I was happy I got to see the college ave dorms but felt like I didn’t get to see/do very much. The line was really long for the dorm tour. Even though I left an hour and a half, we were a bit late and turned away from the full pre-med talk. I was a bit frustrated.
What did you think of the day? Did you learn anything you couldn’t get from the web?
I thought it was great. I realized that Busch itself is like a mini engineering and science college in itself. I saw all the facilities, saw students using all the machines for their senior projects, got to learn the layout of it. I paid my deposit before I left.
We were mostly on Douglas campus at Mason Gross for the day. The overview was good, if a little “Big Ten” sports heavy – know your audience. The theatre students were treated to a technical rehearsal and talk back of the 2nd year class’s fabulous production of Dream Play–which was awesome, except that they didn’t finish it! I had to read the rest of it after we got home last night.
The rain started after that and the day kind of petered out. There was a long line for the BBQ (hot dogs and hamburgers served outside in the freezing rain.) We didn’t bother with the dorm tour–big crowd and more rain walking didn’t appeal to us.
We stopped by the bookstore on College Avenue campus–what a difference, and what a zoo. Had a bite at the student center–nothing special.
We enjoyed our day, but my D thought it would have been better if they had kicked the parents out (at Emerson accepted students day the kids and parents had different tracks) so that the kids could network a little better. She said she came away not really knowing any better what it would be like to go there than before we went.
@supergirlsmom. I wish my D could have gone on Saturday—right in the middle of her last show, of course, and no matter what weekend they chose, it would have been during somebody’s show—so at least our girls could compare notes. Sorry to hear it was chaotic. I agree it sounds like it would have flowed better if the parents and students had parted company.
We had a bite at the Neilson (I think? Spelled that way but pronounced “Nelson”) Dining Hall on Douglass when we were there last year, and it was really nice. Cafeteria-style but huge variety of pretty good food for our vegetarian family. It was a weekend around the middle of the day, so there were a lot of fairly relaxed kids just hanging out. We also passed through the little Cafe 52 (I think) that’s in the Music building within the arts complex, and it looked to be a convenient place to grab a panini or salad. We did see a dorm room also, but it was on Busch or Livingston. It was as average as could be, so no surprises there. Never saw one on Cook/Douglass.
As far as feel, I may have said this already, so apologies, but I will just pass along that the kids we spoke to absolutely LOVED their professors and the program. None of them were costume design/technology, but at least one was a designer, I forget what kind. The feeling my D (and her parents) got was that the classes were extremely small (after the most basic intros) and highly individualized, e.g. Costume Design II will have 2 people in it and yours will pick up where you left off, and YOURS will pick up where YOU left off. I remember one student talking about how tight they all were, too. The faculty—head of design and costume tech professor—we met on her portfolio review day were very warm. The head of design was amusing. And both chatted with us, the parents (who are sort of peripheral except for our financial function), and included us on the extensive tour. I definitely got the feeling it was not merely collaborative but close-knit. Of course, I felt that way at Penn State and VCU, too. Hmm.
Anyway—good luck this month-of-decision-making! And good luck to all the interested Rutgers people in deciding if it’s the place for you. 
And one further comment, @supergirlsmom, I don’t know what your FA situation is, obviously, but my D will be work-study, and I saw that MG has work-study positions, so someone in my house is very excited!
Thanks @letterhead , your impressions are helpful, and I will share them with supergirl. We still have some questions about FA for RU and a few other schools, plus we are STILL waiting to hear from one school. Grrr! Tick tock.
I know—how do March and April feel SO LONG? That is each day seems incredibly long, except that each day you don’t hear, the time for decisions grows SO SHORT.