<p>I am interested in learning more about these West Coast Catholic institutions. Pro's and con's of each. I am interested in studying International Relations, studying abroad, and may continue with Law School. I am pretty studious and will probably be more comfortable in a smaller Christian college. I am crrently a junior at a small Texas Catholic High School, and I have strong credentials with very good GPA and psat/sat scores. Thanks.....</p>
<p>I am a parent, and have researched, and visited all of the schools. I live near SCU and my older daughter attends USD.</p>
<p>I believe USD has a strong International Relations and Pre-Law program. They are pretty known for their Law school. Also, the school has a very “global” focus - that is stressed in the entire cirriculum. For example, all students have to have 3rd semester competency in a foreign language (You can test out of 1st semester if you have had 3 years of language in high school, maybe even 2nd semester if you had 4 years and are strong in the language). USD has one of two programs in the nation on Peace and Social Justice (the other being Notre Dame) with a brand new building and facility which is beautiful.</p>
<p>You might want to check out the Course catalogs at each of the above schools to compare the cirriculum’s, focus, areas of concentatrations at each school. There may be differences in the academic programs that are important to you.</p>
<p>All 4 schools have very strong study abroad programs, and a lot of students attend them. I would say all of them are equal on that front.</p>
<p>Gonzaga and Portland offer more merit scholarships (a lot more - daughter got 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 times MORE from Portland than SCU, USD) AND the schools in the Northwest are about $8k LESS (Tuition plus Room and Board) than the private California schools, so you save a lot of money. The schools in the Northwest are a lot “easier” to get into, I think simply because there is not the population, therefore the competition, as there is in California. And, the location is not considered as “desirable”. The better the weather, the harder it is to get into a school!! You get a lot of “bang for your buck” at Portland and Gonzaga - such as a great private school education with all the benefits of small classes and strong professors, for a lot less money than CA schools. </p>
<p>USD is the “hardest” to get into, as far as having the lowest acceptance rate (like 48%?), then SCU which is probably about 55% acceptance rate, but it might have the hightest statistics profile of the 4 schools. Gonzaga and Portland are like 60+% acceptance, so much “easier” to get in.</p>
<p>I personally, LOVE University of Portland! Both daughters were accepted, (and I would have loved to see them attend, but alas, they wanted to stay in California) and received generous (very generous!) merit scholarships. The school is beautiful, feels very East Coast with red brick buildings, ivy, quads, etc. I just got the feeling that the school really cares about the kids succeeding. It is up on a bluff, and there is good and easy public transportation to downtown Portland. It is in a quiet residential area, where the university owns a ton of houses, that upper classmen can rent. Nice dorms, nice on-campus upper classmen townhouses, plus these rental homes off campus - so the living arrangements are great. Very wholesome, nice population of kids. Of course, it does rain a lot in Portland. I also think U of Portland is a bit “under the radar” as far as being know nationally and on the west coast, so it does not have the academic “prestige” of the other schools, but I felt the quality of the education was excellent. I believe their reputation in the Northwest is very good.</p>
<p>Gonzaga is also a great school, nice campus, lots of school spirit. Spokane is a nice city. But, it has a definate small town feel, and is not an urban campus or area, at all, compared to the other schools. </p>
<p>USD is absolutely gorgeous, and looks like a resort, and is in a great city. Everyone there is happy to be there - all that sun, the beauty of the campus, and a beach nearby - what else could you want? The student population is very “Southern CA” in feeling - blonde, beautiful, designer clothes, with a mixture of “normal” kids, surfer dudes, etc… Great school academically, and has a very good reputation on the west coast. VERY strong academics and reputation, in my opinion. If the vibe is right for you, it is a great school. About 50% of the students come from out of state, which is nice. Lots of kids move off campus Sophomore or Junior year, and get apartments down by the beach. San Diego is a GREAT city and place for young people. Lots to do and great, perfect, weather.</p>
<p>SCU is a fantastic school. I did not grow up in the Bay area, but have lived here for 20+ years. While we live close to SCU, I really did not know much about it until this past year when our younger daughter was seriously considering it. I have to say, I have been really really impressed with every event we attended at SCU! Beautiful, compact campus. Lots to do in the area - and a TON of great things to do in a 3 hour radius (San Francisco, 1 hour, and train station is across the street from SCU) Carmel and Monterey is 1+ hour, Napa, Yosemite, Tahoe, etc… Northern CA is great!!. The kids are a little more laid back and casual than at USD. I think SCU has really really strong academics and reputation. Particularily here in the Bay Area (which is a pretty huge job market!) SCU has and OUTSTANDING reputation for employers, and a very very strong alumni network. They are particularily known for their Engineering and Business programs.</p>
<p>Each school has it’s own “personality” and “vibe”. All 4 are excellent. </p>
