<p>So, I've applied to about 9 schools in the past few months, one of which being Willamette. I've already been accepted, because I applied using a VIP application they mailed me. From what I hear, it seems to be a great school....but there hasn't been anything that's really "hooked" me yet. I don't know, it just seems kinda mediocre for some reason. Like, they have what other comparable schools have (good academics, nice profs, nice campus, decent opportunities, etc), but it almost seems lackluster. At least, from everything I've seen (websites, reviews, viewbooks, etc), it seems to be missing a "wow factor."</p>
<p>I have not visited campus, so I can't say much for the school...it just doesn't seem to pop out like other colleges. But it sounds like a great place for an education, and I don't want to pass it up just because it lacks something. If anyone (current/past students, parents, ED applicants) has insights or could tell me what makes Willamette more than "just another university," that would be great :)</p>
<p>My son was admitted EA. We visited 14 schools and he applied to 8 of them. Willamette was always in his top 3. He says that Willamette feels comfortable to him. It was definitely the friendliest school we visited and not just the official visit people who are, to certain extent, paid to be nice to you. Everyone we met on campus made eye contact and said hello to us and the interaction between the students was very positive, they seemed to like each other and were happy to be there. Very different from some of the other schools we went to.</p>
<p>My son was admitted EA, and we’re going to visit this coming weekend, flying up from California. After the trip, I’ll post some impressions.</p>
<p>Willamette was not among my son’s top choices. He applied ED to Whitman and was denied. About 5 days later, Willamette sent him an invitation to apply for free using their “leaders’ application.” I must say, the timing was psychologically perfect. </p>
<p>As it turns out, the school definitely has a “hook” for him. He’s now enrolled in Japanese 4 at his high school and spent last summer studying abroad in Japan. Willamette’s relationship with next-door Tokyo International University is a big plus, as is the Japanese Studies major and Japanese courses at the school. On top of that, he’s always said he prefers cool, foggy, wet weather. I’ve never understood it, but maybe he’s sort of Oregonian at heart. </p>
<p>Given his academic performance and stats in his Silicon-Valley high school, he will almost certainly be admitted to the University of California schools to which he has applied. But like some other California families in this area, we’re very interested in Willamette now, especially since the school offered a merit scholarship that basically brings the tuition/fees right down to a comparable level with the UC system. We’re hearing a lot of stories from friends that freshmen in the UC system can’t get the classes they need because of budget cuts, and that they’re sitting in overflow lecture halls, watching videos of chemistry lectures because the classes have 750+ students. Ugh.</p>
<p>I just came back from a visit from Willamette and other NW schools and I have to say I have the same… problem. Everything was nice, but I’m waiting for a hook. I think it also had to do with the fact that I was there on a Saturday… so not many students! (There were, however, students playing golf with a tennis ball across campus…)</p>
<p>I think a possible hook could be the placement of the campus right across the street from the beautiful capitol building. They always emphasize that connection and possible internships.</p>
<p>I recommend you visit campus if you can, just to get a feel for the school. I thought of it as warm and cheerful, but obviously empty because of the lack of students.</p>
<p>D is currently a senior there, hates the rain but is not coming back to the sunny southwest after she graduates. The people are what are keeping her there. She always got the classes she needed, had a memorable study abroad experience and will graduate in 4 years. Definitely a good fit for her without any specific “hook”.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input everyone. I know Willamette is a very well-respected and smooth-running school, it just feels odd to me that there isn’t an “image” of it in my mind. For instance, I consider University of Puget Sound to be a bit more preppy and professional, Lewis and Clark to be liberal and alternative, Franklin & Marshall to be isolated and rigorous, etc. I just don’t seem to have an idea of what distinguishes the school (though that’s not necessarily a bad thing!)</p>
