<p>With my D, we are visiting five colleges this week beginning today:</p>
<p>Whitworth-Spokane
U Puget Sound-Tacoma
Lewis and Clark-Portland
Linfield-McMinnville
Willamette-Salem</p>
<p>Will post impressions/information from each visit. A bit more free form that in that section provided here for visits. Also, any questions/suggestion/information would definitely be appreciated.</p>
<p>First impression is that Spokane is a lovely town, very green. We rolled by the college yesterday when we got it and it just looked lovely from the outside. No other way to put it. Really looking forward to the trip today.</p>
<p>My D is a senior at Lewis & Clark. Great personal attention at a beautiful campus. University of Portland is only about 15 minutes away. You should easily be able to do one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It will take about an hour to get to Linfield unless you go after 7:00pm then it could take less time. We visited most of these schools (some more than once!) before my D decided on L&C. I mentioned it before, as others have, but want to say again how important it is to visit when school is in session. Seeing the student body and the campus while school is in session is a must. Our first trip to L&C was in the summer and we made sure to go back and visit all her favorites in the fall for an Open House event. Have a great trip and keep us posted!</p>
<p>Whitman is in eastern WA, which is pretty far out of the way for the drive the OP has described. And it may not be as good a fit as the other schools on the OP’s list.</p>
<p>Have you considered looking at Pacific Lutheran University, in Tacoma? It is similar to several of the colleges you are visiting. It’s a good school, with a strong emphasis on study abroad programs. They are quite generous with merit scholarships. My daughter visited there, but ended up choosing Linfield. She’ll start there in the fall.</p>
<p>First of all what a gorgeous campus. So green and so many trees. The buildings are beautiful too. My D liked it. One caveat given by the guide is that this is a Presbyterian Campus, and while nothing is forced on you, that aspect is interwoven into the campus environment, so they suggest a visit to make sure this is the place for you. but from what I see its a very welcoming atmosphere there</p>
<p>They have very good academics, and I appreciate a college with a PE requirement (health mind and healthy body). Very nice student teacher ratio 13:1 and the guide talked about how well she got to know her teachers. They are on a 4-1-4 schedule, and the one month (Jan) is used a lot by the students for overseas study. And this makes perfect sense.</p>
<p>Two years of on campus residence is required (which is ok by my D since she wants to be on campus all 4 years). </p>
<p>Off to dinner now, and off to UPS tomorrow (busy busy busy)</p>
<p>A couple more things. My D looked at Whitman already when her brother visited, and thought the surrounding community was a bit small. And we are limiting ourselves to one campus a day. After L&C we plan a trip to Voodoo Donuts before McMinnville.</p>
<p>When all the votes are in we will boil down to the ones we will visit when class is in session. Now we are just exposing her to the campuses and the surrounding areas. But you are right, with my S we made sure to visit the cafeteria at each school he visited when they were in session. You learn a lot for the schools that way. </p>
<p>Was disappointed the the Whitworth cafeteria was closed, but the UPS one is open apparently since my D will be having lunch with her guide.</p>
<p>Pac Lutheran not on her radar right now, but that may change.</p>
<p>One college a day is great if you have that luxury. And Portland is a great city. Lots to see and do. My daughter is staying there this summer for the first time and is really enjoying it. Even if you don’t want to add U of Portland you will pretty much drive by it when you drive south from UPS to Portland on Interstate 5. You might consider a quick drive through and you can decide to go back another time or not. It is a Catholic U but very relaxed about it.</p>
<p>Actually, there are always kids from my D’s HS that go to U of Portland. We may go on a later trip, but there is a wealth of info about the school that she has already. This is a definite possibility for her. A family she knows had all their kids go there so far , and one works there now. She is friends with the youngest who is in her HS class.</p>
<p>Well visited U Puget Sound today. It is a lovely campus. It also has a very fine academic program. We took the tour around today, had the info session and lunch on campus. Again, a lot of trees and greenery on the grounds. Also the dorm rooms were larger than Whitworth. With the smaller size of the campus and the 11:1 student teacher ratio it is easy to interact with the faculty.</p>
<p>But with all that, she still prefers Whitworth. Something just did not click there like it did at Whitworth. The environment at UPS just did not give her the same type of vibe that she felt there. A matter of preference, but I can see her point. She may just prefers that environment. UPS has a great academic program. </p>
<p>Again, like before these are initial impression from on the road</p>
