<p>Any feedback on students that attended schools known as commuter or suitcase schools would be appreciated. My D has a few such schools on her list and while she plans to stay on campus most weekends I was just wondering if anyone can give us the firsthand information. We are from NJ and she has UMBC, George Mason on her list- both known as commuter schools. In NJ she has Ramapo also like most NJ schools also a commuter/suitcase school.
She is not into sports at all but would like access to a city.</p>
<p>We feel the above schools are match or likely admit schools for her.</p>
<p>Can a student be happy at a commuter/suitcase school by treating the school as a residential campus for that student?</p>
<p>We live fairly close to GMU (5 miles at most) but everyone we know is living on campus. OTOH, Mary Washington (about an hour away dep on traffic) is such a suitcase school that a lot of D's former hs acquaintances transferred out because they wanted more social activities on the weekends.</p>
<p>UMBC is trying very hard to make itself more of a residential school. We know a student who lived off campus the first year and decided to live on campus after that. His parents thought it was a good move for him. The UMBC dorms are one of the nicest ones I have seen from all the campus visits my family made for ds #1 and #2. UMBC also has buses that run into Baltimore. So your d will have access to a city. Seems like they are succeeding in shedding (slowly) their image of a commuter school.</p>
<p>Do not know much about Georage Mason. Can't help there.</p>
<p>I agree that UMBC is definitely shedding its image as a commuter school. I know many of my classmates chose UMBC due to the smaller size/substantial merit scholarships/strong academics/etc. All of them are choosing to live in the dorms. I imagine that should your daughter live in the dorms, those people will form most of her social group, so UMBC will not feel so much like a commuter campus. However, I don't have firsthand experience. That said, although returning friends have been satisfied with their social life there, they are not really the "party" type and appreciate a little extra quiet on the weekends...</p>
<p>d seriously considered George Mason last year. We are from Long Island and obviously she would have been spending most week-ends on campus. Though she really liked the campus and you could commute fairly easily into DC, my d was just a bit concerned that the majority of kids go home on week-ends. I can say that 2 of my d's classmates did decide to go to George Mason and I am seeing some bumper stickers on NY cars, so I think George Mason is trying to get a "more national" reputation.
There was a dad from upstate NY whose d is attending George Mason. I remember cause his d and mine had similar stats and I believe they applied to some of the same schools. My d also looked into Towson. That is a pretty popular school on L.I. too. If I can remember his name, I'll PM you. Maybe you can get some information from him.</p>
<p>marny- you are thinking of csdad- he was thoughtful enough to reply to me from a post on the Mason thread. His D is very happy at Mason. My D looked at Towson and for some reason did not feel at home there. We will look again in case. The drive is not to bad.</p>
<p>Yup! I'm glad you were in touch with him. My d wasn't too thrilled with Towson either, but I know it is a popular choice in my area.
It is so wierd, I could never quite understand the "vibes" my kids picked up from a campus visit that they "knew" in a matter of a few minutes whether a school had possibilities or not. But I guess they did ok, as both my kids are happy with their schools and feel they made the right decision.</p>