<p>My son and his father have finished visiting two schools in New England, and the decision is made: Willamette. He chose Willamette over the following:</p>
<p>Trinity College, CT
U.C. San Diego
U.C. Santa Barbara
Oxford College of Emory University
Boston University</p>
<p>His stats:
SAT reading & math: 1450
ACT: 32
SAT II: 760 and 690
GPA uw: 3.46 (4.02 weighted)
Note: His gpa during the senior year is 3.8 uw (4.6w) to date.</p>
<p>He's waitlisted at Grinnell and Emory and will remove himself from the waitlists.</p>
<p>Willamette offered him a generous merit package, but money did not factor into this decision. We had told him we've saved up enough for he to go wherever he chooses. Despite this, he did confess to having enjoyed being courted by Willamette's Financial Aid Office. It's nice to be loved.</p>
<p>Personally, it makes complete sense to me that Princeton Review selected Willamette as one of the 50 "Best Value" private colleges/universities. And it makes perfect sense to me that Washington Monthly ranks Willamette #30 out of the top several hundred schools it considered, including private and public colleges and universities. Different ranking agencies use different criteria, but given what my son is looking for, Willamette rose to the top:</p>
<p>Strong teaching
Faculty active in research
Strong involvement in the community/service
Friendly student body -- "A place to make lifelong friends"
Great facilities
Small liberal arts environment
Cool weather; misty; cloudy
Easy access to great hiking (within a 1hr. drive)</p>
<p>My son applied there too, and while he picked a different school, I really liked everything I read about Willamette, and there were a lot of personal touches form the admissions office. I hope your son loves it!</p>
<p>I adored WU for my D but she had different ideas. Congrats CalAlum. I am quite sure your S will be very happy there. Happy friendly students, intellectual environment, small classes with engaged professors. Overall an awesome place!</p>
<p>S chose WU and is finishing up his first year. Arrived last August to train for a Fall sport, by the time school started he said he already felt at home and had over 20 guys he called friends. He’s working hard, training hard, learned a lot and really matured as a person. WU has done a great job of staying in touch with parents, their orientations and family programs are well done and worth attending. Classes have been very good, teaching mostly excellent. He was injured during his competitive season, trainers and staff were very communicative and attentive, took good care of him. </p>
<p>All in all we agree that it’s a ‘Best Value’ college. Glad he’s happy at WU, it has been the right choice for him.</p>
<p>So glad to hear that Bearcatmom. Daughter just committed to WU this week. We are all happy and relieved after weeks and weeks of comparing schools. Small class size and curriculum were big factors. She was comparing the college colloquium offerings to “freshmen comp.” at the state schools. The more interesting choices won over sunny California coast. I am excited for her opportunities.</p>