<p>On the Towson tour, I saw a room for 2 students, not a triple. I am not sure the triple room is common. There is some variety of housing. The housing is simply better at UT Dallas, but the price and closer to home location of Towson is appealing. I don’t think the housing should be a deal breaker for Rockville Mom or anyone else because most freshmen dorms are not great.</p>
<p>yabeyabe - and that’s what I am thinking too - Towson is kind of Maryland’s JMU. It also has more Jewish students - more active Hillel - proximity to Baltimore and would cost us about $10,000 less per year for in-state. I do note, however, that JMU is in the Fiske and Princeton Review guides - while Towson is not.</p>
<p>Thanks for the additional info re tripling - I find this alarming - I mean dorm rooms are small enough as it is - and then you have 3 personalities to navigate - but I do recognize that it happens at other colleges as well. I guess it is a good thing that Towson is so upfront about it.</p>
<p>I suspect Towson suffers in PR vs. JMU because JMU has the better name–literally. “James Madison” sounds Colonial/Ivy, while Towson sounds like a non-flagship state school. Before, during and after my time at Penn, serious consideration was given to renaming the school “Benjamin Franklin University” to end the confusion with Penn State. Similarly, in NJ, Trenton State became The College of New Jersey and Glassboro State became Rowan.</p>
<p>I have not done any research, so I have no idea if JMU has a much nicer campus, or higher average scores, or a better graduation rate.</p>
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<p>I bet its A. halo effect from the flagships, and B. Perception as a commuter school</p>
<p>A - people think of JMU as where virginians who didnt get into UVA or W&M go, while Towson is for those who didnt get into U Md. With all due respect to U Md, that gives a different impression.</p>
<p>B. When I lived in Baltimore, and Towson U was still Towson State, I though of it (accurately or not) as a commuter school. JMU has a semi rural campus in a smaller place, so is more obviously not a commuter school.</p>
<p>BTW, as for name, as the above implies Towson has already had a recent name change.</p>
<p>I think BBdad makes good points, although I woder if, in addition to UVA and W&M, would VA Tech draw a majority of the kids admitted to it and JMU?. I think part of any perception gap could also be that Towson is close to Hopkins and Goucher. </p>
<p>I think the name change from Towson State to Towson U, like that of Bloomsburg and West Chester State Teachers College and West Chester and Bloomsburg U, was not dramatic enough to help. Western Maryland to McDaniel was better. </p>
<p>Is the commuter issue enough to make George Mason, not JMU, the right comparison?</p>
<p>Found this chart with MD and VA college graduation rates:</p>
<p>[College</a> Explorations: Area Colleges Improve Graduation Rates but Much Work Remains](<a href=“http://collegeexplorations.blogspot.com/2010/01/area-colleges-improve-graduation-rates.html]College”>College Explorations: Area Colleges Improve Graduation Rates but Much Work Remains)</p>
<p>This shows Towson with a 66% 6-year graduation rate in 2007. Good news is that is up from 56% in 2002. Bad news is it is far below James Madison. I believe a fair number of Towson students were not able to get into UMD-CP and transferred in instead. I saw elsewhere that the freshman retention rate is 82%.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if I understand the distinction between “commuter school” and one that has upperclassmen living off campus. Towson and JMU both have upperclassmen living off campus. By commuter school - do you mean that Towson has more working adults who take classes part-time? That makes sense given the proximity to Baltimore.</p>
<p>I htink you are doing the right analyses and drawing the right conclusions.</p>
<p>When “commuter school” is used negatively, it means kids who come to school only for classes, then leave–minimal involvement in clubs, etc. It is the 7 day version of “suitcase shool”–where kids go home on the weekends.</p>
<p>I suspect JMU would argue that its kids who live off-campus still participate.</p>
<p>Now, at Towson’s size, it could have a lot of commuters and still have a lot of residential kids, so clubs, etc could still thrive. If so, while it might be off-putting to meet kids in class who you never see around campus, it might not be a big deal. Frankly, at a 16000 undergrad school, commuter or not, you will never get to know thousands of classmates.</p>
<p>I agree with you on JMU - when we visited last month - they made a point to tell us that most students who live off campus still purchase a campus meal plan. Our tour guide lived off campus and still participated in a million (or so it seemed) on campus clubs and activities.</p>
<p>I’m guessing that because Baltimore has so much to offer - there might be students who live off campus and don’t really do a lot at Towson other than take classes. I think something like 4000 students live on campus. Thinking we might visit Towson next week.</p>
<p>If you hope your son prefers Towson to JMU for cost reasons, you might help Towson’s chances by taking advantage of your being so close to it and visiting in the Fall when kids are around–perhaps when a prominent football game can be seen</p>
<p>Returning to Rockville’s comment about schools making an effort to attract more Jewish students, I note that the list of possible electives given to incoming Susquehanna freshmen lists 16 examples, from Public Relations to Principles of Computer Science–2 of which are Jewish Philosophy and Ethics and Introduction to Judaism.</p>
<p>yabeyabe - I was actually looking at the required courses for Susquehanna the other day and saw that there were many courses from the Jewish studies minor that could be used to fulfill a requirement - the Jewish cuisine course could be used for something - don’t remember the specifics - but I really liked that - even if S2 would not do the whole minor - he could certainly take a few courses from the minor to fulfill core curriculum.</p>
<p>Agree with you about Towson in the fall - my problem is that S2 is so busy in the fall - or he thinks he is anyway - that he feels he does not have time to do any visits. We have compromised by selecting 3 fall weekends that are a 3-day weekends for his school and planning college visits for those weekends. So, I thought we’d try getting out to Towson next week - before he starts drivers ed - just to see the campus - DH and I have never seen it either. We can always visit again in the spring or next fall if he is willing. It goes without saying that I am MUCH more interested in visiting colleges than he is!</p>
