<p>My daughter was accepted to Mason Gross. They recommend to affliate with Cook College, but Douglass looks closer to the theatre stuff. Any comments?
Mbe</p>
<p>Douglass is a women's college, and it has a strong alumni base and many special traditions. Cook is co-ed, but also very near to theater department.</p>
<p>She is going for Theatre Lighting Design. She is leaning towards Douglass if she winds up at Rutgers. But she was just at Wagner College and liked their program and that it was small. She liked Rutgers program but is nervous that it is so large. From my map, I didn't go with her, Douglass looks close also, but the college recommends Cook.</p>
<p>Douglass and Cook are both in proximity to the theater department. The main thing is that both are tangential to each other and do not require busing from one of the other campuses which are part of Rutgers University, e.g. College Avenue Campus, Busch, Livingston. There is going to be major road work happening over the next few years, and it will be more difficult to time transportation issues when needing to be on the different campuses. There are buses which circulate through Douglas and Cook, but students say it is just as easy to walk as to wait. </p>
<p>Mason-Gross has a great theater department, and the students have access to many professionals in the field. They get jobs, bottom line. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>An arts curriculum brings a different ambiance to college experience. Students share so many core courses and the faculty is so aware of each student and their strengths and needs, there is all the benefit of a smaller school. It is understandable that RU looks quite large and overwhelming, but no student in a professional arts curriculum ever has that sense about the school. It is an added benefit to have access to meeting other students through dormitory living, cross pollination of the social circle!</p>
<p>Thanks for your great comments about the school, but where which dorms would recommend to a somewhat shy girl, who takes a while to acclimate.</p>
<p>My daughter has also been accepted to Mason Gross and was so excited that she already is registered and picked her dorm. When she went on the website to do so, the only choices she was given were Douglass, Rutgers College and Livingston. Douglass made the most sense as it is literally across the way from Mason Gross. Although my daughter was hesistant to become what she thought was part of an all girls campus (she is graduating from an all-girls high school), she was relieved to learn that the classes are co-ed and only the dorms are female occupied.</p>
<p>mbe: remember, all the freshmen will be in the same boat, trying to meet people and develop a sense of community. Orientation functions to give new students a chance to mingle and align. Encourage your daughter to attend everything during that period. You can make direct contact with residence life people at each campus, Cook and Douglass, and they will be happy to share with you what programs they have to facilitate social orientation. I do think Douglass has a strong sense of community, with many traditions specific to that campus. Cook has both single sex freshmen dorms and coed. WOuld your daughter be more comfortable not in a coed dorm? My hunch is that her involvement in theater curriculum and community will give her the social entre she needs, and she will be fine. Good luck.</p>
<p>Does Mason Gross have its own orientation?</p>