<p>We're headed to the University of Delaware campus soon on a Sunday, with an eye towards Chemical Engineering. No formal tours are available during the time we'll be there. Admissions recommends a "self guided tour" when visiting on a Sunday, so that's the plan. Can anyone offer any recommendations, must-sees, and/or guidance re: what may be accessible on a Sunday without a U of D ID?
Thank you.</p>
<p>I’m not an expert but I’ll offer my thoughts. Starting at Main Street, you can walk down the Green towards the Library, cut over to East Campus with a stroll through the Perkins Student Center, check out the activity between the Russell and Harrington dorms, then work your way back to Main Street via Academy Street. Maybe poke your head into Trabant University Center just to see the food court. That will give you a decent overview of the campus. If time allows, head south on College Ave to the UDairy store near the ice arena and grab a cone or sundae. You’ll see the other side of the Central Campus and get a feel for the South Campus.</p>
<p>On the official tours, we got to peek into a dorm room and walked into one of the buildings to tour a classroom. You won’t be missing much with a self-guided visit except the narrative and the Q&A.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I would recommend that you also take a little walk down Main Street in Newark. The UD bookstore on Main Street will be open at noon. Main Street is a major social location for UD students with its multiple cafe’s, restaurants, shops; and students go there to eat, socialize, shop, and yes, even study. It is a major draw for many students. I don’t think you will find a better small town college environment anywhere. I would recommend Klondike Kates for lunch, it is a UD icon with typical pub food. UD is a middle sized school but because of the way it is laid out it feels much smaller. Academically it does have one of the best ChemE programs in the country. Its Graduate School is ranked 10th in the nation, higher than all Ivy League Schools except for Princeton. UD is building a massive new Science, Engineering, and Technology Complex to add to its already excellent facilities. Best wishes on your visit. I have little doubt you will find the campus impressive.</p>
<p>Thank you both very much. Armed with your pointers, it sounds like our S will be able to get a good feel for the campus and student body despite being there off-hours. </p>
<p>Hoping to avoid a repeat of an earlier experience - we visited a school with him during the 2011 summer break and were impressed with the facilities and the overall picture. Looked great on paper, and at that point it was fairly high on his list. A second visit during the academic year proved to be a real eye opener… miserable students and grim faces throughout. It felt as if all of the life had been sucked out of the faculty and students long, long ago. </p>
<p>Again, thank you.</p>
<p>witdad, my daughter had a similar experience when deciding between her last two choices. Visiting UD one last time and seeing (happy) students sitting around the Green and walking around campus & Main Street made it an easier decision. </p>
<p>Do make an effort to get over towards the Harrington Beach area (Russell dorm & cafeteria and Harrington dorm) as I’m guessing you’ll be more likely to see students there on a Sunday than on the Green.</p>
<p>Don’t be dissuaded if you are doing your self-guided tour before noon. Those college kids like to sleep on the weekend! (I had forgotten this at one school we visited…was surprised how quiet is was on the weekend morning… silly me.)</p>
<p>If you want to walk more after following the other suggestions here, take a walk up to the Laird Campus (walk up North College Ave, perpendicular to Main St). We never saw this on any tour. The new dorms are up there - it’s mostly upperclassmen, but there are a couple of residence halls for freshman too. It’s really beautiful.</p>
<p>I would like to second the comments from Fauster. Our D visited a number of campuses before deciding on UD for Nursing. Besides the excellent academic opportunies/facilities one of the things that impressed her about UD was that the students there seemed genuinely happy to be there (and we were there on two rainy days). She felt that a sense of elan (not snobbery, but more a focus on goal attainment/achievement) seemed to permeate the student body/campus to a degree she did not sense at many of the other schools. Once she started there she continued to find in general that the students felt very positive about being there, interacted well with one another, and seemed willing to help one another. There was a sense of “Spirit” there that one more commonly associates with large universities with big-time Division 1 Football programs. This is also somewhat surprising due to the fact that 2/3rds of the students attending UD are from OOS. It does have one of the most beautiful college campues in the country (hopefully it will be sunny when you visit). Have a great time.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the wonderful tips. It was a very informative visit, and UofD is still on the list of contenders.</p>