<p>My daughter in Virginia (DC suburbs) has been admitted to Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark, Pacific Lutheran and Linfield. Lewis & Clark and Puget Sound may be too expensive. Thoughts on Linfield and PLU?</p>
<p>Don’t know anything about Linfield. The other schools are almost local for me. Many, many really happy students at PLU. It’s just a happy place. Lots of school spirit. Academics are said to be good. Lots of health service related majors - nursing, pre-med, pre-vet. I was at a major international conference on water two weeks ago. Almost a thousand people, and about half of them were students. Really good music programs, too.</p>
<p>Quite a few students from my area also attend Lewis & Clark. It’s rep around here is mainly for its international programs. </p>
<p>I’ve never understood the lure of UPS. Perhaps someone else understands it better. They wanted to be the “harvard” of the Pacific Northwest. My limited experience there is underwhelming.</p>
<p>Seems like a long way to go for a non big name school.</p>
<p>She’s committed to studying in and exploring a new geography, and my wife and I fully support it. She’s very enthused about the “outdoors” aspects of the Northwest</p>
<p>I know of people who have had kids attend many of those schools and they have been happy for what that is worth. I would say that if you are going for the small LAC non top tier (well, L&C is pretty up there for scores, I don’t know about the others) then you should expect those schools to offer merit money to top applicants, like $10,000+ to their top recruits.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about PLU, other than my husbands older relatives went there. (both Lutheran & Scandinavian).</p>
<p>My oldest looked at Linfield- ten years ago, thought it was too much like her high school. ( I think she meant " small, wealthy & white")</p>
<p>I have heard good things about UPS, but haven’t visited, Tacoma was too close for either of my kids.</p>
<p>L & C we toured on our Portland with youngest but while she really liked the international emphasis, we worried about expense & she didn’t apply.
( It also was too close to home, her sister lived on the other side of the river & had attended Reed)</p>
<p>She didn’t apply to Seattle Pacific University? I admit I am partial, but like Seattle more than Tacoma. ;)</p>
<p>Have you visited? If she hasn’t, I think it would help decide.</p>
<p>We visited L&C, UPS, Whitman and Willamette last spring, and she loved the region. Enjoyed all the schools but Willamette, but thought Whitman was too far removed from Portand and/or Seattle. We’re visiting Linfield and PLU (and going back to L&C) in a couple weeks.</p>
<p>PLU is near JBLM and the general vicinity isn’t that nice. There is also no ready access to a fun urban area. Linfield is in a much prettier location than PLU (opinion). The school has a very athletic bent and many scholar athletes from our area. It is a big baseball/softball school. I have heard that it can be cliquey around sports teams, however. The academic focus seems to be more business, finance, nursing, education than some other schools. It is less true LAC and a bit more vocationally focused.</p>
<p>L & C, Willamette and UPS seem to have a real emphasis on outdoor clubs. I’m not sure if the other 2 do so much. There are a couple other moms in the 2012 thread who have kids strongly considering UPS. You might ask over there as well. L & C is definitely more hip than any of the others, Linfield more jocky, PLU more ? and UPS somewhere in the middle.</p>
<p>I also have a sense that students at PLU generally speaking are less well-heeled than those at UPS (or Linfield). Tuition (last time I looked) was quite a bit lower. And financial aid is good.</p>
<p>DS was admitted to PSU, but we haven’t visited yet. Kids from our area seem to like it pretty well. </p>
<p>I have a good friend whose son is a freshman at Linfield. He’s a smart kid and doesn’t feel very challenged. They did give him great merit and aid money.</p>
<p>Lewis and Clark is kind of funny. It seems that kids either love it or hate it. When my kids saw it, both hated it. I know of many kids personally, and others here on CC, that had the same reaction. At the same time, I know lots of kids really enjoy L&C, so I’d have to say it’s a place you really need to visit and decide for yourself.</p>
<p>We’ve visited UPS twice and have been really impressed with the students we met and the physical looks of the campus and its serious academic attitude. Willamette isn’t as pretty in my view, but they really have a great attitude and seem like a very supportive environment. Both of those schools have a sizeable number of high achievers - and they get pretty generous merit awards (my daughter received 17K and 18K respectively which I think was pretty much the top merit level). If my D wasn’t from the NW she’d probably be happy at one of them - and of the two would pick UPS. UPS also has a good orientation program for new students with outdoorsy things. Last year we got a tour there from a girl in the honor’s college who turned down Northwestern to go there for more merit money and felt very challenged.</p>
<p>Whitman is in a different part of the state… more like high desert in addition to being far from cities, but has serious outdoors clubs that would be great for a hikey/campy type.</p>
<p>More on Linfield:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1074408-linfield-extremely-liberal.html?highlight=linfield[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1074408-linfield-extremely-liberal.html?highlight=linfield</a></p>
<p>As a PLU alum, I do need to speak up. I L-O-V-E-D that school. Yes, it is a very happy place. We felt it the minute our family walked on campus, and it was still a happy place when I last attended a reunion 10 years ago. The academics are top-notch. Many of us were accepted into highly competitive grad schools and have successful careers. It’s small enough to be on a first-name basis with the professors in your major, yet large enough that students don’t get tired of each other. </p>
