<p>My daughter and I visited Philadelphia U and I thought it was real nice but my daughter has written it off because of the small dorm rooms for freshmen with no air conditioning. Anyone have info that would help me convince her to at least consider it?</p>
<p>Reporting two years later - she ended up going to Philadelphia University and loves it. She landed in a dorm that did have air conditioning, now she is in an apartment style dorm with three other girls. She received a partial rowing scholarship and merit aid to bring the costs down significantly. She is in the interior design program and while it is very rigorous (lots of projects and critiques) she likes it.</p>
<p>thanks for the update. Phil Univ amazingly seems to offer most of the majors my son has been interested in so it is on our list.</p>
<p>It is a small school with a somewhat limited set of majors but what they have they are really good at. The teachers care and some of the work that the students produce is amazing. Very safe campus and some pretty nice facilities. I love that on two different occasions I have bumped into the President of the school walking around campus and just chatted with him for ten minutes! Great stuff. Have you visited? I also liked that when we visited they looked up on a chart the amount of merit scholarship my daughter would get based on her GPA and SAT scores. Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>My son is now a Jr. Interested in Architecture and Industrial design and they have both. We have not visited but will. I spoke to the head of engineering once and he sounded very nice and encouraged my son to take as much math as possible in case he switched to Arch engineering. Their website looks very solid, good curriculums and professors as best as I can tell. Good to know you can find out about merit aid so easily. </p>
<p>It has the reputation of being very easy to get in which in a funny way makes it seem less desirable. Did that affect any of you and your daughter’s decision to send her there?</p>
<p>My daughter and I just came back from a visit to Phila U. Her mind was made up for FIT, but was concerned about missing out on the traditional college experience. Phila U seemed to be a more typical campus. She is an all around student who is very involved in high school (sports, student council, clubs, etc) and would like to continue that in college. She loves NYC and FIT, but now is seriously considering Phila U instead. flalaw, what does your daughter say about campus life? Is there alot to do on campus or do they go in the city more? I have heard that many students go home on weekends … has this been your daughter’s experience? Is it difficult for her to balance her athletic involvement with the academics? My daughter may be considering playing a sport, but not yet sure.
I was very impressed with what we saw during our visit … seems like a very interesting and vibrant place.</p>
<p>Lakemom: It is not hard to get into, because it is so small and has a limited set of majors I don’t think they can be as picky. While I was a little concerned about the lack of name recognition, we chose it over Drexel for a number of reasons: the small size = close interaction with professors; the interior design professor stated that several of his students had received job offers over Drexel students because their portfolios were full of hands on stuff that was very advanced, and she just felt more comfortable there. That last one is pretty big. She is looking at study abroad programs now and they have an excellent and helpful study abroad office that is helping her figure out how to work it given that she needs to keep her rowing scholarship. They just refitted the old gym into a very nice design studio for senior architecture majors who didn’t previously have dedicated studio space, so they are continually responsive to students needs.
Talk to the architecture professors and students when you visit and look at their work. I think it is all about the portfolio and I am amazed at some of their work product. Good luck!</p>
<p>Penny: Many students do live close and go home on weekends. My daughter’s roommate last year was almost never at school on weekends which worked out great for my daughter because she could spread out and work on her design projects. There are still many students around on weekends. We just got back from a visit and a bunch of the kids where dressed up for halloween and had parties in the dorms. My daughter’s rooming with an RA who was in charge of the party and it was a small party but they seemed to have fun. It is such a small campus that I wouldn’t say there is “lots” to do but many kids attend the basketball games and hang out at Kanbar student center. Between rowing and spending time in the design studio, my D has not gone into the city too much but does occasionally. Interior design is a tough major to balance with athletics because of all the projects that are never “done” but D is managing. With such a small school it is easy to join the teams and get involved - rowing is mostly walk-ons who have never done the sport before but they came in third at the NCAA Division II championships last year! Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks flalaw97. It is hard to get info about Phil Univ so your posts are really helpful. I have looked over their website each time my son expresses interest in a variation of his interested major even and though it is a small school, I am surprised they offer it. He is interested in both Arch and Industrial design and incredibly, you can double major there if you want. No other place did I find that. He does not want to attend an art school which is why I have looked at more LAC options. Thanks for taking the time to answer. They do have a nice blend of design majors with other options ie engineering and healthcare which is truly unusual. Glad your daughter is doing so well and happy there.</p>
<p>We’re in the midst of applying to schools and ran across Philadelphia University. We were orginally concerned about it due to the higher acceptance rate, and some comments made about students not living on campus, or leaving on the weekends.</p>
<p>Would love to know from your experiences:
- do you still get the campus life and community even if a lot of the students live near by? Is it true that lots of students disappear on the weekend or evenings?
