<p>Wow - with the help of CC and a bunch of other resources, the app. list is almost final, and some are already in. S is now looking for solid admit safety schools in the PNW and having a hard time. Why? 'cuz he's really hoping to be able to go to some others. I'm wondering if anyone has experience specifically with the following schools: Pacific Lutheran U, U of Puget Sound, Whitworth, Linfield, Willamette.
All are very similar on paper, but S is hoping to find a laid-back feel, with most kids living and having fun on campus, with plenty of non-drunken options for fun. We've looked them all up on US News, etc. but are running out of time to visit everywhere.
Any personal experiences with any of these schools would be fun to hear about.
He's undecided about major and well above 75thpercentile for all of these (hopefully) safe admit schools.</p>
<p>U of PS is pretty popular among HI HS graduates & becoming increasingly selective. It's said to be a great smaller school, with access to the mountains for skiing.
Willamette is also a nice beautiful small school in Salem OR. Have heard nice things about it & location is good since near the capitol but also near the RR tracks. They give good merit aid, if $$$ is a consideration. My brother attended & niece was accepted there for law school & they kept offering her increasing merit aid but ultimately she decided to go to UH law school because she wants to practice & live in HI.</p>
<p>Locally, students here disproportionately choose PLU over UPS. Some of it, I think, is simply that it is cheaper. I think there are also more major options, and, in the sciences, PLU has a better rep. Student body is distinctly less "toney". Both have nice campuses (I think PLU's is nicer, but that's just a matter of taste.) Music is much better at PLU (though there are fine profs at UPS as well.)</p>
<p>Now that you've not mentioned it... my son and I spent the day at U of Portland last Friday. Really nice campus (despite the torrential rains and wind that day), helpful staff, and really nice kids. We even had a professor leave a lab session and take us to another laboratory to show us what the students were working on there. The whole place had a relaxed feel to it.</p>
<p>Without actually matriculating, we were impressed with what we saw.</p>
<p>Down side -- the gym is inadequate for the current student body. They recently bought 30 acres adjacent to the campus for a new facility, but they didn't say when it would be finished.</p>
<p>Son liked what he saw.</p>
<p>Mini - I'm really interested in your experience, as HS students here are opposite - UPS over PLU, but I have no idea why. There's some feeling of academic superiority, but that doesn't ring true in the stats.
What do you mean by 'toney' - the facilities, or the students? and how would you describe the differences you note about the campuses? (we haven't been to either one).
thanks</p>
<p>sorry, mini, i see you meant the students. "Snotty" is one reason a different school got lopped of S's list, so that may come in to play - ha!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info about aid at Willamette - that is on parent's radar screen</p>
<p>And about U of P - H and I really like that school, as S has been there several times for science bowl competition for western regionals. It seems like a great place, but S was not interested in applying for unarticulated reasons. Glad you liked it!</p>
<p>Last time I looked, PLU was about $10k a year cheaper than UPS, and a larger percentage of the student body was on financial aid. PLU also has significant nursing and business programs (with professional concentrations), while UPS has a "business and leadership" program. UPS looks more like a traditional LAC, PLU more like a "masters university". PLU has a religious connection; UPS does not. PLU's biggest major I think is biology (lots of pre-meds/pre-vets); UPS would likely be in the social sciences.</p>
<p>Both campuses are nice, with PLU's being a bit larger and more sprawling (and, I think, more new dorms).</p>
<p>I have little knowledge of any of the schools but I will throw in my $1.25
UPS- had a friend that attended law school- D had a couple friends who attended in poli sci/social $$$ (law school was sold to Seattle U)academics IMO higher than PLU.-about 2500 undergrads
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Puget_Sound%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Puget_Sound</a></p>
<p>PLU- My Lutheran relatives attended- ( and someone donated a building )but I don't know anyone that isn't Lutheran who went there.about 3600 undergrads- still LAC size though- but more suburban</p>
<p>Linfield- D visited- said it was too much like her high school ( by which I think she meant overly homogeneous per race & income)</p>
<p>Willamette- good poli sci <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_University%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_University</a></p>
<p>Whitworth- called us frequently- even though D didn't apply/or was interested- Spokane got tips over Walla Walla though</p>
<p>emerald - my S said almost the exact same thing about Linfield - had a high school feel to it. Can't explain it further, but interesting that you got the same response. Too bad, as I think good $$ would be a possibility as well as playing a sport. The kids there didn't seem very academically oriented to my S</p>
<p>I know someone who recently graduated from PSU. She didn't care for her experience there. Her main complaint seemed to be with the students, whom she described as "snooty" and "dull." (This is just one person's opinion, of course.) She told me that she wishes she had gone to a school with a more active campus life.</p>
<p>I also know two people who graduated from Willamette within the past five years or so. At least one of them chose Willamette largely for the merit aid. They were both satisfied with their education, and seemed to enjoy their time there. Also, both of them mentioned the affiliation with Tokyo International University of America as a plus.</p>
<p>emerald - does your post mean you also were interested in Whitman (walla walla)?</p>
<p>I didn't visit any of the schools- but I did think that Whitman was at least worth looking at
D however- didn't want a small town & Spokane is a nice size city</p>
<p>I think she visited Willamette also ( her junior class went to schools)
It also has a more conservative student body than several schools in the Northwest- ( considering that some are fairly- left, I think a little more center is a good thing)</p>