<p>It’s true that the (large, very gorgeous) campus is in a not-so-great area. Oh well. Downtown Tacoma is 11 miles away and Seattle only an hour. There are gorgeous parks, hiking and cross-country skiing on Mt. Rainier, and the beauty of Puget Sound. </p>
<p>The students are friendly and approachable. I made life-long friends. The students are from all socio-economic classes but really don’t care about that stuff anyway. </p>
<p>I definitely encourage you to visit, and think you would fall in love as I did. </p>
<p>P.S., I went for the geographical adventure as well, living 2000 miles away. The biggest downside for me was - upon graduation - leaving a state that I now consider to be heaven on earth.</p>
<p>Yes, Calla. I’m not an alum. My older d. took composition classes with her mentor, a PLU prof, and I now go there occasionally for service-related events (I run an international water NGO). It really is a happy place. You sense it immediately on campus, and in the cafeteria, and even just walking around. I wish I knew what it is. (I have been, often, to UPS’ campus, and never sensed anything of the kind.)</p>
<p>I have been to UPS often as my parents live in a town right over the bridge from Tacoma and we always go over to UPS to just walk around as it is SOO beautiful. I have never sensed anything but the friendliest of kids there. Just down to earth and everyone we came into contact with seemed very happy… and we asked a bunch of kids what they liked about it and we got tons of great answers.</p>
<p>My DS has been accepted to UPS with their top scholarship. He also is in at WWU, deferred at L&C and still waiting on Whit. We went on a PNW tour a few years ago, and visited UPS, Reed, L&C, UofO, and Willamette. At the time he fell head over heals for Reed, but after time decided it was too intense and did not apply. He did not like Willamette at all for what ever reason, UofO was way to big, and felt right at home at UPS and WWU, and liked L&C enough to apply, but after reflection I don’t think he will love it there… although he did LOVE Portland. We had intended to visit Whit at the time, but a bad storm kept us from being able to drive there. He is in love with PNW and is a outdoorsy, rock climbing, mountain adventurer type. </p>
<p>Anyway, I think the thing is you pretty much have to visit because every small LAC has it’s own culture that you will either love or hate. We live in CA and my S has the exact opposite problem… he has gotten accepted to some small LAC"s NY and now he has to go there to visit… he wanted a change to a different geography too… applied to NO schools in CA.</p>
<p>mini, sounds like bad 60’s therapy. Let’s go to our happy place : D</p>
<p>But seriously, I love that you feel it too, as strongly as I do. </p>
<p>Please give a trip report, libcam. I’m looking forward to hearing your and D’s reactions to the beautiful Pacific Northwest and wonderful schools up there.</p>
<p>My daughter has a few good friends attending PLU, Linfield, Whitman and Willamette. All are good schools and her friends are really happy in their respective school choices. One of her friends at Linfield is doing the pre-med path and is satisfied with the class level. Her friend at PLU has made a lot of great friends and is really content. All of the students have either done a semester abroad or will next year.</p>
<p>I think each school provided merit aid (I am not sure about PLU), Willamette and Linfield and Whitman provided a generous amount, a important fact that may help in your decision.</p>
<p>I would have been happy if my daughter applied to Whitman and although she respects the school she did not like the location so that was a no go. Not unlike your daughter, her dreams ran to another state and another LAC.</p>
<p>Happy hunting, the Pacific Northwest is a great area to live. It is not for the sun worshiper though </p>
<p>We’re transplanted Midwesterners now living in Eugene, OR. My daughter has applied to and/or visited Willamette, UPS, L&C, also Gonzaga and the Oregon state schools, and we considered others on your list. She liked UPS a lot; they had an impressive Fall Info Day. One of my husband’s partner’s twins went there and loved it. The campus is gorgeous. My husband and I loved L&C’s campus and offerings but daughter thought it too weird/quirky for her (she’s a bit preppy, I must admit). Reed is known as more intellectual (hence my dd not interested, lol) and very pot-oriented. PLU known as being a nice place and a nice school. We know a lot of kids who went to Whitman and LOVED it, despite it’s being kind of in the middle of nowhere. I am assured by a myriad of great kids and their parents that that fact does not matter one whit, but my dd did not want to apply (too small?). Willamette too small and too close for dd but a good rep. Our college consultant did not think Linfield’s academics ranked with these other schools. </p>
<p>Our dd is still interested (maybe) in UPS and Gonzaga, but it looks like she may be heading to southern California instead. She says weather has nothing to do with it…</p>
<p>libcam, please come back to this thread and give us your thoughts after your tours. We may be doing a similar tour next fall. In the meantime, how would everyone rate the selectivity of these schools? Thanks.</p>
<p>My daughter is a sophomore at PLU with a double major in Biology and Env Science. We live nearby and my H graduated there too. I wasn’t immediately sold on a private school, but with her grades (3.8) and her test scores (1880), they gave a Presidential Scholarship of $18,000. This made PLU comparable with the state universities she was considering. Pros: friendly, liberal, nice campus, small class size and the ability to know the professors well (her largest class to date has been a Chemistry class of 75). Cons: athletic facilities are dated; off campus area can be shady, food service is poor and not a lot of ethnic diversity.</p>
<p>If she is looking for geographic diversity, it is a half hour to Puget Sound, an hour from Seattle and an hour to Mt Rainier with hiking, snowboarding and skiing. Washington State offers even more geographic opportunities when crossing the Cascades. If you have any questions, I would be glad to help.</p>