Hello - My S is just a Sophomore but I have about 15 colleges on his list to meander about this summer. We live in the Northeast and are lucky to have many colleges in our backyard and will be visiting some when we see relatives this summer. We can get the stats on colleges as far as GPA, majors, scores, etc. I do not want S to go away to school just to find out the college empties out on Friday night and have S be all on his own. Would not be a problem I guess if he were somewhat local.
For those who have children at college, did they come home on the weekends? Did their school empty out on weekends and how did deal with that?
It would be hard to tell in the summer even at the schools I know well because summer is just less busy.
Do you know students at any of these schools or parents of students? Asking them would help. You could also post your list and people familiar with them could help, but beware others who donāt know and will answer anyway.
There was a thread recently where someone unfamiliar with a school deemed it a suitcase school because a large percentage of kids lived in houses and apartments near campus. So data on number of commuters is NOT an indication.
Some characteristics of suitcase schools would be;
High % of students from in state (though not all state flagships are suitcase schools)
High % of commuters
Less selective in admissions
Fewer sports teams
Also check to see what type of events occur on campus on weekends. Suitcase schools will have fewer b/c kids are not around to attend them
My daughter goes to a school where there are a lot of sports teams, freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus (although a lot of sophomores donāt), itās a small town so even those who live off campus live close by, 1/3 of the school is international so not going home for the weekend.
We visited on a fall weekend and it was dead. On Saturday there was a robotic tournament going on so there were a lot of high school kids on the campus but there didnāt seem to be a lot of college kids. Bookstore and some of the eating places are closed on weekends.
Thatās the nature of the campus. Lots of studying going on, some fraternity activities on a field across from the main campus, a few kids eating at the central dining hall.
Many schools are busy in the summer too with camps, so while there are people on campus, they arenāt college students. When I live near campus during two summers, there were tons of high school kids at band camp, cheerleader camp, various sports camps, leadership camps. There was summer school too.
Most schools have sportsā¦the difference is whether they have sports that studens popularly attend.
Often when a large number of students live with 125 mile radius, kids will periodically go home if thereās little on campus to keep them on campus.
Some schools depend on Greek Life to keep kids on campus.
If many of the students are āself-fundingā college, then many will be off-campus working jobs on weekends, either in town or in their home towns.
I lived near a univ that mostly drew from the greater metropolitan area. The kids did go home on weekends, except for those involved with itās semi-popular Greek system.
In some cases you can tell by the dining plan options and weekend hours for the dining halls. My sonās current top choice requires freshmen to live on campus and the only meal not covered on the required dining plan is Saturday night dinner. Itās obvious that most students will be there on weekends. Another state school he is looking at only offers a max meal plan that would not cover 7 days a week of meals more like 5. Kids stick around on football weekends but other time of year are hit or miss. If you are from that area I don;t think it matters that much but if they are going cross country to a suitcase school that could be very lonely and worth considering.
Try to visit the schools on a Friday mid-day. We did this once and I was shocked at all the kids getting picked up by their parents and heading home for the weekend. You could also ask the admissions representative. At one info session we attended, a parent asked if a lot of the kids go home on the weekend and the rep truthfully answered āyesā.
While it is fine to do summer visits as a first cut if you are close by and have time, I would caution that you will not get a true picture of the school when it is not in session. It is better to visit when school is in session.
In terms of finding out about suitcase schools, a first idea is to read up on each school. College guide books such as Fiske (my favorite), Insiders Guide, Princeton Review can help give a sense of each school and may clue you in to a suitcase school. These books can be purchased but can likely also be found in your local library and the HS guidance dept. office. Another thing you can do is ask the student tour guide what they do on weekends and if most students stay on campus for the weekend. And yes, visiting on Friday afternoons/weekends is good but recognize that many students are sleeping late or in the library on weekend afternoons.
@dcplanner While meal plans offered can be an indicator at some schools, it is not a definitive test (and I donāt think you meant it to be). Many schools, especially (in my experience) schools in urban areas, recognize that students want to eat off campus on weekends and offer plans accordingly. For example, my S went to Fordham and I was happy not to have to pay the dining hall for meals he was eating on Arthur Avenue or in Manhattan. Also when I went to UPenn (admittedly years ago) there was no weekend meal plan at all (but lots of restaurants etc. near campus and downtown Phila. easily accessible) and it was absolutely not a suitcase school.
My S went to college very close by our home and really never came home for weekends. Maybe once a year weād take him and his roommates out for dinner or something but thatās it. My D is at college couple of hours away and also never comes home other than official school breaks (the only exception I can think of was my momās 80th birthday party). Both kids were happily and fully immersed in college life.
Living on campus is not a reason to not leave on weekends. Most freshmen who live within a reasonable driving distance are likely to go home a few, but not most, weekends even at places where there is much to do on campus.
Summer is atypical at all schools. Some have limited classes, others get all sorts of programs regular students donāt attend, some get both students and summer camps/ adult professional/career programs.
Weekend mornings are usually quiet regardless of the numbers of students. The dining hall schedule may not be an indicator. UW-Madison is vibrant on the weekends but a couple of the many dining halls may be closed and they have brunch plus the evening meal (dinner/supper) on weekends since many students are not up early then (UW also has no required meal plans). Check the unions on weekend afternoons/evenings- if they are busy the students are around. Some campuses are vibrant with off campus students (some of those apartments are closer to some campus buildings than some dorms are) staying.
Summers are good for seeing the physical campus- the grounds and buildings (at least from the outside). When classes are in session is the time to visit to see the campus as it will be for you. But- pay attention to breaks and final exam weeks. Those are not the times to check.
Ask the students attending. I also think people on this site know which are suitcase schools. Two years from now you may wish your child was at one though (on one level I mean-not seriously but when you are feeling the emptiness of your kids bedroom).
Here is a list of Commuter Schools. If yours is NOT on the list Iād still google that school along with the word Commuter to obtain the % of commuters vs residents on campus, etc.
@lostaccount: āTwo years from now you may wish your child was at one though (on one level I mean-not seriously but when you are feeling the emptiness of your kids bedroom).ā
"You can probably assume colleges that require students to live on campus all 4 years and have a meal plan are not suitcase/empty-on-weekends schools. "
this is the most obvious hint that a college is not full of commuter students and will not āempty outā on the weekends.
Yes, but schools where all or almost all undergrads live in the dorm all four years are uncommon. At many residential schools, many non frosh live nearby off campus. Frosh living in the dorms is probably a better measure of how residential the school is.
But resident students include the subset of āsuitcaseā students, so there are no obvious stats for that.
And yet, those that do have that requirement are very unlikely to be suitcase schools. Which is why I posted what I did.
I understand that many schools have students living āoff campusā but basically across the street or whatever. Iām not referring to them since I know little about them.
Here is a list of schools with high rates of on-campus living. I get that it isnāt an exclusive list of not-suitcase schools.
Another factor to consider is if the students come from a large geographic area - that means more students who canāt easily go home. That can be as big or an even bigger factor.
Commuter schools are not suitcase schools (and that list of commuter schools is not correct as there are dorms at Metro state and have been for years, and some students live close to campus but yes, the majority of students live away from the campus).
It also does not guarantee that the schools do not have a high āsuitcaseā population. The āsuitcaseā population is a subset of the residential population; whether it is a large subset is not knowable from the percentage of students who are residential students or who live in the dorms.