<p>I think the argument you make in your OP would make a good case for the appeal. I hope you win it. </p>
<p>I think some colleges are very aggressive on ticketing because they make a lot of money on it. I know there’s the flip side of making sure people don’t abuse parking but I do think there’s a revenue generation agenda at many campuses.</p>
<p>I remember some frustration finding one of the 3 parkings spots on campus at UCB (slight exaggeration). Finally I found one but while looking for one noticed a some of the spots marked ‘NL’. At the orientation session someone mentioned they parked in one but didn’t know what NL meant (someone from the Nederlands??). The guide told him ‘NL’ means ‘Nobel Laureate’ and one of the perks the prize winners get is a parking spot on campus and suggested the attendee hurry up and move his car or else it’ll surely get ticketed.</p>
<p>The ticket was issued by GMU. This is our first parking ticket at any university. I feel that GMU made it loud and clear that they care more about making $75.00 than in making a prospective student feel welcome. Of course, GMU is being 'penny wise and pound foolish". By ticketing an OOS prospective student who has to pay an enormous premium in OOS tuition, they lost this potential revenue because my son is not going to apply to GMU. He was completely turned off by the rigid attitude of admissions being unable to get the ticket erased. Clearly, admissions knows of this parking problem and said we are not the first to get this ticket. I feel this is a red flag that I don’t like how GMU handles problems. In the case of Towson, my son is still interested in applying and knows he is not going to have a car because of the parking problem.</p>
<p>I think it behooves the admissions office to make parking and navigation as painless as possible for prospie families. Some schools do a great job of this, giving detailed directions (even GPS coordinates) to the parking lots, sending a “visitor” placard when you pre-register for an info or tour, telling you where to go for “overflow” visitor parking, warning you where NOT to park. Some schools do none of this. It seems like a no-brainer to have this kind of information on the visitor page. </p>
<p>My toughest parking experience so far was Brandeis. Yes, there was a map of where to park. But there was construction going on, and the parking lot we visitors were supposed to use was gone.</p>
<p>No matter what anyone says at this point, you have written GMU off your list. It is a shame you are experiencing this. It is a shame it is off your list. It’s a great school.
Parking is treated a bit differently there than many other schools as there is a greater number of students who commute. There are also many events that take place on campus at the Patriot Center. This leads to a higher degree of abuse and a greater need to address violations. They may simply be less likely than a small LAC to waive the ticket without going through any other process or appeal. It is not a ‘parking trick’. It is very, very unfortunate that you are faced with dealing with an appeals process, but I do not think your family is being singled out here.
I do feel confident given all the information that the ticket will be waived.</p>
<p>Just want to caution you that in most cases, something goes wrong at virtually every college you visit. Either it’s snowing big time and the professor your kid was supposed to meet is stuck at O’Hare from the day before and can’t get back in time, or the admissions person put your name on the wrong list so you’ve got a reserved spot for TOMORROW’s tour, not today’s, and today’s is full can’t you come back? or you missed your exit off the interstate and end up 30 minutes late for an info session which is just wrapping up.</p>
<p>I’d advise you not to let your blood boil when this stuff happens. If you get angry and knock every school off the list whenever there’s a screw up, you may not end up with enough schools to even make a list! We found that some schools are great with the public face/warm and friendly; some schools are great with the “we’re all business here” and some schools are just downright incompetent when it comes to managing the PR elements of admissions.</p>
<p>But none of these are really correlated to the quality of the educational experience. Some schools which are so warm and fuzzy before you apply are known to be administrative nightmares if you’re actually enrolled (and vice versa). So appeal the ticket, and try to laugh it off. It will make a funny story in a few months.</p>
<p>I can see GMU being on the list for an in state VA student who starts as a freshman or a grad student whose employer pays the entire bill. I did not like the fact that my son has to take 3 semesters of core classes, plus additional required classes to be considered for the undergrad accounting program. After all these classes, he then applies for the accounting program. </p>
<p>I compare this with Engineering at places like UMCP and USC where my son starts Engineering day one.</p>
<p>It is a lot of work at GMU before you even know if you are accepted to its accounting program. If my son did not get accepted to its accounting program mid way through college, then what?</p>
<p>Also, did not like the fact that housing is not guaranteed for a transfer student ( I understand why that can be the situation as campus housing is always tight). With the parking situation and at whim $75.00 parking tickets, I would never buy my son a car to drive to GMU and just pay parking tickets because he might not get on campus housing as a transfer student. 4 years of OOS tuition is ridiculous.</p>
<p>It’s hard to like a school when they make it so difficult to do something as simple as visit.