<p>Hope that helps! Nothing like visiting the school for yourself, though, especially on a school day to get a feel for the students. </p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Great response, BayAreaCAMom. Can you – or anyone else – speak to the relative liberal/conservatism of each of these schools? (While they are all Catholic institutions, can you describe the differences among them, politically speaking, both in terms of administration and student body?) I understand this is generally-speaking, but just trying to gauge and compare the prevailing attitudes of each school.</p>
<p>Thank you very much BayAreaCaMom!!! I appreciate you sharing your valuable experiences with these institutions. I have visited USD and Gonzaga and I think your comments are right on…I am looking forward to visiting Santa Clara and Univ of Portland soon…Thank you again for your valuable insight…</p>
<p>^^^^regarding liberal/conservative feeling of the school - a bit harder to know unless you are a student there. </p>
<p>Gonzaga is probably the most conservative student population. Probably also the most “conservative” and traditional Catholic school wise, mainly because the geographic area is much more conservative. Gonzaga is also Jesuit.</p>
<p>SCU is Jesuit, and Jesuits tend to be liberal, that is liberal in the Catholic world! But, I do not think SCU is real liberal, more intellectual, middle of the road Catholic Jesuit. Pretty mixed student population as far as liberal versus conservative. Northern CA is a mix of liberal and conservative (it gets much more liberal up in SF and Berkeley), with San Jose not being super liberal.</p>
<p>University of Portland is Brothers of the Holy Cross (same order as Notre Dame). Perhaps as an order, they are less liberal than Jesuits, but Portland as a region is pretty liberal and forward thinking. Portland as a city has a slight “granola”, earthy, quirky, but sophisticated feel. The University I would say is more conservative than the region.</p>
<p>USD does not have an order, and therefore is kind of hard to rank. I get a slightly “less” (though very slightly) Catholic feel from USD than the other 3 schools. But the administration and mission of the school seem well grounded in Catholic faith and tradition. </p>
<p>There is not a huge amount of difference between these 4 schools - in the religion/liberal/conservative feel. I would say the geographical area is more of an influence than anything. Of course, compared to any public CA university, all of these schools are more conservative!!!</p>
<p>Not sure if that helps one bit!!</p>
<p>BayareaCAmom summed up these schools well. I agree that they all are good choices for different reasons. I can only comment about SCU and USD from my daughter’s perspective. She visited both several times before she matriculated at SCU. She felt that SCU was a more liberal than USD. I’m not sure how she made that judgement!! She tells me that politically speaking, there are many different opinions on the SCU campus from very liberal to very conservative…and she feels it’s a good mix.</p>
<p>The one thing you won’t find at either school is birth control pills at the student health center.</p>
<p>Friend’s daughter graduated last spring from gonzaga in International relations. She is working as a night clerk at a Ramada Inn. She feels the money spent was wasted, there were no internship opportunities, no help in job hunting.</p>
<p>merryecho…there are lots of underemployed college students right now…many who could not get jobs within their areas of interest. Certainly, help from the college career office is valuable…but even WITH that, many students are doing what your friend is doing…a job in a completely different field. Some feel lucky to have jobs at all.</p>
<p>very true of course, just passing on the grad’s sentiments, which are “I wish I had gone to the UW and saved all that money- I loved my time at gonzaga, but feel the money was wasted.” She was full pay, she might not feel the same if she had FA. Her anger was deep.</p>
<p>Nephew, who just graduated from USD, has a great job in his field, sports marketing. He felt the school really helped with career search prep.
I don’t know much about either school.</p>
<p>Im currently a Senior International Relations/Political Science major at Gonzaga. Overall I have been very impressed with the quality of professors and classes in the department. As far as studying abroad, you may want to consider the Gonzaga-in-Paris program which requires a minimum of two years of French before going abroad. With the program you attend the international section of a French University (L’institut Catholique de Paris). Gonzaga disperses its students around Paris in international Foyers (dorms) so you can network and meet people from around the world. </p>
<p>Also, Don’t forget to take a look at each university’s general education courses. At Gonzaga we call them the CORE. Keep in mind the extent of philosophy and religion courses…</p>
<p>I. Thought and Expression (7 credits): This is a set of three courses designed to be taken as a block in one of the semesters of undergraduate’s first year: ENGL 101 English Composition; PHIL 101 Critical Thinking; and SPCO 101 Speech Communication.
II. Philosophy (9 credits): Three courses in Philosophy beyond PHIL 101 taken in sequence: PHIL 201 Philosophy of Human Nature; PHIL 301 Ethics; and one 400 level Philosophy elective.
III. Religious Studies (9 credits): Three courses in religious studies taken in sequence: one in scriptural studies (100 level), one in Christian doctrine (200 level), and one in applied theology (300 level).
IV. Mathematics (3 credits): One course in mathematics (MATH) on the 100 level or above. (NURS 320 substitutes for MATH for BSN students.) Course work in Computer Science (CPSC), or courses without the MATH prefix, do not fulfill this requirement. MATH 203 and 204 fulfill this requirement only for students who graduate with certification in Elementary Education.
