<p>My junior daughter is interested in some colleges in Cal., Ore, and Wash. so we are planning a visit over spring break to check them out. We are planning to visit : Uof W, Wash State, Western Wash, U of Oregon, Oregon State, Portland State. Then flying to California to see San Diego State before flying back to PA. </p>
<p>If anyone has any advice of other schools nearby that we should look at or reasons to skip some of these or whatever I am open. </p>
<p>My daughter's requirements are: Large(at least 8000), must have a decent college town, nothing too "non-traditional". She is not interested in sports teams or Greek life so they don't matter . Will probably study business- preferably entrepreneurial study. </p>
<p>My requirements are: tuition for oos $20,000 or less ( we will not qualify for any need-based aid) , safe location. That's about it...</p>
<p>She has about a 3.75 gpa, mostly honors classes. We expect her SAT scores to be around 1900. (we'll see) Her EC's are basically working as a photo processor, Philosophy Club, Art Honor Society and volunteering at the local art center. She is very artistic but does not want to pursue art as a career or major in college. </p>
<p>Sorry so long - any suggestions will be appreciated. I got some great advice a few months ago on a similar thread but want to firm up trip plans and see if there are any new suggestions. Thanks!!</p>
<p>University of Washington is by far the best college on that list... but their tuition+ room/board is significantly above 20,000 for an out-of-stater. Tuition alone runs about 19 grand. </p>
<p>I can think of some other good colleges in the area, quite a few, actually. None of them come close to 8000 students. I don't think there are any colleges left in Oregon and Washington of that size, barring CentralWash and EasternWash, which are really below your daughter's standards.</p>
<p>Thanks - I was not including room and board in that figure so U of W just sqeaks in - at least this year.
The 8000 students is really the minimum - she prefers the large numbers like Uof W . We definitely will be going to tour there but she wants to have a few options. Western Washingtom looked nice on paper but a visit will help as well.
I have heard good things about Eugene - are you familiar with Oregon schools?</p>
<p>PA Mom, I would encourage you to take a look at Southern Oregon University (SOU) in Ashland. It was recently called a "Hidden Gem" in the New York Times Magazine. Ashland is about two hundred miles south of Eugene and it is an absolutely gorgeous town in Oregon's Rogue Valley. Out of state tuition is about $16,500 and they offer a wide-variety of majors, including a three year accelerated Baccalaureate program. Total student body is about 5,000 (I know that your daughter is looking for a slightly larger school). Ashland is a very safe town and it is well-known on the West Coast for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.<br>
Eugene, where the University of Oregon is situated, is a small-size city (by Eastern standards) in Oregon's Willamette Valley. I would consider U of O to be a solid state flagship school, with very good academics. The U of O campus is attractive. I would consider the students to be progressive and the only drawback is, if you have not heard, the rainy weather. Good luck and let us know how your trip goes!</p>
<p>While in San Diego, also check out UCSD. It's in La Jolla on the coast - about a 20 minute drive from SDSU. It's a top ranked university. I wouldn't say it's in a 'college town' though so she'd have to think about what she's really looking for and see if it has it. SDSU ranks highly in business so it's a good one to keep on your list.</p>
<p>On top of all this, San Diego is a great place to live with fantastic weather year-round, great beaches, surfing, swimming, scuba diving, biking, hiking, etc.</p>
<p>I'd also recommend you check out the University of San Diego when you are in town. For an out of state student, the price is comparable to UCSD and the merit scholarships and financial aid sometimes a little better for non-residents. USD is also minutes from downtown, while UCSD is quite a schlep without a car. If your daughter has decent stats, merit aid at USD can sometimes be quite good so it might fall into the financial range you're talking about. It is only about 10 minutes from San Diego State. </p>
<p>Just a note, but if safety is a concern, the area surrounding SDSU is not the safest for women. Not as bad as some areas, but it gets dicey pretty quickly. The business school, however, is very good. If you have time, and want to stick to state schools, you might also check out Cal State Long Beach as a possibility.</p>
<p>Although it may be a little small for your daughter at 3,000 students, in Orgeon, the University of Portland has a solid business program and is very generous with merit awards. Safer area than Portland State as well.</p>
<p>It's too bad you've limited your search to larger schools. That translates to basically public schools who don't offer much in the way of merit aid and aren't much of a bargain for out of staters. There are several great LACs but unfortunately all run around 2000 or fewer in population. U of Oregon has a great honors college but their aid package was the smallest of all the schools D applied to, and that included the WUE "scholarship" of 150% in state tuition. U of O is over $18,000 for non resident tuition and $7500+ for romm and board. UCSD' non resident tuition fee is over $18,000 and the you have to add the other regular fees/housing etc of $21,000+ (20062007 estimated undergraduate student basic budgets fom ucsd website). I would check out each school's finaid website carefully for total out of state costs.</p>
<p>If she prefers the size of UW, with an enormous 23k undergrads, that list you got ain't getting any longer. Also, when I went on a UW tour once, it was boring and not particularly insightful, I suggest you explore in-depth on your own.</p>
<p>UofO is arguably Oregon's best school next to Reed, which is in a whole different area. Eugene is blegh, but not far from neigboring Corvallis, the coast, and Portland.</p>
<p>Definitely check out USD. They gave my daughter $15,000 in merit aid.
