<p>jazzymom don't overlook Santa Clara University and Saint Mary's College in the SF Bay Area Great Schools. </p>
<p>oregon101 Stockton was ranked #5 in the worst cities in the US. It's really too bad because UOP is a great school w/ a beautiful campus. They guarantee grad in 4 years as long as you don't fail classes and jump around from major to major. I am sorry I can't give you more specifics. We stopped looking at it because my slightly protective DH proclaimed that his DDs were not going to that city because it is a "$*1+ hole!!"</p>
<p>I agree with historymom about U. of P. We visited last November and although the campus was nice the city of Stockton is not. Extremely high crime rates.<br>
We really liked U. of San Francisco. Beautiful campus, nice size (5K undergrads, 4500 grads), incredible food, dorms, etc. Down side is cost. Only one merit aid scholarship ($19500/year - 3.8gpa, 1320 SAT (math, eng.). Our S was admitted but $50K/year is too much.</p>
<p>We didn't like UOP for all the same reasons stated above. It was not our first choice for our student. But after visiting he felt that it had the most to offer him. We probably live in one of the most beautiful parts of the state so Stockton is huge change. My son has never not felt safe. Granted he doesn't have a car and sticks pretty much to campus and the surrounding area. The campus is absolutely beautiful. The staff of the school nice and helpful. He is happy enough that he plans on returning next fall.
We found that many of the private colleges he looked at in Ca and Oregon were in not the most attractive areas. We excluded religious scools from the onset. We would have looked at Santa Clara but he did not have the stats for it.
In the end he decided to stick to the west coast. His final four choices were Willamette, UOP,Redlands and Puget Sound.
Puget Sound was nice but they told him that while they acommodated learning disabilites but their resources were limited plus they gave him no money. Plus we had heard from several ex students about some pretty severe drug use. This was augmented by overhearing two students talk about using Meth. (not that drugs aren't at other schools)
Willamette- They got top marks for helpfulness. The admissions person they spoke with gave them a large amount of time and they enjoyed her conversation and personality. The Learning Disablities Director also got top marks from H and S.They both sold my husband on the school. He sat in on several classes and really enjoyed the lecture he attended. The biggest downside to Willamette for both my son and husband was Salem. Aside from Salem both my husband and I would have been thrilled for our son to attend Willamette.(but of course we arent the one's attending)
Redlands- Another school that is not that attractive and in an area that is also not that attractive. My son and husband both were surprised to find they liked Redlands. The town has some cute areas but the air quality is terrible. In spite of this they both liked Redlands and when it came down to final two Redlands was in the running. They also came up with some merit money after first not providing any.</p>
<p>One interesting thing I forgot to mention - when we are Whitman, the admissions person conducting the information session made the remark that "Willamette bought some of our applicants". He meant by that that for some applicants who were accepted by both schools, Willamette offered much more merit scholarship money than Whitman.</p>
<p>Personally, I'd be happy to be bought. We enjoyed the personal touch at Willamette. Of course, I'm sure that is not unique among small LACs.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone-s is pretty determined to see uop. He doesn't get that the surrounding city can impact your life. How is the air there?
So am I right that it does have a respectable reputation?
mom60-you and H and S are happy with uop-? students are friendly and welcoming?
Our S wants "community" and friendliness and prof's who know his name.
We want all of that and a pretty and safe campus, one flight or drivable, good food (anyone?) and affordable.
Won't know until he takes the SAT's but might be eligible for some merit.
We looked at Whitman for D and I love love that school. Problem is that they do not have a business school and not sure if econ would work for S. He is also just beginning to flirt with engineering. The schools that have 5 year programs (Willamette-UOP-Puget Sound-Linfield) are attractive to us as we know how hard it is to go back and get that Masters.
All info welcome! Will take a closer look at St. Mary's. Had heard that U of SF was in a very rough neighborhood--??