V. English Literature (3 credits): One course in English literature (ENGL 102 or 103H). </p>
<p>good luck</p>
<p>Although BayAreaCaMom brings up great points, know that USD is affiliated with the Convent of the Scared Heart. Originally, schools started in New York and spread nationally, were, run solely by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an order of cloistered nuns. </p>
<p>Like the Jesuits, these nuns believe in the education of the WHOLE person as evidenced by their curriculum. </p>
<p>My take after visiting USD, LMU, and SCU is that the order from liberal to conservative is: 1) SCU, 2) USD, 3) LMU. </p>
<p>For those who have not visited LMU, it, like USF, is a university that, some years ago, joined 2 colleges into one, Loyola College and Marymount College. USF assimilated Lone Mountain College</p>
<p>Although BayAreaCaMom brings up great points, know that USD is affiliated with the Convent of the Scared Heart. Originally, schools started in New York and spread nationally, were, run solely by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an order of cloistered nuns. </p>
<p>Like the Jesuits, these nuns believe in the education of the WHOLE person as evidenced by their curriculum. </p>
<p>My take after visiting USD, LMU, and SCU is that the order from liberal to conservative is: 1) SCU, 2) USD, 3) LMU. </p>
<p>For those who have not visited LMU, it, like USF, is a university that, some years ago, joined 2 colleges into one, Loyola College and Marymount College. USF assimilated Lone Mountain College</p>
<p>Bookmarked</p>
<p>My daughter is also considering UP/Gonzaga/SCU. She has been accepted to UP with a most generous merit package (yeah for rolling admissions), and is waiting on Gonzaga & SCU. Compared to the other colleges in Portland like Reed, Lewis & Clark, and Portland State, the student body seems more conservative, but still within the laid-back, northwest norm.</p>
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<p>Anybody still here? Son got admitted to Univ. of Portland today, but with no mention of merit. Does it come in the same tiny “I-thought-he-was-not-admitted” small envelope? Still waiting on Santa Clara, for which son was deffered from EA to ED, LMU, and the publics, but we are a little spoiled ( by Willamette, Gonzaga, Whitworth) with regard to merit money ( albeit sometimes just a token) in the same envelope with admission.</p>
<p>I believe the Portland merit offer for our D came a few days following the acceptance letter. Awaiting word from Santa Clara and Gonzaga (RD) too.</p>
<p>Here’s an answer I got from admissions;</p>
<p>"Thank you for your interest in University of Portland. Students who qualify for merit based scholarships will be notified two weeks after their acceptance letter.</p>
<p>I hope this helps!</p>
<p>Sincerely,"</p>
<p>i know that we’re behind the thread a bit, but I wanted to say that we had the opportunity to be in Portland this holiday. we took our daughters to UP and we loved it. We also took a side trip to Seattle U., and the school is very impressive. both schools provided 2 hour private tours. We’re huge USF enthusiasts, but these two schools were so impressive. thank goodness they’re both thriving and are so generous with merit $.</p>
<p>I can answer collegiate08’s question about the political climate at SCU. SCU is run by the Jesuits, well known for intellectual freedom. The Catholic influence on the campus is minimal and I’m fairly sure our professors have complete academic freedom (not positive, though). As far as professors go, I would say that arts and sciences is very slanted towards the left. At the same time, I’ve never been in a classroom where someone couldn’t air more conservative views. Faculty in the business school leans conservative. </p>
<p>As far as students go, there is a healthy mix. I’d say that the student body leans liberal, but that there is a very sizable Republican/conservative contingency. But the campus is definitely politically inactive. Most students probably vote, stay up to date with events, but this isn’t even the bumper sticker crowd, let alone a rally group. (Notable exceptions to this are Prop 8 and SB 1070, both of which get the campus more animated. Students are, from what I can see, overwhelmingly against both Prop 8 and SB 1070.)</p>
<p>To answer the original OP, our study abroad program is really great. We have really extensive options I was very impressed with the organization of the abroad office throughout the whole process. Not sure what the exact statistics are, but a lot of people study abroad, usually the first quarter of junior year. Doing a year abroad is possible, but may get a little tricky due to major requirements. Remember that we’re on the quarter system, which complicates things, as you miss two quarters (eight to ten classes) when you go abroad in the spring. </p>
<p>SCU’s location is good, but not great. We’re one hour or so to San Francisco. CalTrain, the public transit option into the city, is pretty expensive. They’re also facing a huge budget short fall and mulling closing the Santa Clara station. I personally hope the University flexes some muscle against that. Of these cities, I’ve only been to San Diego, which I think the Bay beats hands down. I think it’s safe to say that SCU beats Gonzaga’s and Portland’s locations.</p>
<p>If you have more questions about SCU, you can contact me on my profile…I think.</p>
<p>“I think it’s safe to say that SCU beats Gonzaga’s and Portland’s locations.”</p>
<p>But SCU seems to cost about 10k more a year…</p>