It is possibly the most beautiful campus in the country.
But apply EA as last year they received 10,000 apps up from 7000 the previous year.
The school has almost 8000 students with 5000 undergrad and 2000 plus grad.
good luck</p>
<p>Corvallis resident here. As an aggie school, OSU's strengths are in engineering and the sciences rather than the humanities. I believe there is a fairly strong business department (don't know how it compares to U of O or the WA & CA schools), and the newly renovated Weatherford dorm is geared toward students with entrepreneurial interests. We also have a relatively active Greek scene. </p>
<p>Both OSU & U of O have a lot of interest in sports teams, and both were recently named as having the worst football jerseys in the country (Halloween colors and clashing bright green and yellow, respectively)!</p>
<p>Send me a PM if you have any specific questions. EM</p>
<p>Western Washington is a good school in a small town worth the visit. The UW is big, near the heart of Seattle. Seattle U and SPU might be worth a look depending on your needs, check their websites first. PLU and UPS are small privates located in Tacoma, Wash. WSU is out there almost by itself hours away from anything else, except the U of Idaho, which might be worth a look if you hit Wazzu, as they are 8 miles apart. </p>
<p>Oregon State is a pretty place, beautful school, but might as well be a private college for out of state costs. A public with private pricing for out of staters. We loved it, till we saw the bill.
U of O reminds me so much of animal house when I've been around campus, it's like time had slowed. I don't mean this in a bad way, it just gives me that impression. </p>
<p>My two go to Willamette and Linfield in Oregon and they love it. It's too bad your D has already determined to only go to schools of 8,000 or more. It could be her loss by not taking a look at some of these wonderful smaller colleges that line I-5 in Washington and Oregon. Portland has Reed, Lewis & Clark and Pacific nearby. I would suggest even though she has expressed a size preference, try one of each small, medium and large campus out here. She might change her perspective afterwards... mine did.</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone for your input. With all of these great suggestions we may have to extend our trip to have time to visit more than we originally planned. </p>
<p>We are currently visiting a lot of these websites and building a spreadsheet to compare. We'll probably narrow our list down to 6 or 7 schools before we go and then see what happens.<br>
Unfortunately when she did the Southern tour with older sis last year she really did not care for the small schools. ( and the smallest we went to then was 5000!) FYI - her high school is over 2000 so that does affect her decision somewhat.
Right now she is loving Western Washington - from the art sculptures to the town, to the philosophy department and the scenic location she is intrigued. My old boss spent some time in his thirties and then retired to Bellingham and sang it's praises whenever he could. If they don't raise tuition too much in the next couple of years we can afford it as well!
Keep the great info coming - I appreciate it all so much.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if you were considering other states, but both Arizona State and University of Arizona fit in with your guidelines quite well. They're large (ASU has over 60,000), in large cities (ASU in Phoenix, and U of A in Tuscon), have amazing business programs (U of A and ASU ranked 21 and 23 respectively by US News, higher than anything in the west besides USC and Cal, for a comparison, Oregon is 59, SDSU is 89, WSU is 98, OSU is 118, and Washington is 28), ASU is in a great college town (Tempe), both are strong in clubs/sports/frats, and have very reasonable tuition (12k for out of state currently I believe) with some of the best merit aid you can find.</p>
<p>If you want more info PM me, I realize it's a bit out of the way, but they seem like very good fits for your daughter.</p>
<p>I think you posted a while back as well. I went to Western and it is a nice place. Alot of our HS grads want to go there as it is big, but not too big compared to the UW. My kids might have ended up there if it weren't for the scholarships elsewhere. Western does not give much in finanical aide, but it's tuition costs aren't killer compared to others. WWU is known primarily as a teachers college, but their business programs aren't too shabby. </p>
<p>Bellingham is a smaller town, but a good time could be had. It's roughly and hour either way to Seattle or Vancouver BC. There aren't alot of negatives to the place overall. </p>
<p>As far as businessguys recommendation of Uof A and ASU, I would agree they are both nice schools and offer alot of aide. The only drawbacks we found was the heat and lack of evergreen trees. Western and ASU are about as far apart in scenery as you can get.</p>
<p>We visited the University of Washington last summer as part of a west coast tour. It was on the list because we used to live in the area, still have family there, and we have visited frequently since moving away due to a job transfer.</p>
<p>I felt very unwelcome as an out of state family considering enrollment. Although the room was filled with out of state students, the moderator talked extensively about their need to fill the freshman class with mostly instate students. That there was no way to ever become an instate student even with living and working year-round in the area. The campus tour did not include a view of any dorms (even though the fall term had not begun yet - this was the only campus to decline showing their rooms). We had to pay $10 to park on campus for the tour - again, the only school that charged us to visit!</p>
<p>If something has to fall off your visit list - I'd recommend not visiting the University of Washington.</p>
<p>Don't take UW off the list. It is true that it is pretty much meant for in state students. I'm part of the 90% and I love it. Plus, you have the see the beautiful campus. The parking does suck. I even have to pay when I move in if the car stays more than an hour. The reason for not showing the dorms may be because they are small. They made Princeton Review's dorms like dungeons list, but it is a small downside to a great school.</p>