<p>Can anybody please give me some comparisons of the following schools:</p>
<p>Reed
Lewis and Clark
University of Portland
Willamette
Linfield</p>
<p>They are all location in Oregon. I was hoping to apply to at least one school in Oregon, but I just need a more in-depth comparison of the school's academics, the people, location, and other details like that. Any help is extremely appreciated, tia! :)</p>
<p>I live in Oregon and here is what I can tell you. </p>
<p>Lewis and Clark, an LAC that is pretty good. I have heard they have decent financial aid. Its rated about 50ish every year among LAC according to US News. Academically, I don't know too much about it.</p>
<p>Reed. Another LAC and probably one of the top 10-15 in the country. It is difficult to get into, well depending on your stats. Very strong academics in all fields of study offered. Very liberal! If you can get in its a very good school.</p>
<p>UPortland. I have visited and actually just sent out my application. Good financial aid, very very nice campus. About 2500-3000 students. Regionally it is pretty well known. Very strong business program, dont know too much about the other programs. They have a really wide variety of majors and areas of study. Philosophy is very important, two semesters of philosopy required to graduate. Portland is a great city, (I live there) actually one of top most livable cities in a the US.</p>
<p>Willamette. Another LAC that is about the same level as Lewis and Clark. Regionally known for its law programs. Not in a major city, but near one.</p>
<p>Linfield. Good overall school, its known for its nursing school. A little smaller than UPortland. Its in McMinville, about an hour away from Portland. Not all that tough to get into. </p>
<p>Good luck with your college selection. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
<p>I've narrowed down my list to Reed and UPortland. Here are my thoughts on each:</p>
<p>Reed - Very good for biology, but I don't know if I would be comfortable in such a liberal school. Do you know if someone like me, who is quite conservative, would even feel comfortable in a school this liberal?</p>
<p>UPortland - It looks like a lovely school, but I'm a bit weary since I'm not Catholic. Do you know if there is an overwhelming Catholic presence (since it is a Catholic school), or is it well-balanced so that non-Catholics will also feel comfortable? Do you know if it is strong in biology (compared to Reed)?</p>
<p>Thanks once again Romo1, I appreciate all of your help. :)</p>
<p>Ask your question on the Parents Forum. Emeraldkity4 has a daughter at Reed and probably can help you.</p>
<p>jasmineflower:</p>
<p>I'm conservative too, that's why I didn't even consider Reed. It depends on if you can handle everyone else believeing differently than you, including ALL the teachers. That's what I live with every day in Portland. </p>
<p>Regarding UPortland, they are catholic, but you don't have to be catholic or have to take classes on catholicism at all, you are however, required to take a few religion classes of your choice. I think that most of the people that attend aren't catholic, there are a lot of nondenominational christians. Its a nice place though. Im sorry I don't know anything about the biology program. I don't like science in general.</p>
<p>U of Portland, like most Catholic schools, is pretty welcoming to non-Catholics - no required church services or anything like that (although there are some religious course requirements, they can be satisfied by taking various things). The majority of students are Catholic but not necessarily very religious. UP attracts a VERY different type of student than Reed. I can't really imagine someone liking both schools - one or the other but not both. UP students tend to be more conservative and career oriented, etc. Reed's students are very, very liberal. My daughter leans towards the liberal side politically but attends a catholic high school. She isn't considering Reed - just too liberal for her. However, that's just my daughter's opinion.</p>
<p>By the way, if you want a strong biology program, Willamette has an excellent one.</p>
<p>Hi all-- I actually signed up again because I do feel I have something to contribute on this question! My son has just returned from his first semester at U of Portland. He's not Catholic. Not religious at all, really, although I tried! He knew he'd be required to take some religion courses but said that was okay, it was worth it to be a fan of the women's soccer team. So, he just got through the first one, with an A-. It wasn't that easy for him and he did some complaining, but, in the end, it sounds like he helped spark up the classroom discussions. Maybe half the kids are Catholic. He seems happy there, and isn't second guessing his decision to go there. Interresteddad asked somewhere about the north Portland neighborhood. Not a problem at all as far as U of P. The neighborhoods right around the school are actually quite nice and the Oregonian newspaper recently ran a big story about how the area is becoming more popular and property values are rising. It is definitely COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from Reed. Yes, quite hard to imagine anyone considering both simultaneously. IN fact, since my son has a twin sister, it wasn't interesting to imagine how much she would hate U of P and yet it just felt so right for her brother from the first time we walked around the campus. Can't tell you anything about biology there. Our son also looked at Lewis & Clark and Willamette but, in the end, never even completed his applications anywhere but U of P.</p>
<p>Enjoyingthis, thanks for sharing your son's experiences. As I said, my daughter and her best friend and I will be visiting Oregon campuses in January --- We will be looking at U of P because it is a great fit for what her friend wants. Unfortunately, they do not have an art major or minor = just art classes, so it may not work for my daughter. But we just received their viewbook in the mail and I have to say it was one of the nicest ones I've seen. It's great to hear that your son is happy there!</p>
