<p>Does anyone have any first-hand experience w/ Carroll College in Helena Montana? The web site is informative and paints an attractive picture but it may be more valuable to hear from anyone who knows more about reputation. </p>
<p>Also I haven't seen much about the University of Portland or Seattle University here. Just curious what you know about western Catholic schools.</p>
<p>cinniesmom - There are so many Catholic schools I doubt anyone can answer your question comprehensively. If your S/D has an interest in Carroll College I think you'd get more responses retitling your thread. Also, it would be helpful if you could define "western." For many here in the northeast, "western" means "west of the Mississippi."</p>
<p>Thanks for the input, What is the procedure for re-titling a thread? </p>
<p>And "West" to me includes the Rocky Mountain States and anything west of them.</p>
<p>I stayed at Seattle U. While it's a really nice area, the school is a dump.</p>
<p>(In our part of the Northeast, anything west of the Hudson doesn't exist!)</p>
<p>Carroll College in MT was a small, but very good college when I was in college in the Dark Ages. I think Gonzaga is a bigger draw for kids from MT now, though it's tougher to get into after the basketball success. </p>
<p>DH is a grad of Seattle U. DD1 looked at SU. She felt it was on par with Fordham and liked both campuses. </p>
<p>Check out Santa Clara (CA) if want a very cool Catholic U. DDs friend is there and it looks gorgeous on the website and she is very happy there.</p>
<p>My son attends a Catholic high school that sends one or two students to the University of Portland each year. I have heard that these students like it there, but I don’t have any first-hand knowledge that I can share with you about the school.</p>
<p>My son and I did visit Seattle University last year. The campus is located just a few blocks from downtown Seattle. The campus itself is compact and attractive, but the surrounding area is very urbanized and not all that wonderful. (It may look worse than it really is, however, because all of the students we talked to said that crime was not a problem.) Everyone we met there – students, faculty, staff – was extremely friendly and helpful. The food in the dining hall is very good too.</p>
<p>Although we liked the school overall, it was not a good fit academically for my son who is a straight-A student. SU prides itself on giving a chance to “late bloomers” and others who did not have great high school records, especially URMs. SU provides lots of extra help – tutoring, one-on-one mentoring, etc. – so that students who did not do well in high school can still flourish there. Our tour guide told us quite candidly that she had mostly C’s in high school but she had become an honor student at SU because of the support they provided. My son crossed SU off the list and is going to apply to Santa Clara University instead, because the academics there are much more rigorous.</p>
<p>I have heard some really nice things about Regis (I don't remember if it's Regis College or Regis University) from a couple of alums. It is in Denver, Colorado, and it is affiliated with the Jesuits.</p>
<p>My S looked at Loyola in Baltimore, MD. It has a beautiful campus and was very close to downtown Baltimore. Good luck.</p>
<p>DD is a sophomore at Santa Clara. It is a fine school, and is in a great location. She and I would be happy to share information with anyone interested.</p>
<p>West of the Rockies I have first hand knowledge of U San Diego, U San Francisco and St. Mary's (just east of the Bay Area). These are three REALLY different schools. OP, what type of environment are you looking for?</p>
<p>PS, I think you need the Moderator to retitle a thread. It's probably easier to open a new thread and reference this one.</p>
<p>Second hand information, not first hand, but the D of an acquaintance attended Carroll College recently. The D transferred to a Midwest private after one year, primarily because of Helena’s cold, cold winters. Other than that, no complaints about the school. (The mom and dad were disappointed that D wanted to transfer.) Also know many families with students at (or graduated from) the University of Portland. All were solid students in high school and all speak positively about the school and the city. Agree that Gonzaga University has a very good academic reputation in the Pacific Northwest and is worth a look.</p>
<p>Today’s edition of the Seattle Times includes a special section called “College Guide: how to pick a school, get in and pay for it.” There are references to Seattle University (and other area colleges) sprinkled throughout the many articles. The online edition includes a link to a short video tour highlighting Seattle University. There are also links to videos for Seattle Pacific, UWashington and Cornish College of the Arts. I think these may be student created videos prepared for this guide and not polished productions prepared by admission offices.
