<p>My son thinks he wants to go to Univ. of Puget Sound, but if he doesn't get in, does anyone know anything about Willamette University.</p>
<p>I think it's smaller than UPS and is supposed to have a beautiful campus. Some people don't like the lack of prestige, but the academics are strong.</p>
<p>I think that Willamette and UPS are pretty comparable schools. We visited both. Physically they are different, with Willamette being a flat campus located directly across from the state capital. We sensed that Greek and athletics are more prevalent at Willamette than UPS. Son applied to UPS but not Willamette. Ended up at Lewis and Clark.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info. Curious why he picked Lewis and Clark over UPS?
We are also looking at L & C.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, which could be a lot, I've heard that Willamette is much more generous with merit-based aid than UPS. But at the same time, UPS students can be chosen to receive several merit-based scholarships based on their main application...Finally, I've heard that UPS and Willamette compete for students, so if aid is a factor, you may be able to get a better package by mentioning acceptance to the other school, etc.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>UPS '11 Hopeful</p>
<p>Willamette University's departments are overall very strong. It's alumni get very good placements into high caliber graduate school and professional programs like Stanford Law and Business schools.</p>
<p>Willamette has a very good education program, and an excellent law school. The food is exceptionally good. The campus itself is small and quite self-contained in a few city blocks. They have a new turf soccer field as well as a very nice workout facility for all students. Lastly, and maybe you know this already, they are connected to Tokyo International University - so there is quite a bit of Japanese flavor and activities as well as language and cultural opportunities. Being across from the capitol, many students do internships, etc. with government agencies. They are working very hard to attract minority applicants as well, so if that happens to fit for you, I would expect a very nice aid package.
I noticed their literature said it was "half hour from the beach" - it's more like 70 minutes. And mountains for skiing and hiking are one hour the other direction. The city of Salem feels smaller than it really is - no big music concerts or things like that - have to go one hour up the road to Portland.
Hope this helps - don't know much about UPS</p>
<p>D just started at Willamette after turning down Oxy, U of O honors, Redlands, all with good to great merit aid. Willamette's aid was by far the best. School was not top choice to visit - in fact we were just there for a short while during the summer but D insisted on stopping. This was after visiting Lewis and Clark. Was so glad we did. Very welcoming school with lots of personal attention. Just came back from opening days orientation program. If a kid is going to fall through the cracks there, they will have to try very hard as there are so many "safety nets" in place. Great kids too. Met many other parents at the orientation who also said school was a last minute visit and who's kids were taken by the place. You and your son really need to visit to see how it strikes him. Good luck.</p>
<p>FWIW: My HS son took violin lessons from a prof at the school. My father's wife teaches there. My old neighbor used to be a piano teacher there. My Lawyer graduated from there. My office is 3 blocks from there. My NYC brother specifically wanted to eat there because Rachel Ray recommended the student luncheon bistros. My current neighbor used to be a QB there. They seem to be building something new every summer. They have crew teams (willamette river 4 blocks away). Ocean/ Mountains are 1.5 hours either direction.</p>
<p>appreciate the info too, as we're trying to decide about these 2 also, and won't be able to visit before applying;
merit money info especially helpful and what about classes in marine bio/environmental studies or policy?</p>
<p>one of my son's high school teachers graduated from there, forgot to mention..he seems very pro-Willamette</p>
<p>wecandothis
If you are interested in environmental programs you should check out this site:
<a href="http://www.enviroeducation.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.enviroeducation.com/</a></p>
<p>Hi. Thank you for replying back. My son just went to Lewis and Clark for his interview and to attend a class and he REALLY liked Lewis and Clark. We are going up to UPS in two weeks for his interview there and to attend a class. I think that's the only way to really see if it's a good fit. I think the two schools may be comparable, but I know he really wants to be close to a city. I think it may be a lot easier to get into Portland with the Pioneer Express Shuttle bus that runs every hour and is only 1/2 hour away. Seattle is harder to get to as the busses and trains stop running at 11:00 PM, so if you want to stay in
Seattle for a concert ( my son is really into music ), you have to go with someone with a car....and I think it's 45 minutes away.
Would you mind telling me what made him choose L&C over UPS?
Is he happy there? Does he know what he wants to study?
thanks so much.
RJ</p>
<p>Ugh!!! Will all you sodbusters and land-lubbers take the time to look at a map of the pacific northwest? Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon are well over 100 miles apart; that's a bit longer than a 45 minute car trip, even for a college student with a car.</p>
<p>LW, I think OP was saying that UPS to Seattle is 45 minutes and LC to Portland is 1/2 hour and the public transport is better for LC to Portland. That's how I read it (although I only got that because I'm familiar with Portland, Seattle and Tacoma). And he's pretty much right although maybe a little optomistic about Tacoma to Seattle.<br>
D turned down both but came close to choosing UPS. Felt UPS was bigger and more diverse. Also the merit aid just kept coming with UPS, even after turning them down. The IPE (International Political Economy) program sounded fabulous at UPS. Didn't consider L&C, too close to home. Her boyfriend is at UPS so if you've got specific questions send them by PM. He loves it btw.</p>
<p>Having graduated from UPS in the late '70's, I have seen UPS transition in many ways to evolve into a very good school. The new President, Ron Thomas, is doing many remarkable things with an understanding of what a top flight liberal arts college should be.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the football program is nowhere near as good as it was in its hey day. Back then we played and beat school's like Cal Davis, Montana, Montana State, Portland State, and Cal Poly -- All D-IAA schools now. Willamette, L&C and PLU were our easy wins. Times have sure changed.</p>
<p>UPS was a small college basketball too, back in the 70s. The beat Old Dominion (now D-I) for the national championship I believe.</p>
<p>About the Seattle-Portland commuting distance, LOL. I'm sure the thread meant otherwise.</p>
<p>Oops. I meant "small college basketball POWER..."</p>
<p>1976 -- Beat Old Dominion in the NCAA D-II Final Four and beat UT Chattanooga in the finals. Too bad there was no ESPN back then. We all had to gather round the radios and listen. </p>
<p>The campus went nuts when we won. </p>
<p>We beat North Dakota State in the Regional final.</p>