Any insight on either Gonzaga or Providence College?

Parents Forum
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<p>I should note that the 45k is just what they saved, they are not making 100k by any means, far from it. </p>

<p>As for my in-states, I’m definitely applying to 2 UC’s (UCSB and UCSD) because I have articulation agreement with both. I have not really looked at any other in-state schools because I would really like to get out of California for college. For example, my first choice school is the University of Wisconsin (for a variety of reasons, personal and academic wise). </p>

<p>I haven’t really looked at any other Catholic/Jesuit schools besides these two, I was mainly looking at the publics in the Midwest and the South…and a few other private schools as well…</p>

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<p>Spokane is MUCH colder/snowier than Seattle. If Seattle gets a half inch of snow, the city shuts down. I don’t think they usually get any snow at all. (They had a really rough time last year when they got at least a foot.) In Spokane, well, the snowfall varies. Last year Spokane had a record snowfall (93 inches.) Some years it has only a foot of snow. But there is usually at least SOME snow, and it usually sticks around a few months. The school has a residential feel–students living in dorms or in nearby rental houses.</p>

<p>Gonzaga U is less than a mile from downtown Spokane, I’d say. It’s got a residential neighborhood on one side, a park on the other (don’t go there at night), and is bordered by the Spokane River, which has a walking trail by it (the Centennial Trail.) Follow the Centennial Trail ten minutes and you are in Riverfront Park, a huge, beautiful park on a big island in the middle of the Spokane River. Downtown Spokane is directly north of Riverfront Park. The downtown area is not as big or vibrant as Seattle or Portland, but there are lots of restaurants, some interesting shops if you know where to look (if you go to GU, you must check out Boo Radley’s), and the opera house gets the big Broadway plays.</p>

<p>The bus system is centered around a downtown “hub”, so any bus will take you downtown. From there, you can catch a bus to some other part of the city as the whim takes you.</p>

<p>Also, yes, Seattle is a good six hour drive away. Some people do drive there for weekend shopping trips, though. But don’t try it in the winter, you will get stuck in the mountain passes.</p>

<p>GU’s campus is supposedly dry (no alcohol), but of course . . . not really. I don’t know about the dorm rules. It’s financial aid packages are skimpy, from what I’ve heard. </p>

<p>If you go to Washington, expect to hear a lot of people grousing about Californians “ruining” the state. (Washington has an influx of Californians who sell their houses on the expensive CA housing market, then use the money to buy houses in Washington at prices which are, for Washingtonians, inflated. So the perception is that Californians are driving the Washington housing prices up.) Don’t get me wrong, no one is going to slash your tires or refuse to befriend you because you’re from CA; just be prepared to hear a lot of derision towards your home state.</p>

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<p>Meatballs, all three of the girls I know got very generous MERIT scholarships at Gonzaga (not based on need) that lowered their tuition costs to that of their in-state public colleges; in one case nearly a full tuition ride. Spokane is a small city and is very nice. It is not a commuter school; students stay on campus. It isn’t an easy drive to the next big city (Portland or Seattle) though commuter flights are available. Sometimes students drive to Couer d’ Alene, ID on the weekends to camp or whatever.</p>

<p>It is more of a desert climate–definitely colder/snowier than Seattle or Portland (except last Winter :)</p>

<p>I would definitely contact admissions about the possibility of merit aid for transfers before ruling it out I’m sure they can answer your questions.</p>

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<p>^^^
From Gonzaga’s website…</p>

<p>Gonzaga Merit Scholarships:</p>

<p>** Only awarded to accepted freshmen students **</p>

<p>But, if you want to contact them and ask if there are any acceptions, you might try…</p>

<hr>

<p>However, if I were you, I would start a new thread with the heading…</p>

<p>“Anyone know of merit $ for OOS transfer students.”</p>

<p>Then, list your stats, your major, etc. List geographical areas that you’d like to go to college.</p>

<p>Hopefully, there are people on this forum who know one or two schools who give transfer scholarship money. </p>

<p>:)</p>

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<p>Thanks to Naturally for that wonderful post on Spokane and the state of Washington. I feel I’ll be more prepared for it if I do end up in Washington. </p>

<p>Also a big thanks to SJTH for the insight on the campus of Gonzaga.</p>

<p>mom2collegekids, maybe I should start a thread on transfer money!</p>

<p>Looks like I’m leaning towards Gonzaga more so than Providence at the moment due to the fact that I am getting a lot of positive vibes from parents on here about the school which is great.</p>

