<p>We recently visited a school that is a suitcase school, and 50% commuters/50% residential. The school has about 5700 full time students and another 1500+ part time students. Any opinions on how this effects student life? Does anyone have experience with schools with a lot of commuters, part time students, or suitcase schools?</p>
<p>It must be in a big city? I myself attend one of these schools. Students in this type of school tend to go their own way after the classes. But for me it is different cause I already have my own family. So less social life after the classes not affect me that much.</p>
<p>It really depends what your kids want. If your kid wants a close net school environment, this is not a good one, imo, its way too big. If he wants to live at home and save some money for room and boarding, then this is good. There was a thread here a while ago talk about living in campus or not if options availbale. ... It also depends on how much you pay, I wouldn't pay for my kid 'party' most of the time in college. I pay for learning and the knowlege.</p>
<p>Are the 50% commuters living at home...or are they living in off campus apartments? DD's school has 50% of the upperclassmen living off campus...but they are NOT living in their family's homes. There is a difference. Find out.</p>
<p>thumper, I do not have a breakdown, but I do think the answer is that some students are sharing apartments, and some students are living in their family's homes. If I had to guess, I would think that more are living in their family's homes.</p>
<p>AnotherNJmom, I am going to send a PM to you.</p>
<p>At schools like these, even many of the "residential" students go home on weekends, and generally have their friends elsewhere. It can be tough but it's also possible to bond really well with the few folks who stay around.</p>
<p>etselec, Yes, many of the residenial students do go home on weekend (I was told 1/2, and don't even know if this is an accurate number). I would like to hear from students/former students that have gone to a school like this. BTW, there are positive aspects to this school, which is why we are still interested.</p>
<p>My alma mater is one of the East Coast’s largest commuter schools. During the years I attended (as an out-of-state student), less than 5% of students lived on or within walking distance of campus. I spent my first two undergrad years at the school’s suburban campus, and my last two undergrad years and my graduate years at the school’s large urban Main Campus. I lived in the dorms as an undergrad and commuted as a graduate student. Many dorm residents lived too far from their families to go home at any times other than Thanksgiving, and winter, spring, and summer breaks, so dorm residents enjoyed the same degree of weekend companionship as available to them on weekdays. (Many residents developed close, enduring friendships.) On weekends, the dorms remained fully-staffed, the dining hall(s) remained open, and, of course, most campus buildings also remained open to accommodate students (including a sizable number of commuters) who needed to use the library, computer center, labs, and other facilities.</p>
<p>I hold a definite bias in favor of commuter schools (especially those located in urban areas) because commuters tend to be older, emotionally mature, and highly self-disciplined. Commuter students, many of whom are connected to the “real world” through their families and their jobs, have a socially grounding influence on the entire campus; this grounding influence affects resident students, who are more likely to use their evenings and weekends constructively rather than self-destructively (drinking, drugs, partying, hooking-up), as large numbers of young resident students isolated on a remote college-town campus are increasingly inclined to do.</p>
<p>Just because a school is large and/or has a large commuter population doesn’t mean that either commuter or resident students lack opportunities to socialize. However, large urban schools with a high percentage of commuter, continuing, and graduate students focus more upon academics and less upon social “collegiate life.” This more businesslike, “real world” campus environment is appreciated by commuter and resident students who either already have or quickly learn to find better things do than, as anotherNJmom observes, “’party’ most of the time in college.” </p>
<p>I’m not the “Rah! Rah! School!” type, and neither is my daughter, so my school’s suburban and urban campus environments were ideal for me; the urban campus will be ideal for my daughter. I didn’t lack friends and social activities when I was a student, and my daughter won’t either. northeastmom, if the school your son or daughter is considering sounds similar to mine, and if your son or daughter sounds like me (and like my daughter) then you need not worry that your son or daughter will be lonely, bored, or unhappy as a resident student at that school.</p>
