<p>I just returned from visiting my son at Whitman for Family Weekend, I love the place. The weather was perfect and the campus is stunning with the vivid Fall colors, such a gorgeous campus! There was a lot going on, the students' wide-ranging talents and interests were well showcased. I talked to a lot of interesting and fully engaged young people who are really enjoying their college experience. I saw great music, art and theater. </p>
<p>I also like Walla Walla, it's a small town, but the area surrounding the campus has a lot to offer. The downtown is charming and has great restaurants, coffee places, and all the kinds of shopping venues students will need, all within walking distance.</p>
<p>My son is really happy with his experience there. One teacher has been a dud, so it's not perfect, but I imagine that can happen most places. My son is a geology major and I was blown away by the slide show one of the professors presented showing a trip he took students on to the highest peak in the Andes, geology heaven!</p>
<p>I know that it's not the easiest campus to get to, which influences some peoples' choice to visit, or not. If you can visit, I think you'll be very impressed.</p>
<p>Still planning to get there at some point, though it may not be until after D (hopefully) has an acceptance in hand. Glad to hear you had a great weekend and your son is continuing to enjoy his experience at Whitman!</p>
<p>Hi Rayrick. There aren’t a lot of current Whitman students who frequent CC, they’re busy, and I don’t think they much care about all the hype. It kills me to see the last thread on the Whitman forum disappear into the archives. It’s such a gem, I thought I’d pop it back up with a report on my visit.</p>
<p>I hope your D is doing well and enjoying her senior year!</p>
<p>Thanks for that post Bopambo!! My S probably won’t get to visit unless he has an acceptance in hand either. He did have his interview Sunday with a rep that came to our area. My S LOVED the guy and for some reason they had a lot of shared interests. His interview was long… and he is going back to see him again tomorrow as the same guy is coming to his school… I guess they really hit it off… My S said the guy was very postitive about his chances for admissions and told him he was a perfect Whittie applicant. Down to earth, but VERY active and involved in many things. He told him he could be a leader for the outdoor trips and that the head of the outdoor club at Whit has summited all of the 7 highest peaks in the world, so that REALLY excited my S. I think my S’s top 2 right now are Whit and Colorado College…VERY similar schools, except CC has the Block Plan which my S is a huge fan of. CC also has EA which is wonderful… </p>
<p>Did your S go on the Andes class trip? My S would be in heaven!!!</p>
<p>Hi 5boys. Was the Whitman rep you mentioned PJ? PJ is the admissions rep for most of California and a really great guy. He was very helpful to my son and the most efficient and communicative admissions rep we met anywhere. The outdoor program is MADE for your son and he’d get all sorts of opportunities to be a leader, he could probably think up new adventures and activities if he wanted to, the school goes out of its way to fund student originated projects, activities and clubs. </p>
<p>No, the Andes trip was in 2009, when my S was a HS senior. They went to the Serengeti and Mt Kenya in 2010. Professor Carson (the intrepid leader of these expeditions) is not leading a trip this year, but I certainly hope he puts together another major field trip before my son graduates!</p>
<p>I’ve heard great things about Colorado College, my son never was excited about the block plan however. I think his opinion was colored by a close family friend who went there quite a while ago. When my son asked him what his experience had been, he said it was great except that he had trouble at the end of the year remembering what he’d taken at the beginning of the year. Not everyone has the same problem I’m sure!</p>
<p>Bopambo, we just got back from parents’ weekend at Whitman also. It was fun to read your post. I continue to be impressed by the students I meet and everything they’re involved in. A friend of d’s is interning 1 day a week at a sustainable farm near Walla Walla where she helped castrate a pig and plow a field with draft horses. Another friend of hers helped start the Whitman organic farm. Some of them mentor local school kids or juveniles in the local detention center. A lot of her friends play all out IM flag football, even the one who is knee deep in the BBME program and in the middle of grad school applications. I spent time in the art studios with d too, and at the end of the weekend my take away was just how full and balanced these kids’ college experience is.</p>
<p>bopambo… No, the rep was not PJ… I thought it would be but my S said that the guy that he had is taking over our area of CA. Anyway, he talked to him again today. I was hoping my S would talk with him about the Semester in The West program as my S is going to be an ES major and it looked like something he would be very interested in. </p>
<p>As far as CC goes, my S and I visited last week… he stayed the night in the dorms and we went to their Open House… we came away VERY impressed with CC. My S asked everyone he could about the block plan and he did not get 1 negative remark about it. THe thing that impressed him the most was that every student he talked to RAVED about CC and all were very happy there. They did say at the parents info meeting that they have done a lot of studies regarding learning in this way and all evidence points to it being the best way to learn… the Mayo Clinic Med School just adopted a block plan learning system. Anyway, my S left a fan of the block plan. I think because they do a lot of month long classes that go different locations… a lot like the Whitman Andes class. He really liked the vibe of the students and the location… although I know he would feel the same about Whitman. He would be VERY happy at either school, so it will probably come down to finding out who accepts him, and then if that is good news, visiting both again. I of course LOVE the distance to both of them… although CC is easier and cheaper to get to.</p>
<p>kolijma… the organic farm thing sounds incredible… my S will be REALLY happy to hear about that… he lived and went to school last year on an organic farm and did a lot of what your D’S friend is doing. He would definitely want to be involved with that as well.</p>
<p>Kolijma, I saw both men’s and women’s IM flag football matches and the women were more intense, my s calls them “scrappy”. My s (with fraternity) was out Saturday morning landscaping the yard of a Habitat for Humanity house and Sunday morning they went across the Oregon border to do stream restoration. He worked his visits with me in between many other commitments, but instead of being stressed he seemed willing and able. </p>
<p>I think the sustainable farm sounds like a real adventure, I’d go for the farm animals, except the castrating pigs part. You hit the nail on the head with “full and balanced”, there are so many opportunities to try things out. Lucky kids. I fully intended to visit the art studios but used up my time in the Sheehan Gallery. Did you see Scott Kolbo’s work, very interesting and different.</p>
<p>5boys, you’re right, there ARE multiple places where the kids can thrive and your son will find the best for one for him, and with EA it might be sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>I have not been able to go back this year, but S is loving it this semester. I also love visiting because it is a beautiful place in a quaint town with a great vibe. I wanted to reverse the clock and go back to college there after dropping S off as a freshamn. </p>
<p>I highly encourage serious prospects to visit. While remote, the campus and the people are serious selling points.</p>