I can understand the OP’s feelings. But you did learn something- parking is hell, there.
And admissions is not as accommodating or helpful as they could, should be.
These little things do matter, as we have a lot of choices, especially if we’re talking about full pay to an expensive private college. How hard would it be to provide the student with a pass to put in the windshield? It makes one think that they really don’t care. (or that they just want to collect the money, but I can’t succumb to that much cynicism)</p>
<p>You are right that our list of schools to apply to may end up being a very small list. And that is ok, because I don’t want to spend a life time of savings for the wrong choice and starting all over. I certainly don’t want my son at a school with $75.00 parking tickets.</p>
<p>It’s too bad you had not looked more closely at their website where they provide parking instructions for info sessions and campus tours - at least then you might not have been too surprised about the ticket (although perhaps the amount):</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with the campus at all, but from the maps on their site, it looks like your S might have turned off of Mason Pond Drive too soon and ended up at the general lots on the west side of the pond instead of the visitor’s parking deck north of the pond…still, certainly a hassle although I am not sure it would be enough to turn me off the whole school (oh and for the record, this is something that I would so totally have done as well, given my poor sense of direction - even with a map in front of me!! ;)).</p>
<p>I’m just back from a week long college visit road trip (and have done visits with another child, too), and I can attest to that. I am getting better at not totally becoming hostile toward the offending school. It’s difficult, however, because except for the tippy-top schools, the majority really want and need applicants, so it’s hard to understand why they don’t make things easier on the prospects.</p>
<p>On one visit last week we arrived on campus 45 minutes early, found the parking office per the instructions on the web site, got a parking pass, but they said it wouldn’t work for the admissions office, called the admissions office twice and bit my tongue when they said that correct parking instructions were on the web site (they weren’t) and when we finally figured out where to park we arrived 10 minutes late. *55 minutes to figure out where to park the car!!! * Then we arrived at our first appointment and they said they had cancelled all their appointments that day. BUT, the girl fit us in and we ended up liking the school.</p>
<p>Scansmom, in my example above, where they insisted that the correct instructions were on the web site, there was one link for parking that was broken…it would boot me out of the web site every time I clicked on it. Those were probably the “correct” instructions to which the girl was referring. I guess we all need to tell schools when components of their web sites aren’t working because I’m sure they don’t know. I didn’t want to say anything when I finally arrived because I’m sure I sounded like enough of a “witch” on the phone!</p>
<p>I guess my perspective on this is that first impressions count. The Admissions Office KNOWS they are dealing with prospective students and their parents and that it behooves them to bend over backwards to be nice. They KNOW that these visitors are not familiar with the area and with where to park. They KNOW that people get lost and run late - it happens. So, if they KNOW all this and are still rude and unaccommodating - I would vote with my feet and take my prospective student and my dollars elsewhere. I have a very low threshold for this type of nonsense.</p>
<p>It seems that college parking is at a premium at most campuses (even during the summer, sometimes made worse by construction projects). We’ve had parking struggles or qeustions at most visits.</p>
<p>HINT - Research parking as much as possible. But also have a printout of something to throw on the dash to show you are prospective freshman family. A copy of your Tour / Info session letter for example. Then if you need to bail out and park in a questionable area, you may get a bit of sympathy. (Maybe not, but at elast your tried).</p>
<p>This thread just makes you appreciate the schools which provide you parking passes all the more. (OP, as you may remember, USC sent us parking passes when we set up the initial interview–a very nice touch!)</p>
<p>This same thing happened to me! Except it was Franklin & Marshall and we had parked in admissions parking! The police officer saw his backpack in the car and assumed it was a student. Dah! I only noticed the ticket after we were miles away from the school, so I had to call them the next day to get it handled. Of course they voided the ticket, but this experience frayed my nerves until I heard I wouldn’t have to pay.</p>
<p>I also got a parking ticket when I parked in a vacant, darkened, empty parking lot when we went out to dinner the night before visiting Johns Hopkins. It was 9:15pm and I had left my car for all of 10 minutes. I was so angry to find the police officer having to use her flashlight to read the meter that I told my son not to apply there. Errr.</p>