<p>Hi Carolyn- I think you will find U of P is just as nice walking around as it looks in the books. There's just something about the way it's situated on the bluff there, I don't know, some sort of sheng fui or however they spell it. It just feels nice. You look across to Forest Park. Be forewarned-- you will drive through some rougher looking commercial areas between your I-5 exit and the school, but not to worry. Another thing I thought I'd pass on is that my dear friend's daughter just graduated from UP in Civil Engineering and stepped right into a great job. She had wonderful interning opportunities in Portland during her summers. We've had a number of good kids from our town go there and I've had nothing but glowing reports. If you have any specific questions, I can ask my son while he's home if you'd like.</p>
<p>Do you know if UP is a good school for biology, biochemistry, or biomedical research? I know that it is probably good in this area, but how would it compare to other schools that are known for science?</p>
<p>My son at U of P says his roomie is doing bio, bio-chem etc. but he (my son) has no idea how well ranked the department is.</p>
<p>Enjoyingthis - great information, thanks. I wish they had an art program for my daughter. She has to decide how important that is to her. But her friend will probably love UP - I hear they have a very good education program.</p>
<p>Since you said your son also visited Willamette and Lewis & Clark, can you compare the three schools in terms of student body and feel? My sense is that L&C attracts very liberal students, Willamette and UP middle of the road students.</p>
<p>Stumbled upon this thread and can only sigh. I have been trying to get my d interested in U.P. but to no avail. She has her heart set on being able to study slavic languages and literature and for some reason U.P. doesn't offer any Russian. Too bad.</p>
<p>Carolyn-- Yes, I think we have a pretty good handle on these schools. My husband and I actually met at L&C. I went there one year and transferred to U of O, but he graduated there. It was particularly interesting for us, having twins, because we ended up seeing the same school through two different sets of eyes. The only two overlaps were Whitman and Lewis & Clark. L & C looked great to our daughter, who thought people had just the right amount of edginess. She applied and was accepted there, but went to Smith. Her brother, on the other hand, could not get off the campus fast enough! On the tour I had walked ahead of him and H to find a restroom and, out by the manor house which is now the administrative office, a bunch of kids were doing a sword fight game, swinging at each other with sticks wrapped in taped foam and calling each other "my lord" and "my leige." I knew this would be a huge turnoff for my S. Sure enough, even from a distance I could tell the exact instant he saw this, and his reaction was just what I thought it would be. As we walked toward the offices he muttered, "Do I even have to apply here?" And he didn't. He only applied to U of P. So, yeah, L&C has kids who are lots more liberal. You're going to see more weird hair etc. Willamette has boys in baseball hats, if that gives you a picture. Probably more conservative kids. The kids at U of P just looked like my son. I don't know if "straight" is the word I want since that has more meanings these days, but kids who look like they're into sports. Clean cut boys. Girls who look like they're dressing as if they want to look nice for boys. (I think my son appreciated that!) When we toured there, the boy and girl who took us around just couldn't have been nicer. And they seemed to know lots of people we passed and those people smiled and said hi etc. A refreshing lack of irony! Again, perfect for my son, my daughter, the Smithie, would have no patience for it whatsoever. Since we didn't get that far with Willamette, I'm only going on the vibes I got. I did a visit day with my son the fall of his junior year. Earlier than he even wanted to be thinking about it. I thought it all looked pretty good and I believe it's more selective and higher ranked than U of P, but my H wasn't thrilled about Salem as compared to Portland. For kids into government I suppose it's good to be right there by the capitol. I know one story of a girl who went there in vocal music and dropped it after a year, feeling the department just wasn't what she'd hoped. Another story of a kid who went there and loved it--but that's like friend of a nephew, I know no details. So I can't say much. It's tempting (at least it was to me) to be drawn toward Willamette's higher rankings, but somehow my son just didn't like the feel of the place as much.</p>
<p>Hey, as for the art program for your daughter, don't forget TheDad's story about his daughter, how she isn't even doing ballet that much now, so he has to second guess whether she should have looked at places she ruled out simply because there was no dance program! It's so hard, because if they wind up at a place where they can't study what they want to study, they end up wanting to change, and yet, sometimes the overall feel and fit of the place seems more important than one particular department, especially when so many kids aren't sure what they want to pursue anyway!</p>
<p>I'm glad to have something to contribute here so stay in touch.
Merry Christmas!</p>
<p>bringing this up as a fresh thread</p>
<p>L&C is very liberal. Visited right before the election. very anti bush vibe. would not recommend it for conservatives, unless they have a thick skin/masochistic desire to stand out. When justice Scalia visited some years ago it caused a furuor, lots of alumni calling in to cut off donations, stuff like that.
Also visited Reed, and I would say they are on the same level of politics. L&C's atmosphere was looser than Reed's, which probably reflects the difference in overall academic intensity but that certainly doesn't mean L&C is easy. I visted during/right before midterms and everyone seemed to be focused on that.</p>
<p>Enjoyingthis - THANK YOU for your post. Actually, L&C sounds like a very good fit for my daughter. (She would probably also love Smith if she could just get over the absence of males). </p>
<p>It should be interesting to visit because she and her friend, although best friends, have very different personalities - her friend only wants to look at Catholic schools and is more conservative - My daughter loves quirky people and is pretty quirky herself (how these two can be best friends is amazing to me but they are). So, hopefully one or the other or both will like the schools we visit.</p>