months this year, so finances are suddenly an issue. Apparently, we can get an “early read” for financial aid, so that’s the current plan…By far his number one choice!</p>

<p>D is a freshman at Muhlenberg. Her interview was both informative and evaluative. D was on the campus for about 20 minutes and said she really liked it. She chose to attend Muhlenberg over higher ranked colleges. As far as social life D is not a party type however, she says there is plenty to do on weekends.</p>

<p>anothermom-w-q: neither my wife or I have ever smoked and are fairly sensitive to the smell. We have not detected any residual smell in the rooms in which we stayed at the Wingate. Since they do allow smoking in some rooms, I suppose it is possible that if someone was smoking you might be able to smell it in your room but that has not happened to us.</p>

<p>Thanks Boneman. I am really sensitive to smoke and probably won’t chance it.</p>

<p>We used to stay at the Comfort Suites on Hamilton, but it kind of seemed to get run down over time, so I’ve now switched to the Holiday Inn Express and have been very satisfied with it. I almost always pick a hotel that gives me credit toward my Rapid Rewards account with Southwest Airlines, so it somewhat limits me, but I’ve been happy with the Holiday Inn Express lately.</p>

<p>I know this may seem a bit premature for many of you, but if any of your kids are applying ED and they get their acceptance letters soon, I would advise booking a room for move-in as soon as possible if you’re coming from far enough away that you will need to stay overnight. That period of time tends to fill up quickly.</p>

<p>I would second teriwtt’s advice on getting move-in reservations as early as you can (pretty amazing how organized Muhlenberg is on move-in day!). Also getting reservations for Parents Weekend as early as possible is important.</p>

<p>i am a senior in high school and was really struggling to decide where i wanted to go until i saw Muhlenberg. I have a good amount of schools over the last year or so… (GW, Maryland, Loyola Maryland, Muhlenberg, Ursinus, TCNJ, Ramapo, Towson, and a few more)</p>

<p>The college i was impressed with the most is Muhlenberg. They really had everything together nicely. Every student i spoke to loved the school, and i didn’t meet one person who seemed even moderately not into the school.</p>

<p>As far as the interview went, the interviewer really made me feel at ease. It was more of a back and forth conversation about me and my interests/activities. At Muhlenberg, they really care more about “the person” than at other schools. I also interviewed at some other schools, and i found this interview to be the one that really sparked my interest. Character/Personal Qualities is actually one of the assets they look at most when choosing students.</p>

<p>I have been emailing back and forth with my interviewer, and my visit to the school has convinced me to go early decision there. </p>

<p>good luck to you and your daughter!</p>

<p>JW1212, thank you so much for the feedback. It is great to hear that the school strongly considers character/personal qualities. You hear so many colleges talk about how they don’t only look at GPA and test scores but I have only been to a few colleges where it is clear they practice what they preach. D is looking forward to her visit and only wishes that Muhlenberg allowed overnight stays with a student.</p>

<p>Bobby: I’m assuming that you don’t know anyone who currently attends? what about an alumni of your daughter’s high school? would that work?</p>

<p>^ Unfortunately she does not know any current students. She visited another LAC that also did not offer overnight stays but the tour guide was so nice that she told my D that if she did a return visit she could stay in her room for the night. D took her up on it a few months later and the experience was helpful.(unfortunately not for that school, which D dropped a few pegs on her final list). Muhlenberg planned a full day for her so I think she will get a good overview.</p>

<p>If you don’t mind … what were your grades & scores. I’m really interested in Muhlenberg. Loyola, Ursinus & Marist are on my listas well… Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Bobby: how was the visit?</p>