My thinking is that he likes Duke and Durham isn’t exactly NY or LA. UConn has daily, on-the-hour bus service back & forth to Hartford, so you can easily get off campus and get to the city for restaurants, museums, concerts, etc. For basketball fans, there are very few places like Duke. UConn is one of those few.
The reality is that college students spend the vast majority of their time on campus doing stuff with their friends. At UConn, there’s plenty of things to do with tens of thousands of other students, and there’s easy access to the outdoors for all kinds of other activities. If he wants to continue his involvement with theater or play intramural baseball, there are lots of opportunities for both. In addition to Hartford, Mohegan Sun Casino is also only half an hour away with lots more entertainment options there.
Unless he plans to apply to some schools that still allow test optional, he, as you know, will need to bring those standardized test scores up quite a bit. There really are better options for engineering than Duke, given the restricted number of engineering majors that they offer. Tulane has certainly brought up at sports of programs and their football and basketball teams have been quite impressive and recent years. New Orleans is a fun city and certainly plenty warm. My chemE son did well there. I have another engineering son, but he attended a school that is too small based on your criteria. But it was excellent and they both offer excellent programs excellent support and excellent guidance for internships and career opportunities.
The two key draws at Mohegan Sun are drinking and the casinos- neither of which will admit an 18 year old. And I don’t think the mall-like shopping area is terribly interesting for college men….
To be honest, I don’t care what the “key draws” are. I’ve been there numerous times for concerts (some free), stand up comedy, and sporting events - and sometimes have had dinner at a restaurant while I’ve been there. Regardless of the drinking and gambling, it’s an entertainment venue.
I bring it up to counter the claim that UConn is in “the middle of nowhere”, which in some ways it is. But readily accessible, within a reasonable distance are entertainment and restaurants at places like Hartford and Mohegan Sun. I’ve seen the description of schools like Vassar feature “access to New York City”, which is much, much farther away from Poughkeepsie than Hartford & MoheganSun are from UConn.
Why does anyone even bring up “in the middle of nowhere” regarding UConn? Does the “middle of nowhere” stop anyone from considering Dartmouth, Williams, Middlebury, Colgate, Colby, Bucknell, Washington & Lee, Denison, etc, etc, etc?
Okay. I stand corrected. It stops some people. But it didn’t stop this student from loving Duke, so in that vein I offered UConn as a school with a similar vibe for basketball lovers, more accessible admissions, and a College of Engineering with much broader offerings (15 majors).
Duke is NOT in the middle of nowhere. You can’t compare its surroundings to the other schools you just listed…Williams, Dartmouth, Colgate, etc. IMO suggesting Mohegan Sun as an attraction for those seeking to apply to UConn, when most can’t go there for the first 3 years of college for the main attractions is a stretch. I agree with you when people suggest NYC is easy to access and/or often accessed for Vassar students.
So, you consider Durham, NC as “somewhere”? I was not comparing its surroundings to those other colleges you named.
you’re wrong about college students now being able to go to Mohegan Sun. They can’t enter the casino area. But I wasn’t suggesting the casino area. Mohegan Sun has a 10,000 seat arena which hosts major concerts, comedy shows, WWE, NCAA basketball, WNBA basketball, high school basketball tournaments, and MMA. In addition, the Wolf’s Den hosts smaller name bands for free. Furthermore, many restaurants offer live entertainment, including live music, DJs, and karaoke.
Yes. The triangle area has over 2 million people. Duke is 15-20 mins from the airport. There are many places for Duke students to walk to. And dozens upon dozens of dining and entertainment options within a 10-20 min drive/uber.
If UConn is on OPs radar I would encourage them to chat with students about their campus life, accessibility to the airport, entertainment, outdoor recreation, etc. Same as the research they should do for any other school. I just don’t think Mohegan Sun is on the radar for many UConn students simply because of the distance.
And the town of Mansfield where UConn is located is part of Connecticut’s Capitol Region with a population of one million. UConn is about 40 minutes from the airport. And there are dozens upon dozens of dining and entertainment options within 30-40 minute drive/uber.
Of course a student should do their research into campus life, airport, entertainment, outdoors, etc. anywhere they’re planning to attend. I’d never suggest otherwise. I have no idea how many UConn students have Mohegan Sun on their radar. As I said earlier the vast majority of a student’s time in college is spent on campus. But the fact is that the distance to Mohegan Sun is not an issue if students are looking to get off campus and want something to do. It’s 40-45 minutes away by car or uber. Downtown Hartford is even closer and is connected by campus shuttle which runs every hour.
As a point of comparison. Fordham is in New York City, but whether it’s by public transit or by car, it takes time to get around a big city. How long do you think it takes to get from Fordham’s Bronx campus to Broadway’s “great white way”, or to museums, or to The Village, or to Wall Street?
Just bumping this one for visibility. Great basketball school, not super large, but they do seem to have particular strength in mechanical and biomedical engineering. They give merit and there are lots of industrial companies in the area. And it’s in a nice urban-ish location. Of course, it doesn’t fit the weather criteria.
IMO, if there are 25k or 30k students there, even a school in the middle of nowhere has activities, concerts, Starbucks. Penn State, UConn, Iowa State. I saw Paul McCartney at Iowa State years ago, and I was living in Minneapolis and drove to Ames.
I agree he needs to decide the style of school (flagship, tech, small private) and the size (8k, 15k, 25k). He’ll have lots of options.