<p>Hi - I have a D who is daydreaming about Whitman, and we will be visiting over spring break (unfortunately, while the college is also on break). We live in Minnesota - Walla Walla is a bit of a commute. And D is not the outdoorsy type at all. She's cappuccino and shopping malls, movies and bistros.</p>
<p>So I'm wondering, as perfectly wonderful as Whitman sounds from everything we've read, would the quality, setting, etc. be enough of an appeal to an otherwise urban-type animal?</p>
<p>Whitman is a great school and Walla Walla is a cute little town, but I don't think you'll find much there that resembles an urban environment. The campus itself feels pretty sophisticated, but the town seems isolated, imo.</p>
<p>My son and I visited last fall. While there is definitely the cute small town vibe, complete with coffee shops and some nice restaurants, it is definitely not a place for a "shopping mall and movie" girl. On the main street there is an older Macy's with little selection and no Abercrombie or young trendy clothing stores anywhere in town. I don't even remember seeing a shopping mall. We did find one theater with a couple of screens. This really is a very small, very quaint rural town. The "outdoor vibe" is very strong, lots of healthy looking students dressed more like LL Bean than urban shopping mall. My son, very outdoorsy, LOVED it. You'll enjoy your visit whether it's a fit for her or not.</p>
<p>Thanks for those comments! I am very much looking forward to the visit. I only hope she doesn't get too carried away with Whitman's lure to discount other high quality (albeit less "hot") schools that may actually be a slightly better fit.</p>
<p>You definitely do not need to be outdoorsy to be happy in Walla Walla, but she will need to do her shopping online. Lots of activities of all kinds on campus --and surrounds-- but no malls. Some great thrift stores that my son frequents but no trendy shopping spots. However, there is something about the place that captures some kids and maybe she is moving into a new and different phase. My son looked at Macalester (which your daughter probably says is too close to home?) because it has many similar qualities but it didn't come close in his opinion. He loves the rural small city setting. And his friends who have a greater need to shop seem to get to Portland often enough to fill that need. Visiting while the kids are not on campus will give you a skewed view but maybe that will serve a purpose if you'd rather have her look elsewhere? That said, we visited in August and no one was around but we still got enough of a sense for my son to be sure it was his place. Just be sure you get an admissions guide tour so she has a sense of some students..</p>
<p>Hi mmaah - Thanks for those words of wisdom. Re: Macalester being too close to home - have you been talking to my daughter? </p>
<p>You're right, maybe this is the beginning of a new phase. The 2 midwest schools on her list so far, St Olaf and Illinois Wesleyan, are both in less urban settings, so I was surprised when she reacted so positively to them. I have no qualms at all about the quality of education at Whitman; just a bit of concern about her sitting alone on campus, so far away from home, while her fellow students are all out kayaking! It's comforting to know that there is a lot going on <em>on</em> campus on the weekends.</p>
<p>This isn't exactly analogous, but my niece - who sounds a lot like your D - went to WSU in Pullman and is having a blast. There's probably more to do on her campus because it's a large state U, but she's never complained about the lack of shopping or sophisticated eateries. It's pretty common for kids to develop new ways of living in college, and they'll be happy as long as they like the people they're with.</p>
<p>For parents, Walla Walla sounds great, BTW. I've been reading about how popular it's gotten with foodies, because of the winery culture that's developing thereabouts. Who knows, maybe gentrification today, Abercrombie tomorrow :)</p>
<p>Good point! She's also a vegetarian, so a growing number of eateries means a greater number of acceptable food options. I'm getting excited about visiting in March. Whitman really does sound like an exceptional school - even factoring in the "commute" from Minnesota.</p>
<p>My D is not outdoorsy either, and she loves Whitman. She has plenty of friends who do sports, but she does music instead and keeps very busy with that. The only sporty thing she's done there is intramural flag football last fall, which some friends talked her into (we all got a big kick out of picturing her little 5'2" self as a lineman). She loved that. She has never done any activities through the outdoor program, though I keep bugging her to at least go up to the mountains once before she graduates. She is from an urban environment and has been happy to live in a small town for a while. She goes shopping when she comes home :-). </p>
<p>There is plenty to do at Whitman for the non-outdoorsy person. A major activity is, of course, hanging out with friends, which can be fun anywhere.</p>