<p>TimeCruncher, I really appreciate your opinion. I do think that my son is looking for some that traditional campus Rah, Rah stuff that he hears so much about. My kid is also the type that makes lemonade out of lemons and can be happy just about anywhere. He has the ability to amuse himself and others, and does not need much. I am just not sure about this school. There is a lot that makes it seem like a good fit, and the school seems to be becoming more residential than it was just a year ago. I especially have trouble getting past the feeling of empty halls in the middle of a regular school day (and no, it was not duing exam week, or an unusual school day). Parking lots were 95% full, classes were going on, and some hallways were completely empty! That feeling bothered me, yet my son did not comment. I also did not point it out to him. I don't think that he even noticed. It seemed that so many students were there to attend class, do some research in the library, meet with a couple students to work on a group assignment, and then zip off campus. The school actually felt too big for the number of students present wherever we went (gym, pool area, dining hall-75% of tables were empty at 1:00pm and lunch is served til 2:30, hallways, library, quad on a gorgeous day). The only area that did not feel so desolate was the parking lot and the admissions office.</p>
<p>To northeastmom: Given the details you provided in your Post #8, it sounds like your son would be happy with many kinds of campus social environments (including, apparently, that of a "suitcase school"), so I would advise evaluating the “suitcase school” with regard to academic fit. You mentioned that the “suitcase school” is increasing its number of on-campus residents, so if that trend continues, the school could gradually develop a more stereotypical collegiate social atmosphere.</p>
<p>You didn’t specify if the “empty halls” you observed were in a classroom building or in a dorm. Regardless, there is a logical explanation. If the empty halls were in a classroom building, then students were probably all in class in that building at that time. My school arranged its daily course schedule so that as many courses as possible began and ended at the same times throughout the day, thereby minimizing disruptive hallway noise while classes were in session. When classes ended, however, the hallways were packed! (It’s not surprising that your son wouldn’t comment on a classroom building’s “empty hallways,” because as a high school student, he expects hallways to be empty while classes are in session.) If the “empty hallways” you observed were in a dorm, then it’s logical to assume that most students were away from their dorm rooms attending classes, studying in the library or the computer center, working at their on-campus jobs, or eating in the dining hall. Regarding the “empty” dining hall: At my school, classes were scheduled throughout the 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM dining hall lunch period, so most students had to eat and run, and it was typical for the dining hall to be only 25% full at any one time during the weekday lunch period. (Weekends were a different matter!) </p>
<p>A commuter school (AKA “suitcase school”) isn’t so much a “love it or hate it” type of place, but more of an “it is what it is” type of place. It sounds to me that if your son were to attend the school you visited, he probably wouldn’t either love or hate it, but rather, would make the most of the best it has to offer.</p>
<p>Timecruncher thanks. The empty halls were in buildings with classrooms. Now that you mention it though, we did not see too many students around the dorms either, but enough were walking outdoors, that it did not bother me.</p>
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It sounds to me that if your son were to attend the school you visited, he probably wouldn’t either love or hate it, but rather, would make the most of the best it has to offer.
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<p>I agree with that. I also wonder if he would be happy after being there for a year. It is a lot of money to sort of make due with the best it had to offer (making lemons out of lemonade)!</p>
<p>I guess this school is a possibility, but not a top choice. Thanks for helping me sort out my feelings by talking this over with all of you.</p>
<p>To northeastmom: You are very welcome. I was glad to be of help. I hope your son attends whichever school is the all-around best school for him. Best wishes to your son and to you.</p>
<p>Timecruncher, thanks for the good wishes. I too hope that he attends whichever school is all-round best for him. It is primarily money as well as some other factors that make it a fit (not the commuter situation), which is keeping it on his list.</p>
<p>Temple University is moving in that direction, and I think would like to have the ratio in the long run more residential. And near as I can tell demand is up for campus housing. It still tends to be quite on weekends on the campus (as opposed to its 4 mile away neighbor Penn). However, it is in Philly so it is not like they do not have stuff to do. About a 2 mile subway ride to downtown (center city) and the sports complex is on the same line. Plus many make friends with the suitcase kids and hang with them. Most aren't in buildings (except for the tech center which is usually busy all the time), i.e., classrooms. In the end, I think it depends on your kid.</p>
<p>To northeastmom: You are welcome.</p>
<p>To hikids (and northeastmom): What a coincidence! Temple is my alma mater, and my daughter is looking forward to being a second-generation out-of-state Temple resident student. She will also be one of those students practically living in the tech center (which has an on-site 24-hour Starbucks, she was thrilled to hear).</p>