Hello! Current HS senior in the midst of college search & apps checking in. I’m a girl from a small town on the East Coast but I think that Portland OR might be exactly what I’m looking for in a college environment. Here are the criteria I’ve been using in my search:
- offer English major (never an issue)
- be in/very near a city
- have diverse population
- have generally cold climate
- be a liberal campus/area
- have lots to do outside of school
Based on this list, would any of these schools be a good match for me?
Portland State U
University of Portland
Lewis & Clark
Reed College
Thanks for any helpful input!
If the name value absolutely doesn’t matter to you, I would say PSU. Hhowever, PSU doesn’t really have a campus because all the buildings are scattered around. Also, academic wise it’s not so impressive.
if you want campus experience, U of Portland is a good choice, too. It’s a sister school to Notre Dame. 7th in regional Universities in West, so the academic quality is decent at least. It is catholic private school, but not so religious overall among student body.
Lewis & Clark is a good liberal art school, but not so close to Portland. Reed College is also a bit far-ish from POrtland, but you can see the city across the river.
How much can you spend and what are your academic stats?
Concordia might be a good school to visit as well.
You can also look at Willamette in Salem, or any of the schools in SW Washington. I’d be looking at Western Washington, but that’s a little farther north.
It looks like Concordia would award a hefty scholarship given your stats. I would definitely apply there. http://www.cu-portland.edu/scholarship-calculator
I plugged in some random stuff including your stats into the UP NPC as well, and it’s looking like your stats will get you significant merit there as well.
FYI: “-have diverse population” doesn’t describe Portland, or most of the PNW. Unless you mean lots of different styles of beards
Re:#1 Reed is in Portland, just on the east side.
L&C and Reed are both in the City of Portland; however, they are in quiet residential neighborhoods. The cooler parts of town are accessible from either school by public transportation or bike, both of which are good options in Portland. Reed’s accessibility increased in 2015 due to the opening of the MAX Orange light rail line, which has a station nearby.
In terms of selectivity:
- Reed (probably the most selective school in the Pacific Northwest, funky yet intellectual campus vibe)
- L&C (somewhat like Reed)
- UPortland (Catholic, more mainstream, small for a “university”)
- PSU (large, urban, commuter school)
If Reed and L&C appeal to you, then you should also consider the University of Puget Sound, another urban liberal arts college in the Northwest. However, UPS is in Tacoma, Washington, which may not be as appealing as Portland.
I’ve heard that both L&C and UPS offer merit aid. Reed doesn’t. Don’t know about the others.
I would look into first 2 oprions - Portland State University and University of Portland
@Corbett yes, that’s what I meant by “not so close”-not so close to metropolitan area. I thoght that was what OP meant.
Re: diversity
Of the four colleges mentioned in the original post, Portland State has the greatest SES diversity, with 40% of undergraduates on Pell grants (the others at 17-20% Pell grant skew more strongly toward students from higher income/wealth families). All are fairly similar in race/ethnicity of undergraduates, with 56-63% white, 10-12% Latino, 6-12% Asian, and 1-4% black.
Nowhere near Portland, but another liberal arts college that hits these criteria and seems like a possible fit for your stats would be Macalester College in St Paul, Minnesota. If you are interested in Reed or L&C, Macalester might be the closest equivalent in the Midwest.
What is your cost-management strategy?
Are you focusing on sticker prices, merit awards, or need-based aid?]
Often the same college won’t be equally appropriate for each strategy.
For example, Reed (like many other very selective schools) does not award merit scholarships.
However, for those students who are awarded need-based aid, it claims to meet 100% of demonstrated need.
Most other colleges don’t make that claim.
For students awarded n-b aid, Lewis & Clark claims to cover 92% of demonstrated need on average … but L&C does also award some merit scholarships.
For a family income of $110K/year, with $55K in cash savings, $55K in home equity, and and only 1 child in college, your net costs would be approximately as follows according to my net price estimates:
$28,591 Macalester College*
$28,650 Reed College
$31,818 Portland State
$35,540 U Portland (after a $22K institutional merit scholarship)
$35,896 Lewis & Clark (after “LC Grant & Scholarship”)
Run the online net price calculator with your own numbers to get estimates. For different inputs, the net price order or spreads may be different. If your family income/assets are much greater than my figures, your strategy may need to emphasize sticker price or merit scholarships to keep under your $30K limit.
- Like Reed, Macalester claims that for students awarded n-b aid, it covers 100% of demonstrated need on average. Macalester awards some merit scholarships as well as n-b aid, but is more selective than UPortland or L&C, so the competition might be stronger.
But remember that each college’s definition of “need” can differ, often by substantial amounts.
PSU is beautiful and is located on the park blocks in basically downtown Portland. It is a state school however and likely does not give merit to out of state students.
Thank you everyone, I appreciate all of your replies. Many thanks especially to @Studious99 for informing me on Concordia and @Corbett regarding Macalester. These were not schools I had considered yet. Thanks also to @tk21769 for running all of those numbers! It looks like Reed, PSU and UP could be good fits for me.
Concordia Portland is religious and is meant for Christians who want to grow in their faith.
PSU is primarily commuter and designed to help adult students complete their degree ( the average age is 27 I think).
UPortland, U Puget Sound, are traditional, residential universities. Reed and L&C have a more alternative vibe.
Based on what you’re looking for, seconding Macalester .
There are massive differences in selectivity, atmosphere etc when it comes to Concordia, PSU, Reed and UP and little to no overlap in applicants. I think you need to do some more research
Reed is pretty selective and nationally ranked. Intellectual. And very expensive. And, at least at one time, kind of counterculture-ish in a wealthy smart kids way–that may have changed as I heard they are trying to expand and get more diverse. .
Portland State is pretty. Not hard to get into. And at least when I was there mostly (but not totally) a school for fairly local kids.