<p>Getting to and from Whitman is a bit of a pain, but just fyi, my D is a sophomore. Last year she took the shuttle bus to and from the Portland airport at breaks. This year she has friends with cars so she gets rides, often spending a night with someone in Portland on one leg or the other. She flies to California but has other friends who fly back East. So it works out -- the transportation issues don't need to be a show-stopper in your D's decision.</p>
<p>Susybelle, thanks for the report about your daughter's experiences. My D plays the harp, and Whitman is the only school she's considering that doesn't have a harp instructor and school harp - that's how much she wants to go there! I'm curious to see if that enthusiasm is dampened or further fueled after we visit the campus next month.</p>
<p>After visiting most of the top LAC's out East, I found out about WHitman and it shot straight to the top of my list. Ironically, it was becasue of their outdoor program that it caught my attention. However, when I visited I also didn't feel that the school was any more outdoorsy than most of the other schools I visited. The only difference was that their program was more organized. I am not necessarily an urban type despite having grown up in the Chicago area, a city I love! Despite the outdoor program being top notch, run by a guy who climbed the highest peak on all 7 continents, at the end of the day, I decided I couldn't spend 4 years in Wall Walla. The town was cute, the campus was beautiful, but it was just too far away from major cities like Seattle and Portland. I enjoy going to concerts with friends, and although some decent acts come to campus, i thought the distance to other major metropolitan areas would limit my options. Overall, I thought it was a great school, good reputation, just not for me. It would have been my second or third choice if my first didn't work out.</p>
<p>Thanks for that honest assessment! It's good to hear both sides. Hope your first choice worked (is working, will work) out!</p>
<p>There are no malls, but plenty of fancy coffee. THere is plenty to do besides the outdoors stuff - in fact most kids won't have time for most of the outdoor offerings. Academics are time consuming and then come on-campus offerings. My D had never spent a night in a sleeping bag before attending the "scramble" before registration. She had a great time but hasn't converted to "nature girl" quite yet.<br>
The really demanding LACs keep the kids too busy to notice it they're in NYC or East Jesus Nowhere (as my Baptist neighbor describes her hometown)</p>
<p>Well I know that you, ChiSquare, might be happy to visit all the nearby wineries. However, my teenage female perspective saw that I would need to focus more on amusing myself if I were to attend Whitman. I saw that the students were fine occupying themselves, though. Some of them would rock climb the side of a building, and I once saw a girl weave a web out of yarn in a tree.</p>
<p>Chisquare--check out Colorado College..it's where I ended up. Great!</p>
<p>Well, if she does end up in Walla Walla count your blessings! My D is just like yours, and she goes to Barnard and spends a lot of money! I am half kidding because she earns it with work/study. </p>
<p>I can tell you that she would not be happy at Williams, her brother's school, which the Walla Walla culture sounds a bit like.</p>
<p>Having the urban thing has been a big part of her college experience. She did apply to schools that were not urban, but I am very glad it worked out for her to be in NYC. It's been an incredible experience for her.</p>
<p>She's in London now and she called (skyped -- free) to tell me she bought a dress for an "'80's party" that was only 20 pounds. Well, that's $45, so not really all that cheap, but that's my D.</p>
<p>My daughter is a guitar-playing, park-sitting, Dylan-adoring, Nietzche-reading type who would look at home at Columbia University in 1968. Do you think she would find kindred spirits at Whitman?</p>
<p>Yes (10 char.)</p>
<p>I think you'd definitely find a ton of alternative kids at Whitman, or in Washington in general.</p>
<p>My daughter is open to a lot different experiences and is not anti-outdoorsy -- but her idea of a good time definitely includes sipping a frappucino or two while doing some serious shopping. She LOVES Whitman. We live in a city within a big metropolitan area. When we first drove to Walla Walla from Seattle or Portland, past the miles and miles of high desert nothingness followed by miles and miles of farmlands, she thought there was nothing that could compel her to go to school there. After falling in love with Whitman (second visit, not the first), she happily noted that Walla Walla had a Macys and a Starbucks. She is never at a loss for something to do at Whitman. I think students at colleges in more remote areas do fine if they are happy with the school otherwise. If she were at a school in a more metropolitan area, I'm sure she would take advantage of it but she seems to get her fill when she's home for breaks. I don't know if the location has anything to do with it, maybe more so the size -- but kids with different perspectives seem to mix fairly readily there. There are plenty of outdoorsy types and not-so-outdoorsy types. My daughter is in a sorority, and two of the girls in her pledge class live in Tamarac House, which is a interest house for seriously outdoorsy students.</p>