I was in the Newark area for another purpose earlier today and decided to check out the UD in DC presentation at the Decision Day today. Very interesting overall. It appears that all the students attending were formally accepted into the Program (at least no one else raised their arms for any other designation).
AU has been running their “Mentorship Program” for 14 years with select other top rated universities (i.e. Univ. of Miami has been involved for 4 years). UD was hoping for 20 students accepting the Program by deposit by May 1. Instead they were inundated by deposits and by day 10 had to stop accepting individuals. A total of 50 students were accepted into the Program and they have a very large waiting list (I couldn’t “worm out” the exact number from the Asst. Director of Admissions). The wait list for this Program is not ranked and it is first come, first served based upon the date and time (I guess they were time stamping envelops when they opened them) when the deposit was received. They requested several times that if any of the students there decided that they did not wish to be involved that they notify admissions ASAP due to the long wait list.
The presentation lasted about 45 minutes including group Q&A’s followed by individual Q&A’s. They provided a cold lunch buffet prior to the presentation which I thought was a nice touch. The semester cost at AU is $22,341 with the Spring semester cost at UD being an estimated $21,938. So the cost difference is only about $400.00 more for the first semester at AU. Extensive student orientations will be held for the students and students will be working with a UD advisor depending on the major they were accepted into for the Spring semester. Efforts will be made throughout the semester to help students maintain their identity as UD students (including some bus trips back to UD for special events-some football games and probably for UD’s Parents weekend). In May students will be contacted regarding housing (they can select roommates if so desired) and to formulate their class schedule. The UD students will be housed together {probably mostly in triples) in a dorm (Leonard Hall) and there will be other students housed there together with their respective universities.
A lot more was presented but I think I will stop now with just the above as a start. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.
One more thing-there will be a total of 250-300 students there from other select universities including UD students. IMHO this sounds like it will give UD students the opportunity to interact with, and formulate friendships with, students from other schools around the country, which I would see as another positive aspect of the program
I was also there yesterday w my husband and daughter. Shes very excited to be spending the semester at American and knows she is lucky to make the cut off. She was hoping there would be more than 50 students going but thats just the way it is. Im happy udel will be making accomodations to bus the students back once or twice for a football game. The only part of decision day we were disappointed in were the dorm room tours. We toured Lane and our tour guide couldn’t answer the most basic questions. I know she is just a student but maybe the school should use guides who actually live in the dorms. My daughter had questions about the bathroom/shower/laundry facilities and our guide wasn’t even sure if they are on every floor or just in the basement (I dont even know if there is a basement). Everything else was wonderful and she loved the campus.
Students are guaranteed housing upon return to UD for the Spring semester but housing in freshman dorms is not guaranteed. There is a small possibility that some students may be housed in upperclass dorms. This is due to the fact that spaces will also be needed for students who will just be starting at UD in the Spring along with some other programs UD has (i.e. World Scholars Program) that will require dorm spaces as well in the Spring. I guess it will depend on the number of freshman who leave UD after one semester.
Students in this program would not be able to take on-site course at UD in the Winter Session because of housing issues. Students would be able to take on-line courses during the Winter semester thru UD’s Department Professional and Continuing Studies Department (actually for OOS students some of the courses available {which are identified as “site participant” courses} are much less expensive than the tuition cost compared to if a student were to take the same course on-site - actually for a 3 credit course the cost would only be a little more than a 1 credit course).
They reinforced multiple times that students in this program should consider themselves UD students. They will be receiving regular UD ID cards (as well as an ID card from AU for the semester so they will have access to all the services available to regular AU students). They will be attending an orientation session at UD on 1/22/16 to help them transition to UD in the Spring semester.
