<p>What are some good programs they have? I'm planning on studying business and maybe journalism at the same time...</p>
<p>Plus what's it really like in Eugene?</p>
<p>Rainy Oct-April; great June-August. Good college town (but no Berkeley, Madison, or Ann Arbor), leans left politically.</p>
<p>I know that it's a big weed environment.</p>
<p>I love the Springfield/Eugene area! I lived there for almost a decade before moving back to CA and like the people more than anything else. The only thing that I didn't like was that it rained/showered ten months out of the year, so regionally, the Pacific northwest has over twice the national average in suicide rates. Also, there are a lot of tree-huggers (extreme liberals/activists) so unless things have changed in the past four years, that was my experience. The campus is smaller and tight-knit, so if you're into that setting, Eugene is perfect. I'm not really sure about their journalism program, but I know they have a pretty good engineering program, second only to OSU. Football is a huge deal in the Willamette Valley, so the whole Oregon State versus University of Oregon, ducks versus beavers civil war is always a big deal.</p>
<p>Both journalism and business are strong at the U. of O., as are chemistry, architecture, and english. The students definitely lean liberal. It does rain a lot and I recall they get more rain than Portland. Also, the campus is beautiful. </p>
<p>Eugene is a nice college town, but most of your time would probably be doing things on campus. When getting away, people will do such things as going to Bend or the coast, or go skiing. Additionally, Portland is no more than two hours away. As far as public universities go, it's a nice college to attend and I enjoyed my time at Oregon.</p>
<p>Good football team, but the ugliest uniforms...aka "Team Nike".</p>
<p>I heard Eugene is hard to get to in terms of flights...true?</p>
<p>Does "big weed environment" mean brutal weed-out classes? Say, specifically, in chemistry? </p>
<p>I think S2 would really like the Pacific NW since he loves the rain and feels terribly deprived here in SoCal. Right now chemistry is his favorite subject, which is not to say that he won't change his mind about it as a major in college, but I would like him to change his mind about it (if he's going to) for reasons other than courses aimed at deliberately weeding students out.</p>
<p>At least back in the 70's, a big weed environment didn't refer to a reduction in class size. I do recall some people I knew who really worked hard in their chemistry classes and found them challenging. Although there is a lot of rain, for the most part it doesn't interfere with the lifestyle and activities.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah. The penny just dropped and I got the possible other reference to a "big weed environment." Definitely been away from the college lifestyle for too long. </p>
<p>Well, is it?</p>
<p>In the 2000's, I don't think it has that reputation anymore, and I would say that it's no worse or better than any other "party school" or national state university.</p>
<p>US airways flies out of the Eugene airport to many destinations.</p>