<p>First, I think it is unfair to Towson to imply that UMCP is better because some people may think of Towson as a “safety”. Each school has its strengths and different programs. In the case of the OP, Towson is in a nicer neighborhood. UMCP Hillel, by reputation, is supposed to be one of the best available, but Towson Hillel is probably more than adequate. Towson has the largest Business school for the Maryland state schools. UMCP is closer to DC if that makes a difference. Each school should be looked at for its own merits.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: You have a lot of time. I think it best to go to Towson when there is a football game or some activity going on that would interest your son. However, a drive up there, as long as you also see some of the nice surrounding area (nice mall, etc.), may make a positive difference if location is important to your son. If your son is not interested in seeing schools, that is ok. Just have a reasonable list of schools for him to apply to that meets his academic, social, Jewish, and sports needs and visits can be taken after acceptance.</p>
<p>Well - he has agreed to see Towson some time next week. I just want to see what the actual campus looks like - see the area around campus - which I hear is nice, etc. I think seeing the campus - even if it is the middle of summer - helps us both. I do think most would agree that Towson<UMDCP in terms of prestige - but I prefer the size of Towson and from what I have heard the surrounding neighborhood is nicer. If it stays on his list - we’ll visit again when classes are in session.</p>
<p>One odd note - I looked on Towson’s visit schedule and they had 2 open house days in the spring for juniors - both are Fridays in May - so these dates do not coincide with spring break - which is in April. Given that most Towson applicants are MD public school students - I find that odd. Furthermore, the two Fridays are during the 2 week AP exam period. Maybe they don’t expect juniors who are applying to Towson to take APs? Just thought that was very strange planning.</p>
<p>Rockville Mom: We went to the Friday session for juniors. It was scheduled before AP exams. There was no time conflict there. I think the Friday sessions took place so that out of town applicants could enjoy the week-end in Baltimore. Just want to clarify-I did not get the impression that most Towson students are from Maryland. In fact, it is a very popular school for OOS students from New Jersey and other places. This is why Towson is becoming more competitive for in state Maryland students. There was a huge crowd at the Friday, spring time junior open house and is definitely worth taking your son on that tour, even if it means taking a vacation day from work.</p>
<p>At this point, prestige is much lower on my list of priorities. I just want my son happy and thriving at a good fit school. He refuses to apply to UMDCP because it is too big.</p>
<p>From the May 6, 2010 Baltimore Sun:</p>
<p>“At Towson, 28 percent of the freshman seats were granted to out-of-state students. High school graduates from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania make up 25 percent of the current freshman class. Towson announced in press release that the town that benefited the most from Towson’s out-of-state admissions policy was Cherry Hill, N.J. Of the 2,400 freshman that Towson enrolled, 672 students were non-Marylanders.”</p>
<p>In a way, I take the OOS numbers as a good sign - if people are willing to pay OOS tuition for Towson - they must think it has value.</p>
<p>The junior visit dates in the spring are Friday, May 6th and Friday, May 13th - so both fall within AP exams, I believe. But, I figure parking would be a nightmare on those dates anyway!</p>
<p>NJ’s high in state tuitions for its public colleges and NY’s publics having generally harsh weather and weak sports programs are the best things that ever happened to the public colleges in nearby states, as it drives thousands of kids a year to them, paying OOS tuition and driving up selectivity numbers.</p>
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<p>yabeyabe - makes sense. I was just reading a review of York College in PA - and a funny comment was from a student saying he had a hard time at first understanding all of the students with NJ and NY accents! I was wondering why they would be at York in the first place - you just answered my question.</p>
<p>In addition, NJ and NY have surprisingly few good private college options for B students. The largest NJ contenders–Rider, Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson–all have suitcase reputations, leaving only Drew. And those NY/NJ refugees probably also boost the Jewish populations at Towson, JMU, UMCP, UDEL, Penn State, etc.</p>
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<p>Keep in mind, that when Towson takes a significant number of OOS students, it makes a more competitive situation for Maryland in state students to get accepted. </p>
<p>Towson is a very nice school. I can see why OOS students want to attend, particularly for one of the professional schools (speech therapy, occupational therapy, etc.). My guess is OOS tution is probably significantly less than other private Eastern colleges.</p>
<p>I can add some more information about Towson. Several friend’s and relative’s kids have attended, and my daughter and I visited last winter. You do need to be accepted into the business program, but the requred GPA is pretty reasonable. I don’t think they put a limit on number of students accepted into the program like many schools do. Towson also allows student to retake classes they don’t do well in. Both grades remain on the transcript, but only the higher grade is calculated in the GPA. I’ve know several hard working (but not brilliant) “B” students who were accepted into the business program. </p>
<p>In terms of housing, they recently built several new dorms and on campus apartment buildings. I’ve never heard of forced triples. I do think that housing is limited for upper classman. Many live in aparments in the surrounding area.</p>
<p>Towson does have a decent number of commuters who live at home in the Baltimore area. In addition, a lot of the students who live on campus live close enough to go home on weekends. I do get the impression that there is still plenty going on on weekends for students who remain on campus. They do have DI sports teams. We saw lots of kids in Towson apparel which is always a good sign.</p>
<p>I think Towson is a good safety for in-state kids, especially those interested in business or education. It does not have the prestige or big school excitement of UMCP, but it offers a good education in a supportive, fun enviroment.</p>