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Went to their open house today, and they did a great job. Aside from talking to students in D's program at the open house for that program, we snagged numerous students on the sidewalks and in the dorms to ask about Duq. We did not encounter a single student that said that they weren't happy there! Having done a lot of college visits where we've asked students this question, Duq should be very pleased with the results of this informal survey.
Pros - Happy students (lots of truly good-looking kids too, which is consistent with the reports by that book series on universities and colleges). The professors and administrators who were participating in the open house were universally friendly and helpful. Dorms are next to a hospital, which is convenient for health care majors or students interested in volunteering. Beautiful campus. Both the campus and the buildings were well maintained. We wandered around some of the buildings that were not open for presentations, and they were all very nice. Little Barnes & Noble next to campus and Starbucks on campus. Students said they were pleased with the social life. Noted that dorm bathroom was spotless; many students invited us to see their dorm rooms, which (compared to some that we've seen ) were reasonably sized. Otherwise, they looked fairly typical. The dorm halls were decorated for Halloween. Campus seemed very safe. Little college newspaper was entertaining and well-written.
Negatives - From D's perspective, school felt small. Although they said that they have international students, etc., we saw very few minorities. A minor inconvenience was that the dorms don't have dining, and you have to walk to the dorm that has the dining hall (not a big deal unless you're thinking mid-winter). Lots of exercise going up and down hills (positive or negative, depending on your orientation). I visited the campus in winter with another kid, and can report that they manage to keep ice and snow off the roads and sidewalks well. To me, the hills + snow and ice is still a negative. Library doesn't have a coffeeshop (although there's a coffeeshop across the street). Although the students said they had a lot to do, the school newspaper didn't list a lot of lectures or other activities (possibly a big school vs. small school issue). Parking is evidently a pretty big problem.
D had been concerned about possibly ending up in school with all of her high school classmates. While we recognized some kid's schools from sweatshirts, did NOT see any other kids from our own school. We talked to some students from Maryland, who said that while there are a lot of Western PA students, they also have friends on campus from from California and other states. We met quite a few families at the open house from other states.
Again, very well-done open house. Duq is still in D's top 5.
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