<a href="http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegeguide/%5B/url%5D">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/collegeguide/</a></p>
<p>Just like in sports this board has a definite East Coast centric focus.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son is very happy at Carroll College. It has a really outdoorsy student body.</p>
<p>A lot of Phoenicians go to Santa Clara and love it. The only negative I've heard is in reference to availability of campus housing for upper classmen and the dumpy quality and high cost of area apartments.</p>
<p>Gonzaga (also very outdoorsy student body) is also a popular Western uni but is more isolated than U Portland or Santa Clara.</p>
<p>If it matters, the Univ of Portland is run by the Congregation of the Holy Cross (they also run Notre Dame) and Gonzage, University of Seattle and Santa Clara are Jesuit Unis, while Carroll College is a diocese of Helena school. </p>
<p>At Santa Clara and University of Portland the student body is more likely to be from Ca, AZ, WA, OR and NV. At Gonzaga and Carroll the student body is more likely to come from WA, OR, ID WY MT.</p>
<p>These are all schools I want to visit with my S who is a junior.</p>
<p>My sister went to U of Portland (music major) when she was in her early thirties, and she had a good group of study partners/friends who were similar in age. That makes me think it's not strictly a typical fresh-out-of-high school student body. Anyway, she loved it there.</p>
<p>I used to teach in eastern WA, and Gonzaga was a top pick for a number of good students there. I can think of several who majored in engineering and are now working in the field and doing well. Spokane is a great little city.</p>
<p>There is a brand new school called Wyoming Catholic College. Very outdoorsy--for those who like wilderness adventures and horseback riding--check out their website. (I've never visited the school, but it looks amazing to me. It seems to be a spin-off of Thomas Aquinas College--great books school in CA).</p>
<p>My oldest friend's daughter just finished a math degree at St. Martin's College in Lacey, Washington. She is the only St. Martin's grad I've ever met, and she LOVED the school. For what it's worth, she is wicked smart. I know nothing else about it other than it isn't mentioned on CC very often, and it has ABET certified mechanical and civil engineering programs.</p>
<p>An excellent HS teacher recommended that son look at Catholic Universities, as they offer a terrific education. Interestingly, the teacher is Hindu.</p>
<p>Coincidentally, about half of the schools on son's short list were Catholic. While he isn't interested in religion (at all), he is at one now, and is very happy there.</p>
<p>I'm old enough to remember when St. Martin's College and Seattle University had a pretty good basketball rivalry when both played a D-1 schedule in the mid-1970s (Frank Oleynick or Clint Richardson, anyone?).</p>
<p>As for academics, SU has been trying to raise its profile since the early 1990s when a new administration came on board and did things like starting a law school. For generations SU was known for its teacher education (and its Catholicism, of course). The school was not particularly rigorous and the administration did little to upgrade the campus infrastructure. Really, the buildings are [aesthetically] inferior to most of the public high school buildings in Seattle. I'd opine that, at present, SU lags behind other Catholic schools the west, such as U of San Diego, U of San Francisco, Creighton U, Gonzaga U and U of Portland. It's not a bad place for undergraduates, it's just unremarkable.</p>
<p>atomom...you win the prize for posting about the Most obscure and most devoutly Catholic school discussed. I checked out the website and it reminds me of the tiny Catholic elementary school. 9 kids in my D's class...temporary setting. The equitation program sounds cool and the outdoor emphasis makes WCC seem like a very unique college!</p>
<p>Thanks--my first prize on CC! ;) For those interested in more Catholic colleges,
The Cardinal Newman Society publishes a guide called "Choosing a Catholic College" in which they feature 21 "Genuinely Catholic Colleges." The following is copied from their website--I've added locations of ones I know:</p>
<p>The recommended colleges are grouped into three categories: “Joyfully Catholic,” “Born from the Crisis” and “Fighting the Tide.” </p>
<p>The first group is characterized by a Catholic identity that permeates all areas of campus life; the second includes institutions founded or expanded in the last few years; and the third group represents older colleges and universities that have succeeded in renewing and strengthening their Catholic identity.</p>
<p>The “Joyfully Catholic” colleges are: Christendom College (VA), The College of Saint Thomas More (Fort Worth, TX), Franciscan University of Steubenville(OH), Magdalen College(NH), Thomas Aquinas College(CA), The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (NH), University of Dallas(TX), and the University of St. Thomas (Houston, Tex.).</p>
<p>The “Born from the Crisis” colleges are: Ave Maria University (FL), Holy Apostles College & Seminary (CT), John Paul the Great Catholic University (CA); Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy (Ontario, Canada), Southern Catholic College (GA) and Wyoming Catholic College.</p>
<p>The “Fighting the Tide” colleges are: Aquinas College (Nashville, Tenn.), Belmont Abbey College (NC), Benedictine College (KS), The Catholic University of America (DC), DeSales University (PA), Mount St. Mary’s University (MD) and St. Gregory’s University (OK).</p>
<p>BTW, I was surprised to read that Wyoming Catholic is only the 2nd four-year college in the state of Wyoming.</p>