- is the campus separated from the city? Ideally my daughter wanted to attend a school not in the city. How isolated is the campus? How safe is the surrounding neighborhood, and is it homes or business district?</p>
<p>My daughter has applied to Virginia Tech, which we visited and she loved. In addition, she’s just finishing her application for University of Cincinnati, and Philadelphia University. I wish when we visited Virginia Tech and CMU we knew about Philadelphia U. We could have tried to swing over there when on our trip (yep, realize it is far between, but we came out from Seattle :)</p>
<p>Lastly, it sounds like from what I’ve read that the Industrial Design program is a “gem in the rough” according to DesignIntelligence. If anyone has experience in the program, I’d love to get your impression of the classes and professors. </p>
<p>Now, to get the essay written, and we’ll be done with the application 
Thanks everyone for any info!</p>
<p>One more question. I see that Philadelphia University has rolling admissions. In a recent email with the admission staff, they made this comment to me: “We adhere to the May 1 reply date, so we will have space in the program until then. If you use the Common Application…” I’m wondering if anyone can clear this up for me. When did you get an acceptance/rejection letter? My daughter is under the impression that Philadephia University lets you know within 4 weeks or so of your application submission. </p>
<p>What has been your experience?</p>
<p>Also, anyone know how many people apply to the ID progam and how many they accept? </p>
<p>Thanks for the info,
Linda</p>
<p>Walmer: Your daughter is right - they should get an answer in 4 weeks. My daughter’s answer was less than 4 weeks (I think about 3). from the PhilaU FAQ:The Admissions Committee will begin reviewing applications in October for the following fall semester. Review usually begins in June for the following spring semester (January). Once all required materials have been received, the student usually has a decision in approximately four weeks. If the Committee requests additional grades and/or SAT I/ACT scores, a decision is usually rendered two to three weeks after the requested materials have been received. </p>
<p>Also the school is about 1/2 commuters so the campus is not hopping with students on the weekends when no classes are in session. However, students like my daughter who live 9 hours away are there all weekend and are either working on design projects, working out in the gym/doing sports or hanging out with friends. They also use the weekends to take the RAM van or SEPTA into Center city to enjoy Philadelphia.</p>
<p>The Campus is super safe in my opinion. Even parents have to be logged in by the student and show ID every time they go in and out to visit. Dorms are locked and paid security guards (who don’t just say “Aw sure go ahead in”) are at the front door. We spoke with a campus security guard (on his Segway) who said they have not had but one or two “serious” crimes (i.e. assault) in the past ten years and the crime they do have is mostly theft of ipods, bikes, etc. The neighboring area is suburban homes, not businesses and is home to many influencial people like the Mayor and judges so the police response time is very fast and almost no one who doesn’t go to PhilaU is roaming the streets. If they wander more than three of four miles from campus there are some less desirable nieghborhoods but my daughter has had no problems walking into Manayunk and going to restaurants, church and shops there. Also, my D has frequently used the RAM vans, which are on-call in addition to having regular routes, to get from one place to another at night (or in her case - early morning for crew practice).</p>
<p>I would say all of the design programs are great for students who like hands-on and one on one attention. The students fare well in local and national competitions (first Project Runway winner was PhilaU grad). It is a small school with good teachers and students who enjoy doing their thing. It is not a place for someone who doesn’t know what they want to do in life (not enough majors) or who wants the excitement of big time athletics, etc. However, the faculty and staff are super friendly and available. I would call a faculty member from industrial design and talk to them - I am sure they will help fill in the specifics of where that program is right now.</p>
<p>Walmer, if you do contact the ID dept, would you post what you learn? thanks</p>
<p>Another cc student posted this about ■■■■■■■■</p>
<p>U Room surf com is marketing deceptively
There’s this company called U room surf dot com that is creating official-looking facebook pages and making postings on class of 2014 that purport to match roommates. A lot of people are getting confused by this company, thinking that it is part of the college’s effort to match roommates, and they are providing their name and personal information to this company, which will no doubt use this information for marketing.</p>
<p>[Campus</a> Overload - Facebookgate, the 2010 edition](<a href=“http://voices.washingtonpost.com/campus-overload/2010/02/_admissions_officers_a_bit.html?hpid=sec-education]Campus”>http://voices.washingtonpost.com/campus-overload/2010/02/_admissions_officers_a_bit.html?hpid=sec-education)</p>
<p>I just wanted to post to say that I have been <em>very</em> impressed with Philadelphia University and their administration staff. Applying has actually been an exciting process, and everyone we’ve interacted with has gone out of their way to help out, been quick to reply, and clear in their communications.</p>
