<p>Thank you jumpinj, I have heard great things about the school from students in the area. Can you comment on the weather and if it is a big factor at all. That is great that you have research opportunities as a freshman. How exciting. What were your deciding factors in choosing Willamette over the others?</p>
<p>...Also i disagree with people picking plu over ups. I visited both and ups has vastly superior facilities, academics, and a far more attractive campus in a fairly nice area of tacoma. plu is in a bad area, campus is ugly, and academics are sub par."</p>
<p>I can only tell you what folks here actually DO - they choose PLU over UPS in large numbers. As to which is "better", folks can do their own due diligence.</p>
<p>Carolyn: You will be in Portland at the same time I will be there for the Rose City Dog Show. We should try and have lunch.</p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>CD - I'd love to but with two teens in tow, and trying to fit in 3 college visits in 2 days, this trip may not work out for getting together. Hopefully, we will back up in Oregon again (we are thinking of it as a potential retirement state).</p>
<p>An update - Daughter has become VERY excited about Lewis & Clark after reading their web site closely, watching the collegiate choice video, and chatting with someone who goes there that she connected with online. On paper, it does look like a good fit for her --- so we will keep our fingers crossed that she likes it. (I am also secretly plugging for Willamette).</p>
<p>Another time then Carolyn.</p>
<p>Yes, for sure.</p>
<p>Hi arizonamom, I'm a senior in high school and I happen to live in Tacoma, WA. Although the only school that I am applying to in WA is UW (UPS is too close to home for me and I'm applying to mostly out-of-state schools), I hope that my post will give you a better perspective of what attending school/living in Tacoma is like.</p>
<p>First, I would have to agree w/ jumpinj and choose UPS over PLU. I don't know a lot about the fascilities and education quality at PLU, but Parkland is pretty dumpy. There is nothing you could or would want to do in the surrounding area at PLU, and the student body is composed of mostly local or at least, in state kids.</p>
<p>UPS, in my opinion, is a fantastic school. One of the best teachers I've ever had proudly calls UPS her alma mater. My AP European History teacher (awesome and very intelligent who happened to have graduated from Stanford) says that UPS would be her number one choice school in WA. I apologize for not knowing any information on specific departments, but when I visited UPS during a program for minority students, I had the opportunity to sit in on a class. Although I barely had a clue about what they were talking about (haha!), I was impressed with the discussion and found it to be very interesting. UPS does not have a lot of diversity on campus, but the campus itself is very pretty and the area surrounding it is residential and well, "cute."</p>
<p>Tacoma, in general, is definitely not the best college town. And other than living here, there really isn't much to do. All the action is up in Seattle, but honestly, not a lot of people feel like treking up to Seattle every weekend even though it is only a 40 minute drive. Ahh, and finally, the weather. Maybe its because I was raised in the Pacific Northwest, but I don't find the weather in western WA to be unbareable. There never seems to be any huge downpours, only light and steady rain fall (not a lot of thunderstorms). The rain doesn't stop us from functioning normally, and although there are always minor complaints regarding the weather, most of which come from girls and are aimed at the effect rain has on hair, it is awesome to live in such a healthy and green environment. Plus, you get to cut down your own tree for Christmas!</p>
<p>I hope my post helped with some of your questions. UPS is a fantastic school and has a great reputation here in Tacoma as well as with other western states. (The two girls I stayed with while I visited were from SoCal and Hawaii.) Again, the rain really is not that bad, and to put it into perspective, I read somewhere (it could have been from a UPS brochure!) that NYC, Boston, and I think a few other east coast cities receive more average rain fall than Tacoma/Seattle!</p>
<p>Visiting L&C was a great experience. Dorms seem pretty good for dorms, and most buildings were in great shape or were being renovated. according to the students I talked to during lunch the food is nice at first but gets boring after a while as it is provided by Bon Appetit. Students also get a free copy of the New York Times (though I despise that paper..). there is a gender imbalance, tilting female, if anyone cares. that seemed to be the only negative my [male] host had. overall the students seemed very positive, and this was during midterms week as well. freshman and sophmores cannot have cars, and they seem to be discouraged for upperclassmen though I saw plenty on campus.</p>
<p>the school seems to have a reputation for having lots of certain subtances abound, but according to the students I talked to there wasn't really that much of it. sure there were some students that did but if it wasn't your thing there was no pressure as many did not and they said something about how it was confined to one large dorm.....? can't remember. but then again these are the admissions people so I can't say. didn't see anyone lighting up one in some corner though lol.</p>
<p>when I visited it was actually raining, but personally I don't notice it because I'm western washington born and bred. though if you cannot stand rain at all, this may not be your place.</p>
<p>as for UPS if you have some college credit lying around from running start or other such program you can get UPS to take it, you must be very very persistent. so says my dad's co worker. his daughter goes there.</p>
<p>cantstandmenow - THanks for posting here and in the other thread about your visit to L&C. My daughter just read your posts over my shoulder and is anxious to visit herself - sounds like a great place for her!</p>
<p>you're welcome carolyn. best of luck to her. :)</p>
<p>rovee, I like your post.
