Saint Mary's vs. University of Portland?

My son is trying to decide between Saint Mary’s of California and University of Portland. He has the same merit package from both and really liked both campuses. Does anyone have advice to differentiate between these two schools please?

Hi @Jmontymom ,

I am going through the process with my second of three kids right now. My first visited both and liked them, but was leaning towards UP because there was more going on. Moraga is very quiet, but it does force students to stay on campus more (he wound up at another college entirely). Portland is a lively city, so there are more close by opportunities at UP. I work in higher ed, and I can say that UP has a slightly better academic reputation. My son is actually very interested in UP. It looks like it is in his top 3 with UCSC and Santa Clara. There are benefits and drawbacks to each.

Good luck with the process. We now have to drag things out until June 1.

I’m a current senior at Saint Mary’s and I have loved my time here. I do agree, though, Moraga can be quite quiet, especially on the weekends. There have been initiatives by student organizations to try to get more events on the weekends to increase retention, since many people do go home.

While I can’t speak to the student experience at UP, pretty much everyone I know from SMC has been able to develop super great relationships with their professors, since the classes are so, so small. They seem to really care about the students and are such great resources for academic, professional, and even just life planning!

If you have any questions about SMC, DM me! I’ve loved SMC and it’s certainly bittersweet to be graduating.

I have a friend at UP and she absolutely loves it. A little bit bigger than SMC and definitely in a city, and that’s what she wanted. They also have nursing, which was a big draw for my friend! Wherever your son ends up, good luck!