<p>We found out about Philadelphia University late in the game, and wanted to apply quickly given the rolling admission and the small number of people that are accepted into the Industrial Design program. The admission staff was very responsive and helpful through out the process. In addition, they were kind enough to think about shooting us an email letting us know before the holiday the wonderful news that my daughter was accepted! What a wonderful surprise for her and us to celebrate during our Thanksgiving.</p>
<p>I strongly recommend asking questions if you have them, and considering Philadelphia University. We are more and more excited as we learn more about them and interact with them. Another example is that they just had a chat session for students that have been given offers. It definitely got my daughter more excited to talk to current students.</p>
<p>We have not visited the campus yet as we are in Seattle. We also applied early decision to another school, who has yet to get back to us, deadline is Dec 15. At this point I’m almost regreting the early decision admission, but we’ll see. If we dont get ED, then Philadelphia U is definitely gettign a visit from us (even if it’s involves flying across the US :)</p>
<p>Congratulations to your daughter! My daughter enjoyed the chat session when she was applying too. If you do decide to visit, send me a message and perhaps my daughter or her roommate who is an industrial design major can meet you. There was a really cool article in the Philadelphia University Innovator magazine about Nathan Vanhook '03 who was an industrial design major who designed the new Nike Aina Chukka shoe. He lives in Portland and used to be the art director for Bodyglove wetsuits.</p>
<p>I visited PhilaU last year and fell in love with the campus. I applied and I was accepted to PhilaU in the physician assistant 5 year master program.
I just have a few questions though and I thought maybe you could give some insight. </p>
<p>What dorms do you think is the best for freshman girls?
How did your daughter like the food?
Is the campus really active?
Does she go into the city very often?</p>
<p>Yes, ■■■■■■■■ is definitely a scam. They were investigated for fraud in the NY Times:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/education/08freshmen.html[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/education/08freshmen.html</a></p>
<p>My daughter is home for winter break so I had her answer your questions. Sorry for the delay but I hope this helps.</p>
<p>What dorms do you think is the best for freshman girls?
I liven in Ronson and I loved it. It is the only freshman dorm with air conditioning (although they are working to update the others), all of the rooms are doubles. It is co-ed by wing so you are separated but not isolated. It has the most laundry machines of all the dorms, has a lounge in each hall (tv, tables, one or two couches) as well as a larger lounge for the entire dorm (tv, pool table, ping pong table, couches and tables) is located right next to Ravenhill Dining Hall (buffet style), and near the other freshman dorms (except Scholler is a little farther). The only issue is that all the freshman dorms are farther away from “main campus” than Scholler (freshman/honors housing) but it’s only a ten minute walk and the “ram vans” (campus transportation-free!) run back and forth all day.
How did your daughter like the food?
The food is considered pretty good for college food, nothing compares to home no matter where you go but the buffet options at Ravenhill are excellent and both Ravenhill and Kanbar have a sandwich, salad, and grill station that run during all meals.
Is the campus really active?
Many people who attend PhilaU are from nearby so they often will go home for a weekend periodically. If you don’t want to go home, or you can’t like me then there are always things available on campus. I have gone to a 76ers game for 5$ through the school which included transportation both ways and tickets. They have these types of events for other sports like the Phillies as well as other local events such as big movie releases (Harry Potter). Kanbar itself has a Wii you can use as well as two pool tables, a ping-pong table and television. There is also the CAB (campus Activities Board) which has activities each week like movies, magicians, music (bands, singers), speakers, carnivals, etc. They just had a big Casino night which was popular because everybody dressed up and had fun. Also alot of the resident assistants will plan smaller events for the hall or dorm to participate in like halloween parties, and study breaks during finals (cookies, hot chocolate and watching “Elf”).
Does she go into the city very often?
I personally don’t go to the city frequently but I usually will go a few times each semester. I have friends who will take the train, bus or car pool each weekend to shop, eat, or visit other schools/friends. With rowing and interior design I don’t have a lot fo time to get to the city but if you plan ahead a little and make arrangements it is not difficult to explore the city at all.</p>
<p>Thought those of you looking at industrial design at Philadelphia university might like this video: [YouTube</a> - PhiladelphiaU’s Channel](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/user/PhiladelphiaU#p/a/u/0/K5M2hw2IsE4]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/user/PhiladelphiaU#p/a/u/0/K5M2hw2IsE4)</p>
<p>has views as students are presenting projects</p>