<p>Heads up to those of you looking at/attending Oregon colleges from out of state. The water here is not fluoridated. So you might mention that to your kids' dentists and see if they think fluoride pills or periodic fluoride treatments are appropriate. Here kids take daily pills and get treatments twice a year, until they are in their late teens. This came up on another thread and I thought I'd mention it here too.</p>
<p>Wow, what a great information on this thread! The Portland area sounds like a great location for my nature-loving son, and the schools, esp. L&C & UOP, sound like good fits, though for different reasons. Plus, as mentioned on another Oregon thread, there are actually some spots left at L&C. Good to know when deciding where to apply next year. Now we may have to plan a summer trip to check them out! Thanks to all who posted.</p>
<p>I realize I'm joining this discussion at a very late date, but it's been very interesting to read Carolyn's thorough description of the colleges she visited with her daughter. My oldest son graduated from U of P in 2003 and loved it there. He was in the E-scholar program which provided him with an incredible learning experience with business people from the Portland area, other regions of the US, and other countries (China, Singapore and several others). He made some great friends at U of P and tried to convince both his younger sister and brother to attend.</p>
<p>Alas, they are each their own person, and have made other choices. My daughter is a junior at Linfield, majoring in education. Her first impression of Linfield was that McMinnville was much too small a town for her, but she fell in love with Linfield during our tour and has been very happy there. It was interesting to hear about the "turn-off" of the Greek system (I think it was during a visit to Williamette?). My daughter was adamant that she would never join a sorority, but she even changed her mind about that and is now very active in her sorority. I think it helps that Linfield does not have any sorority houses. Living with only sorority sisters probably would not have been her cup of tea.</p>
<p>My youngest son will be attending Claremont McKenna next year. He wanted to be in CA, and fell in love with Claremont during a college tour with his school. He feels very fortunate to have been admitted Early Decision, and is hoping the Southern CA weather will be better next year. I think they had more rain there last winter than we had here in WA. With family in San Diego, we'll probably see much more of them over the next four years.</p>
<p>Our experience has been that the most important thing in selecting a college is for your child to find the college that is the best fit for him/her. With so many excellent colleges, there are many choices.</p>
<p>I have not read this entire thread yet, but do have to put in a waord about L&C. Over the years many kids from my Ds school apply and seem to get mony, everythign from a full tuition (1500+ SAT kid) to partial amounts of four figures. I do not know all the scores and profiles, but I did not hear of many scores above 1400 in our small school, so most of the kids with some $ are no more than that and most likely less. IF you apply, be sure to seek out the merit aid!</p>
<p>Can anyone explain a little more about the L&C culture. my son seems more like the description wish<em>it</em>was_april just gave. He reads alot, remembers all of it, and very politically informed. Our dinner time is usually full of conversations on past wars, politics current and past, labor unions, social responsibility. and he loved reading the Communist Manifesto and loved 1984. He is fun to teach and engages well with intelligent teachers. He is very clean cut looking and lloves weight lifting, and video games and watching the Daily Show. </p>
<p>Is this a Reed or a L&C kid? Or a Whitman?</p>
<p>sweetkidsmom, I say Reed, but information is much too limited. If he visits all three, I would bet the choice would be easy.</p>
<p>Sweetskidsmom, I agree with Asdad. If he visits, the choice will be clear almost immediately. We didn't visit Reed so I can't comment directly, but L&C was very much a type of school where there were lots of kids with individualistic dress (i.e., mohawks, odd combinations of clothing, dyed hair) while Willamette students seemed more mainstream, clean cut and preppy. He needs to visit and see which would be a better fit for him personally. From the way you describe your son, however, my guess would be that Whitman College might be a very, very strong fit for him.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. The outward appearance of kids at L&C he see's some of at his school now and its no big deal. The kids are very tolerant of differences and are very supportive of each other. Our son is a no fuss, common sense, tshirt and jeans, down to earth kid. But he isn't chained to the books. He likes his free time and then gets to the studying.</p>
<p>I think we are on the right track. I did find someone whose son is graduating from Whitman now and he has invited me to email his son for questions. I'll post if I get anything back.</p>
<p>My S almost chose Reed. He very much liked the curriculum and faculty. He was a little turned-off by the perceived number of students who smoked, but that was not a deal breaker. He was not that interested in L&C, but we know others who like it. Reed sends more (per capita) students to grad school in the life sciences than any other college or university in the country, and more in all disciplines except for Harvey Mudd and Cal Tech.</p>
<p>idad,
I once knew a doctor who did his undergrad work at L&C early 80's or late 70's I think. He liked it there, seemed to turn out alright. I'm attracted to it for the wrong reason, the old estate looks so beautiful. My son doesn't smoke or drink and his only drug is insulin. Needs to keep a level head to manage it. Hope the smoking isn't indoors. What school did your s ultimately choose?</p>
<p>sweetkidsmom: There was a great deal of smoking in the dorms, though one can ask for a "substance free" dorm. Smoke detectors in one dorm where replaced by infrared heat detectors because the smoke would set them off unless the students covered the detectors, which from what I understand, they did.</p>
<p>My S chose the University of Chicago. He liked the idea of being at what he calls America's academic powerhouse, likes the city of Chicago, and likes the advantages of a little larger college (4300 vs 1300) in the midst of a major research university, but with as small or smaller class size. He had much more fun in his Chicago stayover than he had at Reed. Stayed up to 3 AM talking with his U of C hosts, Reed hosts took off and left him alone.</p>
<p>Is the smoking at L&C marijuana or cigarettes? I didn't see much cigarette smoking when visiting there (although we saw a bunch of cigarette smokers at Reed), but my D told me that her lunch hosts talked a lot about pot smoking. It made her wonder whether she should apply to the sub-free dorm were she to apply and be accepted there. My D sat in on a creative writing class during which the students were reading and critiquing their classmate's fiction writing. She said many stories were about drunken college students (write what you know?!).</p>
<p>idad, "(4300 vs 1300) in the midst of a major research university, but with as small or smaller class size. He had much more fun in his Chicago stayover than he had at Reed. Stayed up to 3 AM talking with his U of C hosts, Reed hosts took off and left him alone."
