We did an admitted students tour and a Gopher Friday event with her department. We’ve done 3 admitted students events at different schools so far and UMN was the best in terms of giving her an opportunity to actually speak with students and faculty in her department. The other schools were very generic - just general School of Arts and Sciences tours and panels.
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See if your son can reach out to the department or admission. If your son was admitted to the honors college, reach out to them. See if you can schedule your own visit, talk to the faculty/advisors, and meet current students.
A friend of my son was able to arrange a personalized visit and from what I heard they were very accommodating and easy to work with. It sometimes takes a bit of effort to come across the right people, so keep trying.
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He is doing that now. Hoping for a response from the ENG folks, or even better, the ECE/CS dept. We already have quite a bit of general knowledge about the U, being local, but right now S2 wants to actually see the labs, classrooms, and study areas that he would be spending the next 4+ years in. An ability to talk to a couple of students would be a bonus. He is trying to arrange that right now, informally.
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Glad it worked for you. We had an awesome experience at the Purdue admitted students day, but really want to see if we can make things work with our home state school.
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Would love to hear about your son’s experiences if he gets a tour specific to CMPE. We are international and have no way of touring and the virtual events have not been very insightful. UMNTC is high on our list and it would be great if you could share any insights.
Will do. We know a ton of kids who have gone there. One extremely high stats kid went there(CompE) and is doing alright for himself. Graduated in 3 years, double majored, and now is working for Google. Dad of S2’s classmate is an EE prof at the U who’s ear we can bend a bit, also.
We were quite impressed with the campus, especially as it pertains to the traditional sciences. Quite contained, and has a nice traditional campus vibe. Enjoyed the trees and flowers in season. Restaurants are very close, with quite a few choices, as are many of the dorms. LRT runs right through the campus, so access to the cities/airport is superb and inexpensive.
From the outside, the Keller building(ECE/CS) looks nice and modern. We will be getting in there this week, official tour or no, and will post my impressions here.
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Thanks!! This is really helpful. Looking forward to more updates. If you could let us know about class sizes as well it owuld be great.
Son heard last night that he was accepted at Minnesota from the deferral list. Anyone here go to the Future Gophers Friday Engineering Experience?
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Congrats!
As far as the Gophers Friday, no. It’s been filled up for weeks, but you can get an individual tour with an ENG student ambassador. Contact the ENG dept and they’ll send you a link.
We are really familiar with the rest of the campus, so all we want is a tour of the faculty bldgs, CS/ECE, in our case.
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Congratulations!! Its great to know. We are on so many common forums.
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Son waitlisted tonight
OOS
Psychology
3.8
Thanks @Moongal2021 - he was happy to get the news. Now we gotta go visit.
Daughter also received waitlist notification on 3/22. OOS.
For those who have been admitted, how long did it take for you to hear about scholarships/financial aid? Or are you still waiting to hear?
Admitted early action and still waiting.
Just got back from a ENG specific tour. It was 65-70 minutes long, and the guide for our private tour was a 4th yr. ENG. Terrific guy, no BS. He and S2 got along great. Wife and I were happy to hang back, and have those two talk.
We got a tour of just about all of the ENG buildings except the Chemical, and maybe one other bldg. S2’s area of interest is CS/ECE, so the bldg. that houses those disciplines, Keller, was of particular interest.
S2’s summation, “I liked the Keller bldg., but it was probably my 5th favorite one we were in!” After thinking about it, I’d have to agree. The Physics building is a traditional, with columns, etc, but has undergone a complete reno inside. It looks like a really nice museum, with modern surfaces, light, and exhibits. Aesthetically and feel wise it was our favorite. The Anderson building(MechE) was also nice, but in a more functional way. Really, really nice shops- I am a tradesman and know more than a bit about workshops. Lots of high ceilings, light, and space.
Nano tech bldg. was also superb. Smaller, but very interesting shops and research (i.e. Clean rooms) taking place. There was also another bldg, whose name escapes me that had solar and drone projects in them. The Keller bldg seemed to have plenty of space, and lots of nice, curved screens and other pieces of equipment(O scopes, meters, etc.)
In general, it seems the U of MN has done a really good job of having cheery, light filled, open, study spaces sprinkled throughout their ENG buildings. Really welcoming, and important in a climate like MN when you need to be inside for much of the long winter. Tunnels and skyways between buildings are common. They have also taken care to install lots of new glass even in traditional old bldgs. that would otherwise be gloomy.
After the tour we revisited some of the buildings, and explored even more really nice spaces. Also went to the CSE Walter Library, which is a beautiful old thing with super high, coffered ceilings. Even S2, who is more of a modern bldg. guy, liked it.
U of MN seems to have spent a lot of thought, money and time on upgrading and maintaining their buildings. Impressive. Ironically, the only building that stuck out as butt ugly was the Architecture one… I mean, poop Brown- what were they thinking?
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Great summary. Thanks for the write up. Is there a place on the COE website to set these tours up or do you need to call?
S2 sent an email to Admissions explaining how he couldn’t get into Gopher Fridays, and asked if they had an Engineering specific tour because he had already done a general one. They sent back a link to a simple reservation form for a private tour of the ENG dept like we had. S2 said he couldn’t find it anywhere on the website, so you probably have to go through admissions.
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Admitted on 02/04 to College of Engineering and received the tuition rate on 02/25.
I did get an email to apply for some private scholarships offered at the University, but nothing after that.
Admitted on 12/29 and received information about financial aid award on 2/24.