<p>Kudos to Willamette University in Salem OR where dd landed on Monday. She arrived to a welcome letter from the college president, a welcome goody basket from food services, a warm reception from her roommate and the other young women on her floor, and an efficient setting for getting registered, getting books, and seeing professors -- one of whom is a Tulane alum! The personalized touch has been wonderful. She is taking three of the classes she had planned to take at Tulane, has substituted the required Willamette freshman humanities seminar for psych -- I think I am safe in presuming that Tulane will allow her to count it toward a humanities distribution requirement -- and since the load at Willamette is 4 courses, rather than 5, is waiting to begin Italian at Tulane. Salem is a quiet city but it definitely has its charm, the Pacific NW is an incredible locale, one of her lifelong best friends is at Reed, her roommate has a car -- she has been incredibly fortunate, I think. My head is still spinning from having redone the yearlong college process in 48 hours and having made an impromptu trip to the west coast, and I'm sure our finances will be spinning for quite a bit longer, but I think our dd will have an excellent first semester of college.</p>
<p>Geena- I know what you mean. It was such a whirlwind last 4 days that I didn't even have time to process that my D was going far from home. I don't want to see the credit card bill when it comes and we haven't even paid for the books yet.
Was Willamette a school she had already been admitted to? I think it is great that she will have a chance to experience a new area. The schools have really done an amazing job making the new students feel welcome.
Best of luck to your D</p>
<p>geena, I spoke with ad. min. officer that you spent time with. She is great, and your daughter will have a wonderful time.</p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>Sign us up as charter members of the One Week Two Schools Club. S started classes at Bates Monday, had luncheon with other "strandeds" and several Deans Tuesday (following on a 4 Dean, 13 student mini-Orientation), we moved him in to his single (!) room today in a great Freshmen dorm full of welcoming guys telling him he is on the "best" floor in the "best" dorm and starting to talk "what instrument do you play?" as we were walking out the door (feeding right into S's passion).
What more could we ask? </p>
<p>Empty nest has arrived.</p>
<p>We, too, are in the club. We should have our t-shirts made at the same time as the Tulane in Exile shirts get made. And amen to the credit card bills! Scary.</p>
<p>I still look forward to meeting some of you in NO eventually. I think it would do us good just as having other Tulane students around is now doing our "kids" good. (Can't think of him as a kid after all he's been through and how well he's weathered it!)</p>
<p>Yes, mom60, dd had been admitted to Wilammette last spring. We live in the midwest and she wanted a different experience, so her colleges were more or less all on the perimeter of the US. She was adamant about going this fall to one at which she had already been accepted; she was warmly welcomed elsewhere but felt really odd about the prospect of moving into a school in which she had never demonstrated any interest before.</p>
<p>There is only 1 other Tulane student at Willamette -- maybe 2 by now -- and I am sure there is some benefit to being at a place like Cornell where (not to mention its geographic proximity) there would be a whole Tulane community. OTH, this way she will be able to focus on the experience where she is and avoid the constant pull between 2 institutions. Six of one and half dozen of the other, I guess.</p>
<p>Geena,</p>
<p>Tell your D the best pizza in Salem (or it was when I lived there) is Pietro's - just off Market Street out by the freeway. I recommend the Barmaid's Special with mushrooms</p>
<p>Geena, Willamette is an impressive school- best of luck to your D. My D loved her visits there and students and staff are friendly, welcoming great choice!</p>
<p>I got an email from my D today. She spent the first few days there feeling like it isn't fair I should be at Tulane and now today she says she feels like a "Denver" student. Hope everyone else is having similar good experiences.</p>