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<p>By the way Naturally, when I was a teenager in the Pacific Northwest in the 1980s, we would organize a weekly mob with pitchforks at the I-95 Columbia River bridge looking for migrating Californians. Just kidding!</p>

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<p>Of course it’s just my opinion, but I find Providence to be a depressing city. It’s something about the vibe of the city. As a west-coaster who’s lived/worked/visited in a variety of east coast locations, Providence is really the only one I was relieved to leave. Hard to say why exactly. It’s not as though I was in a rough part of the city or anything, and there are some really pretty features… but it’s just a je ne sais quoi kind of thing.</p>

<p>(And I am a California transplant in Oregon… all the same sort of anti-CA things are said here, but it’s a benign sort of thing. No problem! I’ve been here so long now, I’m tempted to say them myself, but all those migrating Californians are making my county shift from solidly red to quite purple-ish. Now I think, keep on comin’ folks! ;))</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>So that was YOU!!!</p>

<p>:p</p>

<p>;)</p>

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<p>I live in Spokane. Spokane is about 5 hrs to the west of Seattle. The bus system
([Spokane</a> Transit Authority (STA): Home Page](<a href=“http://spokanetransit.com/]Spokane”>http://spokanetransit.com/)) is pretty decent.</p>

<p>As far as the weather goes, Spokane has 4 destinct seasons. We get more rain in the spring and fall, get snow in winter, and hot in the summer. We don’t get nearly as much rain as Seattle. <<the annual=“” average=“” precipitation=“” at=“” spokane=“” is=“” 16.67=“” inches.=“” rainfall=“” in=“” fairly=“” evenly=“” distributed=“” throughout=“” the=“” year.=“” wettest=“” month=“” of=“” year=“” december=“” with=“” an=“” 2.25=“”>> <<the annual=“” average=“” precipitation=“” at=“” seattle=“” is=“” 38.25=“” inches.=“” winter=“” months=“” tend=“” to=“” be=“” wetter=“” than=“” summer=“” months.=“” the=“” wettest=“” month=“” of=“” year=“” december=“” with=“” an=“” rainfall=“” 6.06=“”>></the></the></p>

<p>The area were Gonzaga is is really neat. It’s a newly renivated area in the down town area that most of the universities are using and calling it the University District.
It is right on the Centenial Trail on the Spokane River. You can walk,bike,or skate for miles in either direction on a nice paved trail away from traffic. If you walk to the west you can go to Riverfront Park and the down town area. </p>

<p>Spokane is not as diverse as Portland or LA, but there is diversity. Lots of Russian, and Asian populations. I can tell you that I can go to most any part of Spokane and I feel safe!<br>
Also within the general area of Spokane are Whitworth College, Eastern Washington University and 75 miles away Washington State University. (and community colleges of Spokane has 2 campuses)</p>

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<p>Gonzaga sounds really nice from here, I may just have to apply. Especially since my friend is regaling me of stories of Gonzaga and Spokane.I don’t even mind the weird looks I’ll get for being in California. </p>

<p>Looks like I’ll be leaning towards the Zags unless some more Providence supporter speaks up!! :)</p>

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<p>OP not to throw a monkey wrench in here but I know that Saint Mary’s College of CA…Go Gaels!!!.. does give merit money to transfer students! They also have a great business program with access to internships in the San Francsico Bay Area as well as the Silicon Valley. It may be worth a look. Being in the same geographical area as Stanford and Berkeley it is somewhat oversadowed but it really is comparable (and by that I mean WAY better :wink: ) to Gonzaga. I don’t know much about Providence.</p>

<p>Also University of Portland has amazing internship ops in a great city on a LOVELY campus. I don’t remember if they offer merit to transfers though</p>

<p>Having just gone through the admissions process with my twin daughters I can tell you that Cal Poly offered “free” money but none of the other CSUs did and none of the 3 UC campuses that they were accepted to did either. The cost for my daughter to attend Saint Mary’s is so low that the only option less costly would have been to keep her home and have her attend CC. Have a look at Saint Mary’s it may give you the small Catholic campus you want at a price that is more affordable <a href=“http://www.saintmarys-ca.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.saintmarys-ca.edu</a></p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>St Mary’s is nice; I had a niece go there.</p>

<p>The transfer scholarship is as follows…</p>

<p>Transfer Honors at Entrance Scholarships–$10,000 annually
Transfer students entering with 30 or more transfer academic semester units or the equivalent and a 3.5 college GPA will receive this award. </p>