<p>Whitworth: a friend of my Ds growing up goes there, as did all her sibs. While I have not been there, I would think the Spokane 4 seasons weather would be fun, and knowing the family I would imagine there is wholesome non-drunk fun to be had and, as they have sent multiple kids, all bright, one genius, with varying potential there, it must have a lot to offer. One of the kids is now in a math/science PhD program, one is in a science masters. All the kids are very musical and I am certain did musical ECs at Whitworth. They are a nice, quintessential All-American, clean-cut type family with a church background and are middle class. I know they got some sort of aid, likely merit. Whitworth, though, is FAFSA only :)</p>
<p>One of Ds other friends attends Whitman and loves it, has found opportunities for study abroad and has a passion for a particular foreign country & has been studying the language and spending time there. He is a quiet, "nerdy" type guy, very bright, etc and he is thrilled there. Whitman is FAFSA & Profile</p>
<p>yep - I should have added that - S is turned off by left-leaning student body
also</p>
<p>I have one just finishing Linfield (and on to med school) and another starting at Willamette. </p>
<p>First off, any of these schools would be a good for somebody, all are exceptional. PLU was always in the running for both and it is bigger than the others but everyone was very nice. While a bit religous, they gave everyone their own space.. very nice. UPS is a nice school, it just didn't do it for us. </p>
<p>Eastern Washington just didn't appeal to our kids. While not much farther from where they ended up in relation to home, you can only see so many wheatfields before you go crazy. </p>
<p>You might look into Pacific University in Forest Grove, OR. Linfield I think is a pretty good school which is growing. It was smaller than my kids HS at around 1800. It may have a hs "feel" to it because they do very well in most sports. They were D3 national champs in football a couple years back and they have the longest winning seasons streak in all of football (60+ years) and so, they like their sports. They have a good ratio of student to professor for classes and give very nice finanical aid. </p>
<p>It's a nice small school in a nice small town. You can go an hour to the ocean beaches or Portland. It's a good place to go to if you want both studies and sports. Mine has enjoyed it from the first day on campus. </p>
<p>Willamette is another beautiful school in a nice location in a bigger town. My D is in her first year and for the most part loves it. The only down is her roommate who unfortunately after traveling so far to go there, really doesn't want to be there. Class size is very good, lots of activities and another friendly school. </p>
<p>All these smaller schools do a very good job of keeping track of newbies. The first semester for the first month is very busy just making sure each student gets to know as much about what's to do on campus. </p>
<p>As I said, each school you listed is very good. I would suggest if you can, to visit as most are within a short drive from each other in each state. Except of course eastern washington where the drive never seems to end.</p>
<p>Having lots of friends with kids at these various institutions, I'll toss in my FWOW. The kids I know at Willamette love it - it sounds like a relatively outdoorsy, sporty student body( think ultimate frisbee), and has good research opportunites for students in the sciences. Whitman seems to me to be the most selective, with a more nationally-based student body. Once there, the kids don't seem to mind that it's in a small, somewhat isolated city. UPS actually is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, but not in an obvious way. I know an athlete there who is planning to major in pre-med, and is finding it to be a great experience. My daughter's fiance plays football at PLU - I doubt that more than 50% of the football team is Lutheran. The sports teams enjoy supporting one another, and the football program is very encouraging of family involvement in supporting their young men. PLU is a wonderfully nurturing school, with excellent nursing and teaching programs. The surrounding area isn't as nice as UPS, but the campus itself is pretty. They have a lively student body.</p>
<p>Strangely, only one of the former students who went to UPS ended up graduating; all of the former students who went to PLU ended up graduating. The two locations--both in not-wonderful areas of a not-wonderful city (where my D went to HS a few miles from UPS)--are similar. </p>
<p>UPS, based on this small and very informal sample, seems to be less supportive than PLU. </p>
<p>Based on the tiny sample who went to U of Portland, it's a good solid Catholic school in the same mold as BC (although in Portland and not as well known).</p>
<p>To add to moltian's remarks about PLU... their sportspeople tend to be very classy and believe in fairplay. My S lacrosse team lost in regionals to PLU a few years back and as we watched the other games. The Linfield players made some unusual comments you rarely hear in sports anymore. " I really want to hate those guys at PLU, but I can't.", another "Why do they have to such good guys?", another " I was so p****d we lost and mad at PLU till I came out of the locker room and they were cheering for their special needs manager. Then I just felt like a jerk." </p>
<p>I would have been just as happy had my kids chosen PLU. It isn't located in the best place in town, but they do a good job of making it a nicer place.</p>
<p>Thanks Opie! The (on to med school) should help my S with his impression that the students weren't all that academic :)
This isn't getting any easier! The only ones S visited are Linfield and Willamette, and getting to Spokane for a visit is turning out to be harder than we thought to fit in.
Whitman is a real front-runner for him and we are looking for a financial safety of a similar caliber (that may be impossible). Willamette sounds close - any opinions?
(2090SAT / 3.9uw IB / 2 varsity sports / 250+ vol. hrs/ 1 nat'l EC)
We're looking to at least meet 100% of need with need-based or merit aid and hopefully to come up with merit aid above that.</p>
<p>If you aren't actually in Seattle ( and thus want to get away from it)
I would recommend both Seattle U & SeattlePacificU, as smaller schools that seem to be known for student support
My D would be considering SPU, if only it wasn't within walking distance (not familar with sports at either)</p>