Hi @Mwallenmd Your info is very helpful. My D is on wait list for DC. She is accepted to spring still. Who would I speak to at UD to find out how spring admit for kids without DC. For example, dorms, orientation (and what orientation involves), etc… I know admissions tried to be helpful but I believe there may be someone else that actually can explain more of the information for non DC admits and how they get acclimated to spring admit and being in college first time (differrent in some ways to those who did DC and got used to form life and made friends there so wonder if there si consideration made for that).
tennisgirl6 did you attend the session this past Saturday for spring admits? If not, I would be happy to share what was discussed. They talked some about housing, orientation (January 22, 2016), the waitlist, etc. Someone also asked if the Freshmen seminar would be offered for spring students and the reply was yes but I am not sure what that is. If anyone has information on that they would be willing to share, that would be appreciated.
tennisgirl6
I will defer to ProudNYMomma. For more information on NSO there is an email address I can give you: newstudentorientation@udel.edu. Perhaps they could answer your questions in greater detail. Good luck.
Question about these unique options this year… @mwallenmd perhaps you may be my best bet at an answer. I was out to dinner with a good friend Saturday night. Her niece was granted acceptance into the DC program and admission into the Spring Semester at UD… (as all who were admitted were) Here’s my question… Is there an option that allows the student NOT do the DC program and simply wait for the spring? This particular girl was going to attend local community college courses until next spring. I don’t want to butt in but I also don’t want this girl to do something not in compliance with the program. I didn’t know if this option was permitted… I advised her to double check with admissions about this as well as consulting the UD course matrix to ensure the maximum number of courses she take would be transferred in. Any info you have is appreciated. thanks!
lefty1:
Students do not have to do the DC Program and can just elect to start at UD in the Spring. In fact the DC Program is full and there is a waiting list for it. According to another poster on another thread info received from UD indicated that students who elect to start in the Spring at UD can take courses at a CC and still maintain their acceptance for Spring admission. If they matriculate at another 4 year college in the Fall they would have to reapply to UD for the Spring Semester as a transfer student. So it appears that taking courses at a CC in the Fall is allowed and students would subsequently have to follow UD’s procedure to transfer the credits from the CC to UD. This certainly would be more economical as compared to going to AU for the Fall semester. I would ask that if the student you are referring to actually was one of the 50 students accepted into the DC Program, and she definitely has decided not to do it, that she let UD know ASAP as there is quite a waiting list for the DC Program. I hope this is helpful.
It should be very interesting to see what happens after May 1 when UD begins to accept students from the Fall 2015 wait list (assuming this will be the case). There may be some more openings in the DC Program if any of the currently accepted 50 students to the DC Program are accepted off the regular wait list for the Fall (at least for those also selected this option) and decide to attend UD in the Fall instead of going to the DC Program. It looks like a number of possible decisions will need to be made. Good luck to everyone.
While we are grateful our D was admitted in the Spring, we are struggling with so many unknowns. We did attend the session for the Spring admitted students, and quite frankly, walked away with more questions and and an overall sense of disappointment that our D’s initial college experience will not be at all what we had hoped for.
There has been no clear explanation why any scholarships/grants would not be available - these our, after all. "first’ year (not transfer) students who , through no fault of their own, were pushed into a spring start; as was announced, up to 2,000 (!) students might be looking for housing in the spring. How in the world can they guarantee housing to our spring admits and sort of hope that they can magically keep all the freshmen together? We were told that Res Life will be looking at the spring housing options as a “jigsaw puzzle”; With the # of incoming spring students, it appears to us our D will have to go wherever they can find a vacant bed.
Fall admits will have the traditional "First-Year Experience " (FYE) - 3 days of programs aimed at new students to help them acclimate to UD -while that goes on, our D - who was so looking forward to the Twilight Induction Ceremony ( a great UD tradition for first year students) gears up to attend community college in an effort to make up some of the credits lost by missing the fall semester; Oh, and her “move-in” day in January is exactly 1 day before spring classes begin - so much for bonding with your new fellow students…
After all the hard work and effort our D made to get in to UD, we are upset to see her enthusiasm dwindle. It was never our plan to have her college career start out at the local community college, miss out on so many memorable moments from being away from home for the first time, and then hope and pray she somehow winds up in freshman housing with roommates open to another new face.