<p>CalAlum, I also applied to Whitman, but don’t plan to attend. And like your son, I was also offered the free application and a merit scholarship upon admission. Before that, the school wasn’t even on my radar. But it’s now a possibility, so I was just looking around to see if anyone had input.</p>
<p>csleslie51, Aerienne, and swadad1, thanks for the feedback. From what I hear, it sounds like Willamette is a very friendly place to be. Hopefully in the coming months I’ll get a chance to visit and see for myself. Thanks again!</p>
<p>My son and I visited the campus this weekend along with other admitted students. He spent Friday with a host overnight. Overall, it was a very good experience. His only previous overnight was at Claremont McKenna, where he did not have a good experience with his host. At Willamette, apparently he and several students went out for dinner, then played some board games with girls from the lacross team, then went to a concert, and then played video games late into the night on some state-of-the art flat-screen tvs in the new Ford building. He didn’t get much sleep, but he enjoyed everyone he met and learned a lot about the school.</p>
<p>My take, after the presentations we heard Saturday, is that students have more opportunities at Willamette for employment, travel, and grants for research and community service projects than they could possibly have in the University of California system. They also have no trouble getting any of the classes they need, finish in four years, and enjoy a supportive and very friendly student body.</p>
<p>For these reasons, my son left with the impression that Willamette would be a better choice than any of the state universities to which he has applied, including Berkeley. And yet, he’s still going to wait to hear from some of the other private colleges before making a decision.</p>
<p>Yes, the students there keep very busy.
[Willamette</a> University | Willamette wins presidential service award](<a href=“http://willamette.edu/news/library/2010/02/pres_service_award.html]Willamette”>http://willamette.edu/news/library/2010/02/pres_service_award.html)
Willamette University is one of only six colleges and universities nationwide to receive the Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll Presidential Award, the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.
Willamette was one of three recognized in the focus area of helping youth from disadvantaged circumstances through service programs that lower school dropout rates and prepare students for college.
Willamette students, faculty and staff dedicated more than 66,000 hours to service during the 2008-09 academic year, with almost 23,000 service hours spent on programs assisting disadvantaged youth.</p>
<p>I am reading the Willamette posts with great interest. I wish more people were posting their comments. My daughter was accepted, and is seriously considering Willamette. Last week she received an additional merit award, a very pleasant surprise. She visited last fall, but it was a really quick trip. Thank you CalAlum for your review of the accepted students weekend. We are also from California (and waiting on UC decisions) and were unable to attend on the 27th. Hopefully we will get up there for April 9th.</p>
<p>CalAlum, did you fly up to Portland? How easy do you think it will be to get from Salem to Portland for flights. I have researched the train, and though extremely convenient, it takes a long time.</p>
<p>You can get from Portland to Salem using lite rail plus the train. It is cheapest. There is a shuttle that many students take called the Hut Shuttle. It goes between the Red Lion Inn in Salem and PDX. I have taken it and it is a super easy ride. [Hut</a> Shuttle Transportaton to PDX airport along the Willamette Valley](<a href=“http://www.portlandairportshuttle.com/]Hut”>http://www.portlandairportshuttle.com/)
Willamette does offer great opportunities and their study abroad program is great. Financially they come through pretty well. It ended up costing us less to send our daughter there than it did her brother as an instate student to a CSU.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information, csleslie. Can you give me an idea about how far the Red Lion Inn is from campus, and how do the kids get there to take the shuttle to the airport?</p>
<p>Willamette will not be less expensive than the CSU’s or UC’s for us. The merit aid is a nice amount, but not enough to bring down our total cost that much. However, we are aware that she may need more than four years at a CSU, so we are willing to consider the private schools as good options.</p>
<p>Can’t say I have heard anything negative about Willamette, ever, except maybe in regards to the rainy weather. It will be an adjustment coming from sunny California.</p>
