<p>i'm a senior...i love everything i've heard about reed, but i'm concerned it's too weird/intense for me. i've also heard great things about whitman, but i'm worried that it doesn't have the reputation in the academic world that would allow me to pursue whatever i wanted to after college... not to mention the fact that it's in walla walla. are there other good schools up there (i'm from texas, hence the 'up')? obviously, berkeley and stanford are the ones everyone tells me about when i ask, but i don't know if i have the credentials. </p>
<p>sat- 2070</p>
<p>nhs, national merit, co-president of community service org. at school, captain of soccer team, did multiple summer programs, including one where i lived in nicaragua for 6 weeks and built stoves, lived with a family in a village (it was part of amigos de las americas... i'm big into community service), took honors classes, pretty good writer...don't care too much about size but can't deal with super-cold weather</p>
<p>Visit Reed. Only you can tell if it is right for you.
Whitman can get you anywhere. It is very well known in academic circles. Again visit if you have concerns about Walla Walla.
Consider the Honors programs at Washington, OSU and Oregon
Programs and fit would determine if you would like SPU, PLU SU, Lewis and Clark or Willamette.
Anything south of Eugene is schools who have retired Princeton Reviews reefer madness title years ago.</p>
<p>Hi ehs2323. I am the parent of a recent Whitman graduate. My impression is that Whitman students do very well getting into graduate schools and other post-graduate endeavors (Fulbrights, etc.). That being said, the schools you are considering are very diverse in terms of size. Do you have a sense of whether you want a very large university (Berkeley), a moderate size university (Stanford), or a small liberal arts college (Reed, Whitman)? If you are looking for a smaller school, usually one of the attractions is the sense of community - and being away from a large urban area helps foster closeness among the students, faculty and administration. Whitman is incredible in that respect. And Walla Walla is actually a very nice town and area with a wonderful renovated downtown, great art and wineries, and an abundance of outdoor possibilities - hiking, rock climbing, river rafting, biking, skiing, etc. I think most students are wary of Walla Walla until they get to know it. But the bottom line is always the fit between the school and the student. You really need to visit the schools in order to get a better sense of whether it's what you're looking for. Good luck!</p>
<p>I second pofb's recommendation of Lewis & Clark, which has a solid reputation. The campus is stunningly beautiful, and renovation has resulted in several new facilities. Portland is awesome for college kids.</p>
<p>Whitman really is a beautiful place -- in the middle of nowhere. We hit a deer on the road on the way to our visit day. If you'll have to fly to get home, you should check where you'd fly into because they are pretty far away from a real airport. They run busses to Portland for holidays, I heard, but that's like 4+ hours away....
I am a senior, btw, and looking at alot of the same schools. Kids from my HS got good fin aid from Puget Sound
Good luck</p>
<p>Seattle University (honor's college) & Wilamette are two other good schools I don't see mentioned. My friend's D is a freshman in Seattle U's Honor's College, which she chose over Reed because they offered her a LOT more $$$.</p>
<p>I go to UPS and it is AWESOME. You should come here. I also applied to Whitman which doesn't have as much of the Pacific Northwest feel and Lewis and Clark, which I eventually eliminated because when I visited a class people in the class were stoned. I'm not really cool with that, but if you are, that's a choice. There's also Willamette which is a good school, although Salem isn't the greatest (not that Tacoma is...) and Pacific Lutheran which is just not as good as UPS.</p>
<p>just wanted to say thanks to you guys for all the advice...i actually visited reed and whitman this weekend and found that reed was waaaaay too weird for me (maybe i just got a bad tour guide? comments on that?) and i absolutely fell in love with whitman. very small and intimate, but not stifling. happy, smart, engaged students. i was looking for a school a little closer to portland and also checked out lewis and clark so i'll probably apply there as a safety. </p>
<p>my own words of wisdom to prospective students: VISIT!</p>
<p>Glad you visited & have some impressions about the campuses you toured. My S ended up at one of the many schools he never stepped foot on (we did drive around it). He's loving it! Not sure whether he found touring helpful or not, but he did speak with current & former students at a lot of the schools he considered.
It's always great if you can visit the schools you're considering, tho keep in mind that it's just a small glimpse of what the school is like.</p>
<p>IN the greater portland area are several very nice LAC you might have missed. Pacific, George fox and Linfield come to mind. Check their websites and give them consideration.</p>
<p>I have one applying to med school this year at Linfield. A very nice place and lots to do. Another just started at Willamette and loves it as their is lots to do. Pretty much all the LAC in the pacific northwest have something for just about anybody. They run the gambit of conservative religous to fairly hippie type.</p>
<p>EHS-- Your feeling about Reed is not uncommon. A lot of people find Reed to be a little too intense and its students a little too quirky, not that either is necessarily a bad thing. It truly is a good school, but what I've heard from many people who've visited Reed is that either you'll love it and know it's for you, or you'll know it's not really for you, and it seems you had the latter reaction.</p>
<p>And it's awesome to hear you like Whitman... I can't wait to check it out in person! Thanks for your your mini-review!</p>