<p>Thanks, NewHope. That isolation could be an issue for S.</p>
<p>Marian: UMD, and specifically their Journalism school, is S’s first choice. He spent a week in June on campus, taking a sports writing course, and loved it.</p>
<p>^ BL - Your S is going to LOVE taking the Metro to fun and interesting places!</p>
<p>Booklady-UConn is definitely very isolated. It is in a rural setting and has absolutely no college town. We know kids who have been very happy there, but if it isn’t on campus, it isn’t happening. Has he considered the University of Missouri for journalism? The University of Kansas also has a nice journalism program and both are in a great college towns.</p>
<p>S attended a summer program at PSU while in H.S.and we visited him during it.Great college town,great campus,though large (but we’re used to large campuses, older D attended ASU undergrad). Honors College is great there. Hard to get to but once you arrive I think the campus plus town has enough to keep the kids satisfied for all 4 years (as opposed to smaller campuses in college towns). S would have applied for undergrad there but his intended major didnt exist there (sports managment).Ca’t beat it for school spirit and big school football experience.
We visited UConn and we’re surprisingly impressed with the campus,its really updated and nice.Lots of $$ invested in the “physical plant”. Had a nice Honors College setup and very enthusiastic tourguides! We were there on a Friday and witnessed loads of students leaving campus in cars.It was a traffic jam,really.
S liked the school but we couldn’t wrap ourselves around the surrounding area…its deserted! Usually a college of that size has college town/support services…retail restaurants,etc surrounding it. This was strangely empty. I would feel sorry for a kid there without a car,truely. That knocked it off S’s list.
We know many Honors caliber students who have attended or are attending UDel,its a popular choice for Long Islanders (NY) who want a state school budget but don’t want the SUNY system.Kids seem to enjoy it there. The admission standards for OOS students for their Honors program is quite high. We didnt visit but I researched it pretty extensively and the campus looks lovely in video,etc. Looks well kept and facilities up to date. S didnt apply b/c we couldnt judge the caliber of his major there and he got distracted by better opportunities elsewhere.</p>
<p>my-3-sons, thanks for the suggestions, but S doesn’t want to go that far from home (we’re just outside of Philadelphia, and he doesn’t want to have to fly anywhere). He may apply to Syracuse (Newhouse), but his stats make it a reach.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that UConn had no town at all around it…that does make a difference. Thanks for your input, everyone.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input !! We’re still exploring options - maybe adding a SUNY to the mix. My D wants a larger school, so we’re looking around still.</p>
<p>I toured all 4 campuses (I included UConn) with my son. Rutgers is by far the worst. It’s a bunch of satellite type campuses with a bus route between them. It had a run down urban feel in the area around it. My son couldn’t wait to get out of there.</p>
<p>UDel and Penn St were probably the favorites as far as appearance and location. UConn is a close 2nd to these 2. The biggest negative for UConn being, it’s not near much of anything. Both Penn St and UDel have a ‘main street’ running along campus (it’s actually called Main St at UDel). UDel probably is in the most populated area in terms of restaurants, malls, hotels and that kind of thing. Penn State has a town which is a product of the University, beyond that, there’s not much else. You’d need a car to leave the area. UDel has a bus system to get around Newark and Wilmington. It also has an Amtrak station and easy access to Phillie, NYC and DC which could be a plus for city kids.</p>
<p>My son liked the size of UConn and UDel as well and was accepted to both. UDel was his 1st choice all along and he will be going there in the fall. He was also accepted to Syracuse (also a very nice campus), UMass, SUNY Albany, Ursinus and Allegheny, but UConn and UDel were his top choices all along.</p>
<p>After revisiting UDel several times since he’s been accepted (decision day, orientation), I can honestly say, it’s a beautiful, very well-maintained campus and it also seem very well run and personal for a large school.</p>
<p>Rutgers is the better school out of the three - Rutgers College is a seriously great school. I have older friends going to both schools, and the smarter, more-intellectual types are at RU. I’ve also been on both campuses…Penn State has an anti-intellectual feel that Rutgers doesn’t. </p>
<p>Though you can’t really go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Booklady, if son plans to pursue sports journalism and does attend UMD, advise him to attend the fall career fair at the journalism school. DS’ friend did so last fall as a sophomore, landed an internship at USA Today for the fall and spring semesters, which gave him some great experience to put on his resume, which led to a summer internship at CBS Sports this summer. </p>
<p>Our DS has had the same luck in the business school and already has a fantastic internship lined up for NEXT summer.</p>
<p>worrywart, thanks for the info. Now he just has to get in…</p>
<p>Fingers crossed!</p>
<p>We live in NJ. Our state flagship is Rutgers, which is 15-30 minutes from our home. If this tells you anything, my oldest child just graduated in May from the University of Delaware, and has a job in her field in NYC, and my second child just started her freshman year at Penn State University Park.
We (and they) were extremely happy with Delaware and (so far) PSU! </p>
<p>My child who is a freshman in college also applied to UConn and we visited-I agree with the other posters-we could not believe that there was nothing around the campus! Very surprising for a campus that size. My child did like the school, though.</p>
<p>Katie443, are you paying around 15k more per year at Penn State than you would at Rutgers? Full out-of-state tuition at Penn State?</p>
<p>Also, what is she studying at Penn State?</p>
<p>bumpppppppppp</p>
<p>NorthEastMom2, out-of-state publics can be very expensive, and usually the financial aid is not good. SUNY is the exception. It’s not so bad for out-of-staters. So I’m recommending that you look within your state first, and then check out other states’ schools if necessary. Unless money is no object, of course. And what is it that your student wants to study?</p>
<p>PSU for out of state is about 12K more than Rutgers would be for instate.
We are quite familiar with Rutgers and the two schools have a lot of differences, and each school is a good fit for lots of students!</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Do you feel that PSU is worth 50k more over 4 years than Rutgers?</p>
<p>I’m curious since both are state schools and have similar academics/job prospects…and whether the 50k cost difference is worth it…what is she studying by the way?</p>
<p>Yes, we do.
She is in Smeal.
Lil Wayne Fan, don’t you attend PSU?</p>
<p>^^^
Yup.
I’m in Smeal as well. Sophomore.
Actuarial science major (I want to be an actuary)
I’m also from NJ, and for me, the excellent act. sci. program makes it all worth the pricey OOS tuition.</p>
<p>Go to Rutgers. </p>
<p>Take it from me, a Penn Stater (who lives in NJ).</p>