<p>I comes to me know what I actually meant. University of Puget Sound seemed more imposing, while Whitworth seemed more homey. Well two down and three to go</p>
<p>kumitedad thanks for these updates. Several of these schools are on S2’s radar but we might not have a chance to visit until after the applications are in. Can you comment on the size of each school (number of students) and how the size felt relative to the physical campus size to your D?</p>
<p>It is hard to tell about that because there are very few students around. UPS has about 2,600 students, Whitworth 2,400, and Lewis and Clark about 2,000. My D is basing a lot on the vibe she gets from the campus and the people she meets there. We know we will have to go back later when school is in session. UPS is too imposing for her, so this is off her list now.</p>
<p>The best laid out so far. A college lost among the trees almost. The layout is superb. The one thing my D like is that the residences are separated from the school by a wooded ravine. The guide said it reminded her of Rivendell. The guide commented on the Psychology dept, which apparently runs research over the summer, and the Theater Dept, which has students make up there own plays as a tradition. From what I was gathering there is a lot of free thinking going on here (great for the college experience). They even have the only study abroad program that I heard about that goes to cuba! </p>
<p>The aid seems to be good, they have merit aid for full, half and a quarter of tution, not to mention the need aid. </p>
<p>During the information session they really emphasized the overseas program, and stated that they didnt want students to just take classes abroad, they could do that here, they wanted them to go into the country itself. Sounds to me like they are trying to make sure the students get the most out of their time at L&C. </p>
<p>The facilities are nice and up to date. The residence halls all have either wireless or high speed jacks in the rooms, and they are moving to have all the residences wireless. All of the college side is wireless. All the classrooms are up to speed tech wise. You also get 2 hours free tutoring a week per class, so a four class schedule gets your eight hours of tutoring. They have a free bike shop, where the kids can bring in their bikes for free repairs. The computer lab is very good and they provide free repairs as well</p>
<p>They run free shuttles to Portland which is not too far away, the guide said 20 min by bike. And there is a free transit zone in the city so this is great for the students.</p>
<p>last thing if you are in Portland. It is in a not so nice part of town, but a trip to Voodoo Donuts really starts the day out great. My D had the Oreo donut and I had the fruit loop one!</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound negative and this is purely anecdotal and everyone is free to correct me it I’m wrong or if they’ve heard differently. Lewis and Clark has a reputation for not being generous with financial aid. That’s what I’ve heard from more than one source. Just a heads up, you are getting the sales pitches right now when you visit. The school you have yet to see, Willamette, has a reputation for being generous with financial aid.</p>
<p>So glad that you had a great day at L&C. My daughter is a senior there and has had an incredible experience. So personal and nurturing but very challenging academically. My younger daughter just finished her freshman year at UCLA and she loves it but as a parent I sure appreciate all L&C can do with so small an enrollment.</p>
<p>You mention Cuba. One of my daughter’s favorite professors (and now “friends”) takes the group to Cuba and she has heard it is an amazing experience. My D was a Spanish major and switched to Sociology/Anthropology. She went to Ecuador with a L&C seven week summer program and to Chile for a semester program. She also did an “alternative spring break” her sophomore year where 12 students went to Jamaica to teach and volunteer in pre schools and elem schools in poor areas (far from the tourist areas). Wonderful opportunies.</p>
<p>L&C is a special place as you could see. So beautiful .But as the previous poster said they may not come through with aid. My D was accepted at U of Portland, Linfield, Pacific University, Santa Clara University and St. Mary’s. Every school offered her $8000-$10,000 per year in merit aid…Lewis & Clark, $0. But it was the one she liked best so we bit the bullet! Portland is a great city and she often took advantage of the free shuttle to town. Great to go to school in such a beautiful bit of nature but have such a vibrant city within 10 min. My D is now living in the Hawthorne District and teaches snowboarding at Mt. Hood during the spring semesters…gotta love it!</p>
<p>I wont count on any financial aid until I get a letter in the pocket. This is the second time around for me on the college search, and had a similar experience with a LAC down south. But thanks for the heads up.</p>
The guide commented on the Psychology dept, which apparently runs research over the summer, and the Theater Dept, which has students make up there own plays as a tradition. From what I was gathering there is a lot of free thinking going on here (great for the college experience). They even have the only study abroad program that I heard about that goes to cuba! </p>