<p>are accepted by March 2 for the Fall semester
have 30 or more transferable academic semester units at the time of acceptance
have a 3.5 cumulative transferable academic GPA</p>

<p>Here’s the COA for St. Mary’s of Moraga</p>

<p>Undergraduate Student Expense Budget 2009-2010 (for a 9-month school year)
Tuition & Fees $33,910
Room & Board $11,940
Books & Supplies $1,512
Personal/Misc. $2,250
Transportation $792
TOTAL $50,404</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>Wow historymom, i will definitely check out St. Mary’s now! thanks for mentioning them, seems like a good idea since I was looking at Santa Clara at one point too.</p>

<p>BTW mom2collegekids, I saw on a few other threads that you have kids at University of Alabama, seeing as I’m planning on applying there too, any insider info would also be appreciated. One question though, did they have a big cultural shock when they stepped on campus at all? Not that I’m worried, just am curious, for me I’m sure it’ll be a shock, from L.A. to South…my friend did when she moved to Atlanta, and that’s not even Tuscaloosa!</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>LOL…no culture shock AT ALL. And these are the reasons why…</p>

<p>Two of the main cities in Alabama (Huntsville and Birmingham) are populated with a lot of “transplants” from other parts of the country. Since Huntsville is a high-tech town with more PhDs than any other county in the USA, and Birmingham has commerce, medical research, and banking, those 2 cities are populated with many, many people from all over the US. And…many of their kids go to The University of Alabama. So, even if a lot of kids at UA are “from” Alabama, many aren’t necessarily native Alabamians, or their parents aren’t native. </p>

<p>Since UA has ramped up its nationwide recruiting in the last decade, more and more kids are from OOS.</p>

<p>Most of UA’s profs are from the top schools…Ivies, Duke, Emory, UCLA, Berkeley, UMich, UVa, UFlorida, Vandy, Georgetown, etc. </p>

<p>When on UA’s campus, we rarely hear a southern accent except for some of the clerical employees who probably come from some of the more rural parts of AL.</p>

<p>The campus is beautiful, the honors programs are wonderful, the academics are strong, the honors dorms are fabulous, and the football spirit is AMAZING…LOL :slight_smile: Roll Tide… :)</p>

<p>You say you’ve read my other threads, so I won’t repeat what I’ve previously written. But, I do recommend doing the Virtual Tour [Virtual</a> Campus Tour - The University of Alabama](<a href=“Page Not Found | The University of Alabama”>Page Not Found | The University of Alabama) view in full screen, use your mouse to “move around,” and also click on lower pics.</p>

<p>Here are more links…
UA website [The</a> University of Alabama](<a href=“http://ua.edu/]The”>http://ua.edu/)</p>

<p>Honors Programs (there are 4 different programs) [Honors</a> College - University Honors](<a href=“http://honors.cbhp.ua.edu/index.php?page=uhp]Honors”>http://honors.cbhp.ua.edu/index.php?page=uhp)</p>

<p>Here’s an example of one of the six honors residence halls (my younger son is there) Scroll all the way down, and click on little pics on the bottom [Housing</a> & Residential Communities - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://housing.ua.edu/ridgecrestsouth.cfm]Housing”>http://housing.ua.edu/ridgecrestsouth.cfm)</p>

<p>Tuscaloosa is a very nice city. The city is pouring money into that town (also known as T-Town). There is a wonderful new outdoor mall with upscale shops, all the typical restaurants, Barnes and Noble, etc. The college strip is a fun place to be. It’s kind of nice to be in Tuscaloosa where the entire town is pro-Bama. LOL</p>

<p>When you’re in southern towns like Huntsville, B’ham, or TTown, it’s not that much different than being in an Orange County city (I’m from Anaheim Hills and Placentia, but H was transferred here with his aerospace co.).</p>

<p>And, if you can, go on a campus visit on a school day… You’ll be amazed.</p>

<p>** An out-of-state student who goes to UA recently posted on CC that… “UA is recruiting for the best and brightest students nationwide. For many students, it is the money that first interests us in Alabama, we visit, and then we get hooked.” **</p>

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<p><<Gonzaga sounds really nice from here, I may just have to apply. Especially since my friend is regaling me of stories of Gonzaga and Spokane.I don’t even mind the weird looks I’ll get for being in California. </p>

<p>Looks like I’ll be leaning towards the Zags unless some more Providence supporter speaks up!! >></p>

<p>A good portion of those who live in Spokane or Washington for that matter are from Cali. (myself included, LOL) No worries there!</p>

<p>Check out the Gonzaga website. They do have lots of scholarships!</p>