Seeking Parent Perspective ...

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Delaware
1

<p>My son is transferring to University of Delaware as a sophomore this Fall, from a small private liberal arts college. My son discovered University of Delaware on his own during his Freshman year at college, and found that he really liked the Delaware campus, location, course selection within his major, etc. He therefore applied to Delaware as a transfer student on his own (with our blessing) during Freshman year, was accepted into his major, and has already met with his advisor, selected his classes, etc. </p>

<p>Needless to say, my son is very excited for all of the opportunities offered at University of Delaware, and it seems like a great school and program for him. </p>

<p>Due to work conflicts, my husband and I have not yet been able to visit Delaware, and it's likely that move-in day will be our first-time on campus. This is very different from the original college application process during my son's senior year of high school, where we visited most of the schools my son was considering before he actually even applied. </p>

<p>CC seems to be filled with parents who have lots of experience at University of Delaware. I would therefore love to hear the 'parent perspective' about the school (both positive and negative), especially from parents whose kids either considered but rejected small liberal arts colleges in favor of University of Delaware, and from parents whose kids - like my son - decided to transfer to University of Delaware from a small, liberal arts college.</p>

<p>We are out-of-state, and while University of Delaware is probably 5+ hours from our home, the Delaware campus was actually pretty close to the college which my son attended as a Freshman, which is how he discovered University of Delaware on his own. My son is entering as an Economics/Finance major. For some reason, he didn't apply to the Honors Program at Delaware, but he has since been told that he meets met all of the academic criteria, so hopefully, my son will be able to work things out with his advisor and become part of the Honors Program at University of Delaware.</p>

<p>Any information, helpful hints, thoughts on the school, suggestions for transfer students, etc. would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Hi. Since my daughter is an entering freshman this year I can only give you a limited perspective but since she too, looked at some small liberal arts colleges and chose Delaware I can offer some. My daughter is an athlete and was being recruited by several small liberal arts colleges. They were very attractive to us because of the prestige, the close knit environment, the small class size, academics and community feeling. The cons were the cost of attendance (for us) and for our daughter, the size of these schools was a major issue. She was looking for a school that had great academics but also had a “rah rah” element. After looking at many schools and evaluating our choices we found that U Delaware satisfied all of our criteria. My daughter had two overnight visits, each with a different person and each a very different experience but loved both (she also loved the coach for the sport she is playing there). She felt that there was something for everyone at this school and all the people she came into contact with whether they were students, administrators, etc. loved the school and took great pride in it. As for the honors program, D will be in the honors program and we felt that it could potentially make the academic part of the experience more like attending a small liberal arts college because the class sizes are smaller and it it more of an intimate environment. We felt Delaware was the best of both worlds.
I know you said you haven’t seen the campus but I can personally assure you that I completely understand what your son liked about the campus. It is absolutely beautiful. The buildings are beautiful, landscaping is beautiful and they are constantly making improvements to the campus. The main street which is right off the campus is great. Although my daughter has yet to arrive on campus, in my opinion your son has made an excellent choice. We have had many dealings with many different departments, administrators and people at the University and are more than happy with our choice. They have this far exceeded our very high expectations and now we just hope for the best. I realize my knowledge is limited but if you have any specific questions I will do my best to answer. Best of luck to your son!</p>

3

<p>Our DD very much appreciates the education that she is receiving at UD. She respects her professors and TA’s. She HATED living in the dorm, however, and we moved her to an apartment off campus after freshman year. This made all the difference in the world. If your child experiences the same “shock” ….just do the same and all will be well.</p>

<p>(She didn’t realize the sort of partying and nonsense that she would have to deal with…like a roommate who brought back every guy in the book…ewwwie…YUCK)</p>

4

<p>DD will begin here Junior year this fall. She’s OOS in the Honors Program, and her experience has been almost uniformly positive. (She lost a cheap bicycle, her dorm room is chronically messy, and she’s been stuck in a couple traffic nightmares in the Bronx while traveling home.)</p>

<p>As mentioned above, the campus is beautiful. The academic portion is very compact, and feels a lot like a LAC. Dorms are within easy walking distance of both academic building and Main Street (which bisects the campus). The students are nice, and friends are easy to find. And thanks to Main Street being close, there are a variety of eating places to try (five coffee shops, six ice cream places, a dozen sandwich places, a half dozen pizza places, etc.). </p>

<p>An unusual feature of UDelaware is the five-week winter break. Students can use this time to catch up on courses, take a course they would normally be ineligible to take, or go abroad. Be sure to visit International House (at 186 South College Avenue) and check out this year’s offerings … application for which is around October 1st.</p>

<p>Enjoy your visit!</p>

5

<p>Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful replies! Please know how much I appreciate it. My son has already mentioned all of the stuff to do on Main Street; and I know when he visited UD before applying as a transfer student, my son was VERY favorably impressed by the amount of time which the head of the Finance Department spent with him, as they toured the campus together. My son had a great Freshman experience at his LAC, but he was disappointed at the limited course offerings within his major, and most especially, by the lack of things to do on weekends (the LAC was more of a ‘suitcase’ campus because a lot of students lived closed enough to go home on weekends, which wasn’t the case with my son …). So I understand completely about the ‘rah rah’ element … my son wasn’t even a student at UD at the time, but I guess he enjoyed going to the football games … thanks also for mentioning the October 1st deadline for study-abroad … I had suggested that option to my son for the long winter break so we’ll see what comes of it … we generally trust my son’s judgment and it does sound like he made the right choice … it’s just been such a different experience because my son is (growing up) and doing much of this on his own … Best of luck to all of you!!!</p>