I’m looking for a college in the pacific northwest or somewhere with similar weather. Someplace with a lot of rain and trees and greenery. I’m from the central valley of California and I am absolutely tired of the sun! I just love the environment of a place like the University of Oregon, but I wanted to find other schools.
I’ve realized that not being entirely decided on my major makes it very difficult to decide what colleges to apply to. Still, I’m nearing the end of my junior year and I want to begin creating some kind of college list.
For reference, my sat is 2220 and my unweighted gpa 3.9, but I’ve only taken 3 AP’s. My school isn’t very academically competative and I doubt I’d succeed in an extremely high pressure environment, so I’m not really looking at top ranked schools.
University of Washington is pretty good it’s in Seattle, Another one is WSU but isn’t very exclusive and with the stats like yours you could do way better but would also pretty much be guaranteed admission it’s in Pullman, WA.
Like others have said, look at the UW. They have a beautiful campus and are pretty well respected, they have a wide variety of good programs, and their campus is in a great part of Seattle. Also yeah, look at their honors program, it’s a great program and meets your stats. There are a bunch of other public schools in Washington but they aren’t as well ranked as the UW.
University of Puget Sound, Whitman, Reed, Lewis and Clark, and Seattle University are some private schools in that region, if you’re heading in that direction. I’m glad you want to come to the PNW! It’s beautiful here
It is gorgeous in the PNW You’ve already gotten a lot of the schools I would’ve suggested. You may also be interested in Western Washington University in Bellingham (about two hours north of Seattle) and the Evergreen State College in Olympia (about 2 hours south of Seattle). In Oregon, other than University of Oregon, there’s also Oregon State University (in Corvallis, about an hour north of where University of Oregon is located and I think 1.5 hours south of Portland) and Portland State University (in Portland). There’s also Willamette, a small liberal arts college in Salem.
somewhere with similar weather. Someplace with a lot of rain and trees and greenery.
You should definitely add Humboldt State college in Calif to your list.
As a Calif resident you will pay high OOS tuition in Oregon or Wash, but will be instate, with low tuition, and lots of redwood trees at Humboldt state.
University of Portland. My daughter goes to University of Oregon, but Portland was her 2nd choice. Smaller school. They have nice scholarships as well, and with your stats you should be able to get a good one.
I was going to suggest Humboldt State, too. The climate in northern California is not too different from the climate in the Pacific Northwest, particularly Oregon.
New England and upstate New York have a quite a different climate from the PNW…it gets really cold there in the winters, whereas it doesn’t get that cold in the winters in the PNW. The environment is really different, too - I grew up in upstate New York, and I live in Seattle now. The foliage and forestry looks completely different. However, the weather might be similar enough to satisfy OP, and upstate New York (particularly the Hudson Valley) is simply beautiful in the autumn and spring. So I’d take a look, OP!
What is the financial situation/need? Because OOS publics will give you little to non need aid. You would get something from Western Washington which is a nice smaller school but good, at least 6k maybe more. You might think if Urban vs rural is important to you because then you can concentrate on Seattle and Portland or not.
My son went to Whitman, loved it and received a nice merit award, his GPA was the same as yours and SAT slightly higher. However, Walla Walla is in the southeastern corner of WA state, so it rains less there, not the same weather as on the western side of the Cascades.
I keep reading glowing reports about the University of Puget Sound, located in Tacoma. It’s very likely you would be offered merit money, and the campus culture sounds very friendly and inclusive, with very good but not overly competitive academics.
If you are unsure of your major, the smaller schools are often good because you can explore academic areas and get to know your professors; it’s often easier to do a research project or get an internship because they focus more (or exclusively) on the undergraduates. Privates are often more inclined to offer merit awards to students with your stats. Merit aid is the best!
Remember that each institution has a kind of personality, especially the smaller private liberal arts colleges (LACS). Create a list based on your research, but if possible visit before choosing. For instance, Lewis and Clark has an amazing campus, but I’ve read frequently that it’s in the suburbs and the public transportation to downtown Portland leaves a lot to be desired. Every campus will have pros and cons. Visits at some point will help a lot. Good Luck!