<p>D does have loans which S did not but it was not an issue when she was deciding where to go (all acceptances offered loans as part of their FA package). Red Lion Inn is about 2 1/2 miles from campus. Most kids share a cab or have a friend pick them up. It’s pretty cheap by cab. Yes even after 4 years the weather causes grumbling although when it’s nice, it is really nice.</p>
<p>We flew from the San Jose airport to Portland and rented a car to drive to Salem. I stayed in a little TravelLodge hotel that’s about 2 blocks from the campus. It was dirt cheap at around $45 for the night, but clean. We also looked at the train. If we’d been able to book tickets well in advance, we might have come up on a sleeper car, but I noticed that if you try to buy tickets at the last minute, it’s really expensive.</p>
<p>It was raining when we arrived in Oregon, and there were some light showers the following day, interspersed with some beautifully sunny periods. The temperature was only one or two degrees cooler than the Bay Area. My son loved the weather.</p>
<p>Here’s a funny thing. This morning the San Jose Mercury News carried a story titled “Fee increases can actually aid poor students”. The author interviewed William Tierney at USC, who claimed that it was a good idea to raise the tuition for families earning over $70,000 to enable students from poorer families to attend. He also argued that the price of attending Berkeley should match the price of attending Stanford. As a Berkeley alumn who has watched the UC system raise tuition and fees while cramming students in dorms with 3 and 4 students, I decided to write a letter to the editor. The letter mentioned that our family had already decided that Willamette University was a better deal than Berkeley, and late this afternoon, I received this email from the newspaper’s letters editor:</p>
<p>“What a coincidence. On a personal note, my son is a sophomore at Willamette and loves it. He chose Willamette for the very reasons you cite … Willamette is a great school. We’ve been very pleased. Having said that, I also know there are a LOT of great schools out there. Good luck to you and your son.”</p>
<p>Nice story CalAlum, I read that article this morning also. I had never heard of Willamette until my daughter received the leaders application last fall. As I research it, everything I read or hear is positive. I think we will definitely try to get up there in April for a second look. She went with her father during the fall open house, but I have not had the chance to visit yet.</p>
<p>Thanks to both you and csleslie for the info on transportation.</p>
<p>Another note on transportation. Forget the train unless you REALLY like sitting on a train and have a good long book to read. Relatives took the train from the bay area on two different occasions. Amtrak is at the mercy of the freight lines and it took forever ( no where near the timetable times). Once you get above Salem (e.g.going to Seattle) it is much better. You would make better time driving than taking the train.</p>
<p>Bummer about train delays, but I sort of expected them, at least once in a while. I have this hope that she could do homework and studying on the train, then be able to fully relax and enjoy her time at home. </p>
<p>csleslie-can I ask, where did your daughter do her study abroad? Also, how did she meet the language requirement? My daughter’s foreign language is not taught at Willamette so she is not sure what to do about the “fourth semester”.</p>
<p>Darn, you’re shattering my train expectations. If my son ends up at Willamette though, at some point we’ll take the train. We can board a sleeper car at San Jose at 8:30 pm, read a bit, sleep, wake up near the Oregon border, enjoy breakfast and lunch on the train, and pull into Willamette at around 2pm. My husband and I love to read, so this could be great, for us.
:-)</p>
<p>CalAlum - bring a big book. You have been warned.
kelliebeff - D studied in Ecuador. She had never taken Spanish before going to college. The Spanish teachers at W were great and she did not find the language a problem when she got down there. Her experience was invaluable - not always great - but she did get opportunities she would not have otherwise (trip to Galapagos, Amazon, whale watching, river rafting, etc) plus she and some friends ran in a 12 K race and were honored as the first non Ecuadorans to run in it. As far as study abroad goes, I would have your daughter look over the countries. My daughter had friends studying in Australia, New Zealand, Prague, and several other places. The only one who had any problems was one who went to Ghana. I highly recommend kids do it.</p>
<p>csleslie-thanks for the information on study abroad. Do you mean that your daughter started Spanish at Willamette to satisfy the foreign language requirement for graduation? Was that two full years of classes (to get the fourth semester)?</p>