Thinking a Memorial Day weekend trip might be doable.</p>
<p>Oh golly, I used to live at the foot of USF. It's not rough at all. The Tenderloin is down the hill in the one direction, but it's not like on the doorstep of the school or anything. Down the other side of the hill is Golden Gate Park. I mean, actually, it's in a really wonderful location. I lived on the Panhandle for almost 10 years.</p>
<p>S hates to travel but really liked SF when we went there 2 years ago. So--maybe. Trying to link a USF-USantaClara-UOP trip with all the needed contacts.</p>
<p>I've driven through the PLU campus twice in the last two years, without getting out to give it a real chance. Here's why: It's about 8 miles straight south of Puget Sound (the University, and the water), next to an airforce base. The campus itself is pretty with lots of trees and OK buildings. The neighborhood and main drag (for miles) is very unappealing: strip malls, no charm. </p>
<p>In contrast, the area around University of Puget Sound is absolutely lovely. The neighborhood for miles around is older, well-maintained and many of the homes have views of the water. There are cute little shopping districts, and the gem: Point Defiance Park and the ferry terminal to Vashon Island about three miles away. The bike path along the sound is less than a mile from the campus: great access for biking and running. UPS's campus has been described on this thread already: lots of grass, trees, and classically beautiful brick buildings. Unfortunately PLU pales in comparison. I've heard some good things about PLU, but most kids I know who start this NW college shopping trip have ended up at UPS, SPU (Seattle Pacific) or Willamette. </p>
<p>Someone come to PLU's defense, please. I can't.</p>
<p>oregon101 - our son was admitted at USF and we didn't interview. We all loved USF and were very disappointed that the merit aid was only limited to the "scholars." We probably visited 15 schools between Calif. and Oregon. As another person already mentioned, the area surrounding the campus is very nice. I was concerned about that but it's a very nice residential area and Golden Gate park on the other side a couple blocks away as I recall.</p>
<p>Those of you interested in a PNW school which is a smaller environment in a city don't overlook Seattle University. It's a Jesuit school, but it is in the heart of Seattle and they just launched a huge capital campaign. As with any Jesuit school the emphasis is on a broad liberal arts education, but they are very practical too with business, law, nursing and engineering. </p>
<p>The thing to remember is that the Pacific Northwest was pretty isolated and self-sufficient up until the early '70's. The old blue blood schools were Whitman and UPS in WA and Lewis and Clark and Willamette in OR. That was before people really sent their kids outside the area to school. There is still an old boy's network for those schools because it was where the old local money sent their kids. Now of course it is all different and those schools can't rely on the usual stream of timber family scions, so they are remaking themselves into selective LACs.</p>
<p>Reed was always weird and different. I remember my dad driving us through campus after church and telling us it was the Communist school!</p>
<p>I visited PLU a couple times while I was searching for colleges. The campus is okay, the neighborhood is a little bit in the ghetto of tacoma - if you wander a little way off campus, you'll see. I liked the vibe of the school, but the neighborhood gave my white farm town butt the heebiejeebies.</p>
<p>Also visited UPS, may have been turned off by an admissions counselor telling me why it wasn't a good idea to give full ride academic scholarships. I don't know how they are know, but UPS led the league in tuition for a while. PLU was significantly cheaper, pre-financial aid.</p>
<p>Mombot: The weyerhauser kids still go to Willamette. My sister is friends with a couple of them.</p>
<p>Old Seattle banking money used to send their kids to Whitman. Lewis and Clark used to be pioneer families. My relatives (in Oregon since the 1840's) went there. </p>
<p>If you want to stay in Oregon or Washington, you can get really connected at any one of those schools.</p>
<p>Chiming in with Mombot. I don't live in the PNW but most of my family does. Apparently Whitman is considered the top of the PNW LAC heap for selectivity. Seattle companies that won't recruit at many other LACs make special trips to Whitman, and families who can afford to send kids "anywhere" often choose it. I've visited the campus a number of times. It's remote, but to this mom, that meant "safe." Good skiing and backpacking nearby. Some have commented on the drinking culture, which seems to thrive wherever kids are bored. If you're not busy with EC's or the outdoors, this might be a temptation....</p>
<p>Whitman alums are a tightknit (almost exclusive) group, in my experience. My D visited the campus and rejected it because it wasn't close to a big city. Some would see this as an advantage.</p>
<p>Some of the weyerhauser kids might go to willamette, the ones we know attended Uchicago and Dartmouth.
When you grow up in the Pac Northwest & Europe/China , your family is probably going to encourage you to look out of the region for college.</p>
<p>The eastern wa schools of which Whitman is one have easy access to alcohol.( it does look like Idaho raised drinking age to 21) However, the students who attend are happy- but it may be much too small for some, and Spokane doesn't meet the big city needs of students who think a big city is NYC or Chicago or even Seattle.</p>
<p>But lots of outdoor opportunities and a good school.</p>