<p>Does anyone have any experience with this college?</p>
<p>It is a small (5,000), public liberal arts college in Ashland, OR.</p>
<p>These are the things that make it sound attractive to us:
-small class size and small overall size
-within D's comfort zone of distance from home
-cost ($22,000/yr with CA out of state scholarship)
-73% acceptance rate of Chemistry majors to Medical School
-research opportunities for pre-med students
-they accept transfer students who are not juniors (which no California state school does) - D will be a sophomore with a GED, almost 18 (due to past medical problems)
-good reputation for sciences according to other Oregon college professors</p>
<p>These are things that concern us:
-68% retention rate
-D's SAT scores are over their average high (hers are CR: 660; Math: 620 - their high is 580/560) - however her SATs may qualify her for a Presidential Scholarship
-89% acceptance rate - we are wondering if the student body will be as intellectually stimulating as she would like.</p>
<p>Are there other considerations we should be looking at?</p>
<p>Any and all thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!</p>
<p>SOU just came up in conversation with my coworker the other day. He is a physical therapist and clinical instructor at our local CC, and one of the brightest people I know, and he went to SOU for undergrad. I am not sure what his exact major was, but something in the sciences. He was very impressed with his classes; the instructors, the rigor, and the small size. I don’t know much else except that it has a decent instate reputation, and the area is lovely, with the school right in town and Lithia Park. I don’t know how the retention rate compares to other state schools, sorry. This most likely will be one of my son’s safety school,s and I would have no problem sending him there, even with his high stats. (Then I could visit him lots and go to the Shakespeare Festival).</p>
<p>Thanks for the input!</p>
<p>Does anyone else have any thoughts on weighing factors, even if you don’t know anything about So. Oregon U?</p>
<p>The percent accepted to Med school is not a reliable metric for determining if a school provides good premed academics, counseling, etc. The problem is that the percentages are apples and oranges between different schools, as colleges use different criteria in arriving at a number. The PreMed Topics subforum has many experienced and knowledgeable posters and this subject has come up frequently.</p>
<p>My bright, underachieving (3.1, 650/610 CR/M) DS chose SOU over OSU and he’ll start as a freshman in the fall. We just got back from orientation/registration and I liked what I saw and heard. The campus is very nice (I posted pictures in the “Campus Vibe” section of CC) and there’s a definite LAC feel to it even though it’s part of the Oregon university system. The small size was a plus for my S, who I think would have felt a little bit lost among OSU’s 18,000, even though quite a few kids from his HS go there. I have quite a few friends among the Beaver Nation so I have to admit I was looking forward to joining them in black and orange, and OSU’s comp sci program is certainly much bigger than SOU’s, but after our visit I’m confident that he picked the right place.</p>
<p>According to one of the parent sessions I attended last week, classes are taught by professors (or in some cases by adjunct instructors, especially where visiting artists are involved) and not by TAs or grad assistants. Class sizes are small and one of the things that DH and DS heard from their tour guides when they visited last winter was that professors are very accessible.</p>
<p>DS came away from the two-day orientation/registration with class schedule in hand, and decided to enroll in two honors courses (university seminar and comp sci). Each attendee at registration met individually with his or her advisor to discuss class selection and then actually registered for the class sections they wanted. </p>
<p>It’s an NAIA school for sports, so there’s not quite the focus on athletics that you find at the bigger NCAA schools (the football facility is perfectly nice but looks less like Autzen or Reser and more like a high school stadium), but there’s definitely evidence of Raider pride around campus. I understand that their cross-country program is very good.</p>
<p>There are lots of bikes; we were told that most students don’t bother with having a car, as you can bike or even walk just about anywhere. The admissions guy DS met with in December told him that Ashland is full of great restaurants, which was right up DS’s alley (he loves food). Ashland’s got a quirky, funky vibe that was appealing to DS and it’s located in a really gorgeous part of the country. Lots of outdoor activity close by, and the arts abound as well. </p>
<p>So my insight is limited to mostly post-admission, pre-matriculation stuff, but I can tell you that I came away from orientation/registration feeling pretty good about his choice (even though it means I won’t see him marching at halftime at Reser Stadium in Corvallis).</p>
<p>*73% acceptance rate of Chemistry majors to Medical School
*</p>
<p>The percent accepted to Med school is not a reliable metric for determining if a school provides good premed academics, counseling, etc</p>
<p>This is true. That percentage does not take into account the large number of students who start out as chem pre-med, but later change majors or change their minds about applying to med school because their cumulative GPA, their science GPA, and/or their MCAT isn’t high enough. </p>
<p>I think many would say it’s safe to say that 60-75% of students who start out as “pre-med”, never apply to med school because of various reasons.</p>
<p>So…if you have 200 pre-med freshmen, it’s likely that only about 75 students will ever apply to med school. So, the 72% would be in regard to the 75 that apply…not the 200 who initially declared to be pre-med.</p>
<p>Pre-med students are heavily weeded out…it’s like the TV show " Survivor".</p>
<p>Does your D already have her GED? If not, she should wait to get that so that she can apply as an “incoming frosh”…even if she has CC credits. She can get more money that way. </p>
<p>She should also avoid taking any pre-med pre-reqs at her CC.</p>
<p>Hi,</p>
<p>How did SOU work out for your daughter?
Ours is still in HS and my husband is considering a job transfer
to SOU. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>