Reviews of Towson

mom_of_alex
Mon, 09 Apr 2007 18:37:57 +0000

We toured Towson today so I thought I’d post our review. We made an appointment for a tour of the art facility in the morning. We were given a very thorough tour of the entire building which lasted over an hour. The building is very nice with lots of large windows which provided plenty of natural light for the studios. All of the classes were small in size and we walked into several classes that were in session. We saw nice painting studio space for the juniors and seniors, design classes, pottery, metalworking and graphic design classes. We saw some artwork on display which I thought was good - my daughter was hoping to see more to see the talent level since she is used to seeing a much greater quantity displayed at art schools. They also house the dance and music classes and studios in this building. Overall, we were impressed with the facility.

We walked over to the student union building for a snack while waiting for our 12 pm campus tour. The building is very nice with lots of choices for food on several different levels, a free video rental store, student store, bank, post office, etc. We saw a nice mix of kids and most appeared friendly. Someone made a comment previously about the kids dressing up - from what we could see, most were wearing sweats or jeans, some dressed more preppy than others but all in all, everyone looked to be dressed comfortably and casually.

We started our campus tour at the Office of Enrollment with a short video. It was a large group so they divided us up into about 9-10 families per group. We had a great tour guide who is finishing her sophomore year. She was very friendly and knowledgable. We made a nice loop around the campus, saw all of the buildings where classes are held, Burdick Hall which has a climbing wall, large fitness center and a lap pool, library and dorms. We only saw one dorm room in the Towers. The room was huge - much larger than most rooms we have seen at other universities. We only saw a sample room but were told all of the rooms in the four Towers are suite style with two rooms sharing one bathroom. The tour guide told us it is common for some freshmen to get tripled up first semester but they are guaranteed to be un-tripled by second semester. My daughter, who is the more critical type, even commented how nice and large she thought the room was. There is a dining hall right in the middle of the Glen Towers complex which is large with nice windows overlooking trees and had a variety of food from pizza to salads, vegetarian, burgers, etc. I was told there are other dining halls on campus which we did not see but the guide told us she thought the food at all of them was pretty good. The guide also pointed out the smaller dorms which we walked by at the other side of campus - Richmond and Newell for honors, and Scarborough and Prettyman, which are corridor style and not air conditioned. There is also another high rise, Residence Tower, which is quad style and first four floors house the international students. She pointed out just about a 5-10 minute walk down the road is the town of Towson with the mall, Barnes and Noble, theatre, and lots of shops. We ended up at the University Union after over a one and one half hour walking tour so had lunch and rested.

Overall, we liked what we saw. The campus is nice and well kept, I couldn’t quite get a sense of what was considered the central part of campus. We did walk through an area the guide referred to as the beach where she said kids will hang out when the weather gets nice. Even though it is a large campus with 328 acres and close to 15,000 undergrads, I can see how people say it is a large school with a small school feel. I get the feel that the kids get a lot of individualized attention and the school gives you a good vibe of the overall environment.

We picked up some literature when we started our tour which listed facts from the class of 2005 and 2006. Enrollment jumped by 400 students in one year so I would imagine enrollment will be even higher for 2007. This is good for the school but will add to the crunch for housing although our guide told us it is not a problem getting on campus housing - you are guaranteed the first two years and can even apply after that and some will still get on campus housing if available. She has lived in the Towers for two years and is moving to Towson Run Apartments next year, which is also university owned. Also, as far as demographics, a high percentage of Towson students come from Maryland. But from 2005 to 2006, out of state enrollment went from 22% to 29%, and I’m guessing this number will be even higher for 2007. Someone posted a comment asking if Towson is a suitcase school. I would say especially with more and more students attending from out of state, most kids stay on campus on weekends. It sound like there are lots of activities and happenings on campus as well as plenty to do just off campus.

My daughter is not the type to show and/or tell us what she thinks when it comes to colleges - I think she likes to keep us guessing. I did come out and ask her when we got home if it turned out to be a good day and if it was as good or maybe even better than what she was expecting. She actually sounded somewhat enthusiastic and said it was good and she liked it. And that is a major compliment coming from my daughter.