.....</p>
<p>Thanks so much for that information, leaving him like that is somethin I definitly want to know, plus the smoking. Cancer from someone elses smoke! He has enough to deal with already. I would also like a school that isn't so small and that is a drawback. I just don't know how much is lost by the size in terms of his overall education. My hubby went to USNA and I to a teeny tiny nursing school (started with 60 students graduated 30) The USNA is about the same size as Uof Ch, and the size was a good match. Lots offered, but then Uncle Sam was paying for it all.</p>
<p>The smoking to which I was referring was at Reed College not L&C (so no knowledge there), and it was cigarette smoking, though other types were observed.</p>
<p>Yeah I saw you meant Reed. Too bad for the students. Here in California we have some laws about smoking inside buildings and we are spoiled by it. On a trip to Ohio I was floored at the amount of smoke in the Minneapolis airport, ticked off about it really. I tell people I have asthma so they put it out or I run the other way. Hubby finally quit after years of banishment to the patio and none allowed in the car.</p>
<p>Don't rule out Willamette, great fin aid, it was my D's best offer and the academics are solid. Kids are down to earth, outdoorsy, athletic, informed politically. each dorm has about 5 free newspapers per day for each student. Class sizes are small, students are friendly. Some folks are turned off when they hear there is some greek life but my D visited a fraternity and said it is nothing at all like U of A or ASU's fraternities which she would stay clear off. The guys were gentlemen, funny and intelligent. She visited Puget Sound and Lewis and Clark as well. Was not at all impressed with L and Clark maybe because of the students she encountered.</p>
<p>Just wanted to add, that I liked Lewis and Clark. I am just sharing my D's impressions so don't mean to offend anyone. School has a great reputation.</p>
<p>We had heard that there was a lot of pot smoking at L&C so daughter was very careful to ask every student she could about this while we were there. (Note: she doesn't have a problem with other people smoking pot or drinking, just wants a school where it is OK not to) The people she asked all said, yes, there is lots of pot at L&C, but that if she weren't into it she didn't have to participate. At the same time, the tour guide made a bit of fun of the people who lived in the substance free dorm and said they didn't really fit in. So, my daughter was left with some mixed signals and feelings. </p>
<p>For comparison, when daughter and her friend who was visiting with us asked the same question ("Do a lot of people smoke pot?") at U of P and Willamette, the reaction was quite different. The two tour guides at U of P were almost confused by the question, and said that beer was the main "drug" there. At Willamette, we were told that there was some pot, but mostly drinking at parties. </p>
<p>DISCLAIMER: this is just based on our conversations with L&C students plus the comments from parents of two L&C students as well. May or may not be true and certainly you can find pot (and drinking) on every campus. However, I would say that someone who would feel uncomfortable with drugs, might not feel too comfortable at L&C because it seems a bit more ingrained into the culture on campus. Again, no flames please! I think L&C is a great school and my daughter still has it on her list, just reporting what we were told. Your mileage may vary and an overnight would probably give you a better idea.</p>
<p>My son attends L & C and loves it. There is pot smoking and cigarette smoking on campus, but he says he has never felt any pressure to do either. Cigarette smoking is less prevalent than at Reed. He has not found either thing to be an issue for him.</p>
<p>Didn't look at L&C but I don't notice people smoking much in general, not compared to when I was in school anyway- I can count on one hand the number of adults that I know that do ( of my close friends )- ( Um smoke tobacco- being of the generation that I am- which is coming of age in the 70's but still aging- I do know those who smoke cannabis either as a relaxant instead of having a drink with dinner they have a smoke after- or else they smoke it for glacoma related issues or to increase appetite)
Oh dear did I have a point- oh yeah I haven't noticed that many people smoking at Reed, although in casual research I did see that it is supposed to calm you and perhaps since Reedies like to whip themselves into an academic frenzy, that is how they calm down.
But Ds friends are fairly athletic and rarely drink let alone smoke, so I have a different viewpoint of smokers @ Reed.
I'll tell you when I come back from this weekend-</p>