<p>University of Puget Sound is great. The new president is top notch and Tacoma is really a great place to go to school.</p>
<p>For all you sod-busters and other greenhorns, UPS and Tacoma ARE NOT in the Seattle area. Sure, they not that far apart but Tacoma is quite distinct from the Greater Seattle area. Hah!!!</p>
<p>well the area is actually often described as * seattle-tacoma* or the * greater puget sound* area</p>
<p>Tacoma is between Olympia and Seattle-- 30 minutes in each direction.</p>
<p>I think everyone realizes that Tacoma is different city- but it isn't a big deal to go to something in Tacoma if in Seattle or vice versa- depending on time of day of course- traffic is still pretty sucky
I live in a nw neighborhood & just driving my D to a central neighborhood in Seattle takes about 30 minutes in regular traffic, but only 15, if no traffic.
Oh I would also 2nd UBC Vancouver. A friend is attending - majoring in physics, and while it is a tad chillier in general than the Seattle area, it is really beautiful, and a much more cosmopolitan feeling than in Seattle.</p>
<p>Please Kitty, we must give all our support to the LESSER SEATTLE movement. Remember those guys (Walt Crowley was a founding member, I think)? Hah!</p>
<p>And don't forget that other great northwest institution of the 1970s, the OWL Party, a.k.a "Out with Logic." Double hah!</p>
<p>When we visited Lewis and Clark the biology and biochemistry departments were mentioned--they said they had a good record of med school admissions, so if that is of interest you could look there. </p>
<p>While I don't rely on US News rankings, the components are interesting--I did wonder about the retention and graduation rates at Lewis and Clark given the school's strengths. I would want to know more about that before we considered it further.</p>
<p>"For all you sod-busters and other greenhorns, UPS and Tacoma ARE NOT in the Seattle area."</p>
<p>Had to laugh at that--where I grew up on the dry side of the Evergreen State, any place from Blaine to Vancouver (WA) or to the west of that line was referred to as "The Coast."</p>
<p>But back to the topic.....OP asked for input on Whitworth, where I earned an M.Ed. It's a wonderful small school with significant capital outlays in recent years to build up the sciences. There are good music opportunities there, and when I taught in eastern WA schools (up till about five years ago), I had a number of students go there with generous merit packages, one specifically for music. The school is affiliated with the Presbyterian church, and there is a strong emphasis on ethical living and service to others, but religion is not the first thing you notice about the place. It seemed to me that students of any faith or no faith were quite comfortable there. I believe the course offerings can be expanded through some kind of cooperative arrangement with Gonzaga. The student paper is probably online--that's a good way to get a sense of a place.</p>
<p>LakeWashington--don't forget the other part of the OWL party's motto was "On with Lunacy." You brought back memories--my grandfather, Jack "the Ripoff" Lemon, was on the OWL ticket.</p>
<p>As to Pacific NW colleges, I second the recommendation of U. of Puget Sound. My H and I are alums, and D#1 is a current sophomore. Science and music have both been strong programs for years, and a new science building is just being completed. Music facilities are also great. The campus is beautiful (lots of evergreens, view of Mt. Rainier on sunny days), and I agree that the new President, Ron Thomas, is top notch. The school just keeps getting better and better.</p>
<p>My impressions of some of the other choices (these are all great schools):</p>
<p>Whitman--beautiful campus with lots of art work, Walla Walla is a cute town, but very far from the rest of civilization.<br>
Willamette--campus is scenic, relatively wide open spaces, good merit scholarship aid, Salem is okay (our D didn't like it, neither did my nephew who graduated from Willamette a few years ago).
Lewis & Clark--nice woodsy campus, perched on a hill above Portland--great city. Also good merit aid.</p>
<p>These posts will give you good advice but you and your D really have to go and visit the campuses. We did the NW tour last summer and were surprised at what appealed to our D and what didn't. U of O honors college and Willamette ended up on top. Willamette gave her lots more finaid and she finally chose them. Lewis and Clark turned her off and the only way we even got her to get out of the car at Reed was to say we only wanted to get a photo of her there for a relative who graduated from there. Different schools will strick kids in ways they can't explain - they just know when it is a good fit.</p>
<p>Whoops - I mean strike, not strick.</p>
<p>Depending on her level of interest in the medical field (I assume <em>not</em> as an MD, since most wanting that seem compelled by age eight--I'm exagerating) the NW undergraduate schools of UCSF, Stanford and Reed are in the top ten nationally of future PhD production (by percentage of graduates) in the medical sciences. Reed gives no merit scholarships, but meets (or arranges) 100% of costs after EFC. The usual Univ vs. LAC applies; LACs generally have no TAs, much smaller classes, personal attention from profs, better research access for undergraduates.</p>