I can certainly understand about your disappointment and your D’s reduced enthusiasm about starting UD as a new student in the Spring. I’m sure your feelings are shared by many other parents/students who are in the same situation. Unfortunately I suspect that the same issues would come into play for new (first year) students admitted to any major university in the Spring. It appears this is the first year UD is doing this to any significant degree. I would suspect, for many of the reasons you mentioned, that a large majority of the students offered Spring admission will opt to go elsewhere. After all, most students who meet the standards for admission to UD have also been accepted to many other top rated universities. I don’t know if there has been verification of the 2000 number you mentioned beyond what was posted in another thread. If accurate I suspect this number also would include students involved in other UD Programs (i.e. DC Program, World Scholars Program, etc.) that will require dorm space for freshman inn the Spring. As I mentioned earlier in this thread at the DC Program presentation on the 4/18 DD students were told that they are hopeful of being able to keep them in freshman housing but there was no guarantee. I understand UD has informed students transferring to UD from other colleges that housing could not be guaranteed at all (which was not the case in prior years to my understanding).
The last figure I have seen reported is that UD has around a 92% retention rate for freshman students. So if you assume half of the number of students leaving (4%) would do so after the Spring/Winter sessions this would leave around 160 dorm spaces open for students just starting in the Spring. There are 50 students in the DC Program and I really don’t know the number of students in other UD Programs that will require dorm space. So unless UD has some other plans (that they have not identified) I suspect some students starting in the Spring will end up in upper-class dorm spaces. One way around this would be to place new students in triples that previously had been doubles (not likely to be well received by the students that had previously been in the doubles). I guess the bottom line here just depends on the numbers involved.
The Spring semester starts on Monday, Feb. 8th and I understand a NSO will be held on 1/22/16 (unless other days are identified as well). Perhaps, depending on the number of new students starting in the Spring, UD may hopefully add some additional orientation type events (which obviously remains to be seen). If not then this is what I could suggest. I would arrive in Newark a day or two ahead of move-in day if at all possible and formulate my own FYE. By then the dorm and class schedule/buildings would be available. I would check out all these areas so you would know exactly where everything is and how long it would take to walk to everything. Go to the bookstore and purchase some books, college attire, and any odds/ends you may have forgotten to bring. Check out all the restaurants/shops on Main Street, have lunch at one or more (I would recommend Klondike Kate’s), and have a nice “kick-off” dinner at one of them the night before move-in. There will be a number of students on campus around this time and perhaps you could strike up conversations with some of them. This would work out even better if your D has a friend who also will be starting in the Spring and these things could be done together. I realize this is not the same thing as the FYE given prior to the start of the Fall semester but I feel it would be a reasonable substitute to adapt to the circumstances. Just trying to be helpful.
Obviously we still need to see how things play out with the wait list openings for the Fall semester (I am assuming your D also choose this option). We should begin to see what is going on here after May 1. Good luck in whatever your D decides to do.
Blue Hen Dad, hoping things improve with your D’s outlook on the program. I can certainly understand the frustration in terms of any FAFSA aid. I understand the lack of academic merit being the school is pretty conservative with this to begin with. (My son was admitted last year… did not get his major but got university studies undeclared and NO money, he took it) I’m guessing UD is using this an opportunity to give kids and option to attend that would otherwise be rejected. And, once again to not over extend the acceptances as they did last year. It will be frustrating coming back from DC because the kids will likely get split up and placed in those rooms that have had students drop out and they will likely be spread around campus. This can be good and bad but overall I’m sure once they are on campus it will be good and they can go in knowing they have two sets of “friends” the old room mates and the new ones. I suspect the kids coming in will have to make a good effort to get to know their new floormates as routines and friendships will have been established already. With some effort a few weeks into the semester it will seem as if they have always been there from day 1. If this is truly the school that is desired and this is the only path to get there then go for it. Sometimes working a little harder for what you want can make it so much more worth it in the end. Good luck to you and your D.
To the students/parents of students participating in Delaware in DC - do Delaware in DC participants get to participate in the August 29-31 Welcome Days?