You said there wasn't much to do in Tacoma. They don't go to Seattle. So what do the students do?</p>
<p>Just returned from a rainy few days in Ca and it does have it's advantages, ie short lines at Disneyland. Actually the rain was off and on and it was possible to still do things with a light drizzle. I imagine this is similar to Seattle.I kept thinking how would this be long term. Thank you cantstandmenow and rovee for the helpful info.. We are considering visiting over a 3 day weekend in Jan. Is it possible to see Lewis and Clark ,UPS and Willamette in 3 days, one being a Sun. I figure she could possibly stay overnight at 2 schools this way and fly into Seattle and leave from Portland. Any suggestions on the best way to do this would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Arizonamom - My kids still talk about the time we went to Disneyland in a rainstorm and how they got to ride all the rides over and over again without any lines. </p>
<p>Arizonamom - Which 3 day weekend will be up in Oregon? We might cross paths!!! We have scheduled ourselves to see Willamette, U of P, Linfield AND Lewis and Clark in a two day period --- should be do-able with careful driving (and no snow storms). It is my understanding that Willamette is about 45 minutes from Portland/L&C and that Tacoma where UPS is would be within an hour an a half of L&C. So your plan sounds do-able.</p>
<p>When we visited we flew in and out of Seattle as I have family there. We went to UPS on the first day and got there around 9:00 AM and left around 1:00. From there we drove to Salem and visited Willamette the next day. We then drove up to Portland and spent the third morning at Reed and that afternoon at L & C. We drove back to Seattle that night and flew out of Seattle the 4th morning. It would be possible to do Willamette and L & C on the same day. They are only about an hour a part. The drive from Tacoma to Portland is about 3 hours depending on traffic.</p>
<p>Thanks Carolyn and Shennie, that helps a lot. Wow Carolyn you are brave 4 schools in 2 days! I sent you an e-mail about our trip.</p>
<p>Don't have a choice Arizonamom - Taking two teens with two very different personalities and college desires.</p>
<p>Shennie - Have you had a chance to ask your son about the social scene at L&C? Feel free to PM me if you don't want to discuss it here. My daughter is VERY excited about L&C at the moment.</p>
<p>A girl from dd's school went to UPS last year. She took a lot of art classes and was also involved in Paleontology work. I saw her parents this semester and they were delirously happy and said she feels perfectly happy there. I was across the table and unfortuately didn't get any details.</p>
<p>Son has just finished his first semester at L & C. He loves it. I asked him what the best thing was and without a thought he said, "The people". He had to think a while about what he liked least and finally said probably the food, but that it wasn't all that bad. </p>
<p>As far as the pot reputation goes, he says there is a lot of pot on campus and a reasonable amount of drinking as well although there are no frats. Pot and alcohol are present at all the parties he went to, but he said he felt no pressure to indulge in either. I asked if he partied every weekend and he said no. When asked about what he did if he didn't party on weekends he said he often just hung out with his friends. He has taken up both pool and poker and enjoys playing these on the weekends. Most kids drink and/or smoke occassionally but he also knows some who never do but don't have any problems making friends or finding things to do. </p>
<p>Classes are definitely a step up from high school and he says he has to work harder. He enjoyed 3 of his 4 classes first semester and is very much looking forward to next semester. The weather doesn't seem to bother him too much either. If you have specific questions about Lewis & Clark, I will try to answer them.</p>
<p>Shennie,
Thanks so much for asking your son. L&C sounds more and more like a good fit for my daughter. I'll let you know if she has some questions after we visit. I appreciate your sharing your son's thoughts. Please tell him thanks from me and my daughter.</p>
<p>Just to throw in my 2 cents about L&C--- my friend's son is a freshman there and loves it as well. He's a good fit for the school: worked for Kerry, loves to debate issues, above average but not a top student, from the Bay area.</p>