<p>I wanna know what people have heard about this school, every time I mention to someone that I applied there claim they've never heard of it.</p>
<p>I visited West Chester and was pleasantliy surprised. It is probably one of the best state colleges in PA after PSU. West Chester is especially known for their education and music programs. A lot of really excellent students from my HS who have earned spots in state choir competitions and are in National Honor Society go to West Chester for music. While I am interested in history, geography, communications and anthropology, which West Chester is not particularly recognized for, these programs are of good quality. I attended a “major fair” with tables from each department. All of the professors I spoke with were approachable, enthusiastic, and knowledgable. One history professor shared my love for Russia, so we chatted for a good fifteen minutes about our interest–this sort of thing hasn’t happend at any other college I’ve visited! West Chester’s honors program especially impressed me. At most colleges, if you have an SAT above BLANK, and a GPA above BLANK, then yay, you’re in, even if you aren’t particularly interested. But at West Chester, you have to undergo an interview process, almost like you would at a private college. They only allow 40 students per year into their honors program, so it is very selective, making it a great thing to put on resumes. Their honors program has participated in volunteer efforts abroad, and as a nice perk, students (even freshmen) get suites with private bathrooms. </p>
<p>While West Chester isn’t a perfect match for me, it is definitely a good school. I’ve applied and am considering it as a backup should my top choices not work out. The only major shortcoming is that there seems to be a lot of bureaucracy at West Chester (e.g. we requested information and had to nag them for it to be delivered, when I called for a question about the open house I had to talk with four different people). But if you’re not offput a lot of redtape, I think West Chester would be a solid choice. Let me know if you have any questions–I attended an open house and know some people who go to West Chester!</p>
<p>I transferred out after my first semester there. The school is a complete joke. Besides the campus being nice, everything else sucks. The food is terrible. If you live in traditional housing, the buildings are old, gross, and falling apart. There isn’t any parking and limited public transportation, so you can only go to the town with useless stores. The cops are terrible, almost everyone gets arrested at least once. It is extremely cliquey…and a lot of people go there that went to high school with each other. And the only party scene there is Greek. Seriously…everyone told me AFTER I decided to go to West Chester that they heard or saw that it was cliquey. I know tons of people who transferred out. I now go to Temple. So unless you know a lot of people there…I’d stay away.</p>
<p>I think it depends on your major. West Chester is good for music, phys ed., any kind of teacher ed (elementary, special, etc.) and the science department is supposed to be up and coming. Music is probably its best known major, as far as the public goes. So if your friends don’t know it, if they aren’t musicians, that would probably be why. But pretty much anyone who is involved with music knows West Chester, and that’s probably from all over the country. They are the school that started the corps style marching band, George Parks went there and he ran camps there until he died last year. (He was the director at U Mass Amherst.) I was lucky enough to go to his last one.</p>
<p>There are a lot of new dorms now, they are replacing all of them. I got to stay in one of the old ones last summer for the band camp, it was not so bad. They will give you a/c if you need it (aka asthma, allergies, etc.). The food is not <em>that</em> bad - it is not as good as some colleges, but then not really any worse, either. And all state u’s have red tape. That’s the government for you.</p>
<p>There <em>are a lot of locals, but that is the way with most state universities. And, of course, people don’t get arrested if they don’t do stupid things to be arrested *for</em>…</p>
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>My son was part of that whole debacle with University of Delaware. We just sent in our deposit for WCUPA and we couldn’t be happier or more relieved! It’s one of Kiplingers top 100 bang for the buck and stats consistently report that it has a less than 50% acceptance rate. The campus is like a smaller version of Penn State (which I loved also - but a little too far and too big for my son). When we visited, we actually saw our neighbor’s kid walking by on campus - had no idea that he attended there! I have come across 4 other families around me whose children also attend WCU. Seems to be popping up everywhere at times.
Here’s something interesting: the Counselor from UDel told me that WCUPA and UDel have many applicant overlaps - and some accepted udel students actually choose WCUPA because it’s much less costly - especially for out of state students.
Just my two cents! :)</p>
<p>I have heard a lot of positive on West Chester and also know of someone who is going to West Chester (liked it better) over Delaware and is out of state for both.</p>
<p>lizza350 - are you going to college for a party or a gourmet meal or what? Get over it. Even the most “prestigous” colleges have traditional dorms that are skitchy. TCNJ, Rider, UDel…
WCU is the only one that I’ve come across so far that offers nicer, newer suites to freshmen if they choose. I’m talking about the new Brandywine and Allegheny housing. Hope you found what you’re looking for at Temple.</p>
<p>My cousins graduated from W and enjoyed their experiences there. It is a good small school alternative to the big state Us and easy on the $s too. PA has a number of these former teachers’ colleges and for anyone going into education, it is a terrific place to go with exactly what you need to become a teacher. Many other good programs too. You have to look and make sure that the school does have what your student needs in some majors because it is a smaller college, not a national university, but so are a number of other schools. </p>
<p>The town is lovely. The location is great for most east coasters. Congrats to all going there.</p>
<p>I have a history with West Chester! We used to go there sometimes when we were in high school to use the library for research. One Saturday morning a few of us were frantically finishing up a project (you had to read old newspapers on something called microfiche since this was before computers…) and an announcement came on that the library was closing at noon (a football game weekend or something). We freaked out and kept working away in the corner and got locked in! We had to bust out a fire door and set off a lot of alarms. The town and the school have greatly improved.</p>
<p>A large percentage of high school graduates from my high school go here. If you have half a brain I would not suggest this school. It is a big party school and even if you don’t associate yourself with that kind of thing the academics are still subpar. If you do, it is a waste of money. There are far better public schools in Pennsylvania. Unless your stats are really really low and you can’t get in anywhere else I wouldn’t suggest this school.</p>
<p>I have to tell you, Mya, your post is a little disturbing. I’m curious as to what school you attend?
FYI - my son was offerred a hefty scholarship to Rider and turned it down. With all due respect, I don’t think they offer generous scholarships to kids with “half a brain”.</p>