We loved Willamette. I feel like both Willamette and Lewis & Clark are out of her range due to low gpa and rigor.
Before you can put a lot of emphasis on schools, you really need to help her decide what she wants to study. Generic business majors like Marketing will be found at nearly any school, but there are only two WUE schools with Industrial Design. I’m not suggesting she has to pick ID by any means. What she picks might narrow her school options though.
With her history of ADHD, she could make a case for Willamette. Contact their Accessible Education Services and explain her situation. Let them advocate to admissions on her behalf. Ask the office what paperwork is needed from your high school.
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We had initially gone up to the Palouse thinking WSU but wound up feeling like UI was so much more manageable.
One final thought… I think that you’re going to be surprised as to how many schools your child will get accepted into. As I said, my daughter has a similar profile and ended with a “respectable” 3.2 GPA- going to a HS that’s seen as quite rigorous.
Only school that she didn’t get into was Cal Poly, which we knew was a stretch. Western Washington is a coin flip but overall I think that your family will be pleasantly surprised!
Best of luck to you.
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Thank you! This is helpful. I suspect WSU may be overwhelming for her, as well, although I don’t know if she will get in with a 2.9 or 3.0. We shall see!
It doesn’t look like Boise State has been mentioned yet? Smaller than WSU, looks like your D could qualify for the Treasure Scholarship ($8,400/yr.). I know two students (originally from California) who graduated in 2019 and loved their experience there - so much they both ended up staying in Boise post-graduation. One majored in communications/marketing and is working in a great job in the field.
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University of Nevada-Reno would probably be a school worth looking at. It has a nice campus and my nephew and his girlfriend both graduated from there (his girlfriend graduated with honors) and they both are doing well in their careers. My stepdad used to teach there back in the 1960’s and 70’s. I don’t know if UNR is part of WUE…
University of Idaho is becoming quite popular in our area (SOCAL) and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the school. It is part of WUE and seems to be a hidden gem!
I’ve also heard good things about Southern Oregon and Western Washington as well. Both, Western Washington and Southern Oregon were schools that were on my kid’s college lists, though neither ended up attending. Though, both were strongly considered.
NAU was another school that both my kids applied to. It’s another school that has become popular in our area. We’ve had some graduates from the school I work at (private school) attend the last few years. In fact, our athletic director’s son is in his senior year at NAU right now and is loving it! We know a daughter of a family friend who attended NAU and just finished school to become a physician’s assistant. I also had a long time co worker who went to NAU back in the 90’s and she’s a double legacy! Both her mom and grandma attended! Everything I’ve heard about NAU has been positive!
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My daughter was terrible at math but not one but two math classes were required, one about the equivalent of pre-calc or calc and the other more a reasoning and stats course. D kept putting them off and they finally changed the requirement to one course, more like a pre-calc. We found a course that they would take as a transfer at a local university and she took it in the summer of her senior year. And got an A! I think the prof gave As to those who showed up to class all summer and tried, and she did that. It was no way as hard as a calc class but it met the requirements for graduation and she took it.
If she would have taken it at her school, she would have had to take the course and one or two small group recitation sections per week, and probably more than one session with a tutor. It is likely she would have had to take a lighter load when taking this course and that would have cause her to take another semester to graduate. Taking it in the summer and knowing she only needed a C to transfer the credits was a big stress reducer.
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my son loves Ft Lewis in Durango CO - a small public WUE LAC, easy access to profs, small GE classes, a beautiful campus surrounded by a cool mountain town. Worth a visit.
Good luck
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My D looked at many of these schools. “Solid” GPA of 3.15. Got into UIdaho and NAU. Visited and loved both of them. She graduated HS in 2020 and was poised to go to Idaho. Paused that decision due to the pandemic.
Really pleased how she just dived into the academics as she took classes at CC instead. Ultimately she changed course and decided to refocus her academic goals and passed on UI with the new goal of transferring to a UC school.
Just got accepted into UC Davis this week via their “TAG” system. Never would have been able to get in as a freshman. Bottom line- if one of your kids may not be ready for a 4-year emotionally or still pines for that “dream school” that they cannot get into as a freshman CC can be a really good starting point.
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OP here. Just an update during admissions season. Daughter ended up applying to UI, WWU, WSU, Montana, Boise State, Willamette. She has been admitted to UI and WWU so far. No other decisions from the other schools yet. She was more excited about Western than UI, so I suspect that is the front runner so far. I’m not sure she would choose WSU over Western if she is accepted to WSU. I will send her to as many in person admitted days as possible so that she can make an informed decision. For future students reading these boards, her final unweighted GPA after junior year was 2.96. However her grades are markedly better the last three semesters as opposed to the first three. She felt her essays were very strong in her Western application, so I think that helped her. She never took the SAT or ACT.
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