Hello! My D applied RD to UPS and already received an admissions decision in the mail on 2/19. That is quite early since we weren’t expecting to hear until mid March. It said scholarship info would follow separately. I saw that decisions were also received early by some applicants last year and most of them seemed to ultimately be offered merit money as well. Has anyone else been notified of a RD decision yet? And, does anyone know how long the wait for merit aid notification was in past years??
My S applied EA and was notified a little later than we expected… mid January. We checked the portal about a week later and the merit was posted there, but since we were not checking regularly it could have been posted even earlier. I think the merit information came in the mail about 10 days after acceptance.
OK thank you! We’ll double check the portal but even it had not been updated with the admission decision yet. Hopefully some info will come by mail soon! Thanks again! Is your S planning to attend?
Still TBD. He is leaning towards a very different option (WSU, far less expensive b/c he got nice merit there as well). Totally apples and oranges. We will attend admitted students days at both places in March/April and see how he feels then!
@daisychayn It sounds like you might be familiar with the area and Washington State in general? We are not, but my daughter is enamored of the Pacific NW and has a good feeling about UPS. Plus they have offered her a generous merit scholarship. Do you have a general impression of UPS that you don’t mind sharing?
@rfm512, My daughter is a freshman this year and loves it. She applied ED. We visited the school twice, once in November right before the ED deadline and then a second time in April. The spring visit, she stayed overnight in the dorms. Even though she already knew she was attending, the second visit was useful for her to get a better sense of the campus. She really likes the small school feel and the flexible curriculum. Let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to answer.
@berkeleymom4 Thank you so much for your comments! Can you describe a little more about the flexible curriculum and what your daughter likes about it? Also, it is the only school my daughter has applied to that has sororities and fraternities. Do you have any idea if the role they play in the campus social life is very significant?
@rfm512, Roughly one third of the required units are general education/core, one third are for the major, and the remaining third are for whatever the student wants. This is the flexibility that is super appealing to my daughter. Pretty much everyone we talked to while visiting had turned the “free” units into a double major, a minor, or multiple minors. Also, my daughter isn’t completely sure what she wants to major in, so this allows some exploration and time for figuring that out.
I don’t know a ton about Greek life there, but I’ll be able to tell you a lot more about sororities next year, as my daughter decided to rush one. Students aren’t allowed to join until Sophomore year, although recruitment happens at the beginning of the Spring semester before. It was totally unexpected, she didn’t go there planning on it, and even a couple months ago she wasn’t interested. It sounds like most of her friends (male and female) decided to rush, although I don’t think Greek life is a dominant part of the campus. My daughter is in Gamma Phi Delta and she said she liked the community feel of it. She’ll be living in the sorority house next year. My impression is that it’s quite possible to have friends and do stuff without it, if it’s not of interest.
@berkeleymom4 Thank you again! Yes, I was in a sorority in college and had not planned on rushing either but found it seemed basically essential to having a social life at my university. It seems as tho it is less integral at UPS so I am happy to hear that confirmed. Thanks as well for the extra info about the curriculum. My daughter is definitely interested in having flexibility to study what she likes!
Not sure, but I believe that Puget Sound has a great study abroad program in Asia that is offered every second year.
UPS was founded by someone with connections to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. May have been a former president of Northwestern.
Seattle University has a great location in the city & offers significant merit money.
Seattle is a very wealthy city. Great location with easy access to Vancouver, British Columbia as well as to Portland, Oregon.
Students & young professionals seem to love the Seattle area.
P.S. The Seattle area has a very strong work ethic vibe. Lots of great career opportunities.
@Publisher HI again! Yes, we actually visited Seattle University last fall as well as UPS. After the hiccup with Hampshire, D remembered UPS very fondly and they kindly allowed her to apply late. She loved Seattle and the location of the university but definitely felt more comfortable in the smaller environment of UPS. It definitely doesn’t hurt that UPS accepted her early and was generous with merit money as well. Getting to the Pacific NW is also much easier for her from our home than all the way to the east coast. We still await decisions from Clark U, Sarah Lawrence and Eugene Lang before final decisions can be made.
@rfm512, I’ll ask my daughter what she thinks about the influence of Greek life on the social scene and let you know.
Was your daughter interested in Hampshire? My husband and I both graduated from there (ages ago) and we’re distressed by the current issues they are having.
If at all possible, I would highly recommend your daughter visit UPS again during the admitted student visits and stay overnight in the dorms. The student hosts were awesome and my daughter really got a sense of what student life was like.
@berkeleymom4 Funny you should ask about Hampshire… Yes, my daughter fell in love with the place and applied ED. She was accepted in mid December and was awarded the Humanitas scholarship. My D is a driven but “non traditional” student (visual artist and psychology nerd with dyslexia and auditory processing disorder) and was thrilled by the opportunity to study in the Hampshire environment where she believed she could truly excel.
As you know, that narrative unraveled painfully starting on January 15 and the waiting started. As of February 1, Hampshire finally offered to let the ED students enroll next fall but with the understanding that they could not guarantee more than fall semester and under dubious conditions. Needless to say, as parents we simply could not support that option.
Fortunately, like some other schools, UPS allowed Hampshire kids to apply after their deadline had passed so we are very grateful. As an alum, it must be hard watching the latest developments at Hampshire. I am not a college administrator, but it just appears to me that there HAD to be a better way to handle their current situation.
My daughter is definitely planning to visit UPS after spring break so that she can spend some time with students and get a feel for the campus. Thank you so much for all your help!
@rfm512, Congrats to your daughter on getting into Hampshire ED. I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way it should have. Yes, the whole situation is puzzling and I don’t quite understand how it got so desperate all of a sudden, but I know there are lots of factors involved that we don’t see.
Here is what my daughter says about Greek life at UPS:
“Greek life is like 30% of the school. A fair amount of people join it, but it is definitely not anywhere near necessary to have a social life. There are so many people that I know that aren’t in Greek life and are perfectly fine in that aspect. Greek life is very very different here than a lot of other places. They really don’t focus on the stereotypical aspects that they do at other colleges. They don’t care how you look, where you came from, etc., but care about your interests and what you value and that you care about helping others. They have some inclusive events that involve the whole school and not just Greek life, although there are some events that are just for Greek life or specific houses.”
Hope that helps!
@berkeleymom4 Thanks again and also to your daughter! My husband and I both graduated from Duke back in the 80’s and we were both in Greek organizations, but it felt necessary to our social lives at the school. At least in our day, it also felt quite superficial and our daughter just would not be interested in that. It very nice to hear of sororities actually fulfilling their mission of sisterhood and service! (I noticed my sorority -Pi Phi - is actually on the UPS campus too!
I think my daughter will be visiting UPS right around the end of March or the first week of April so she can try to get a feel for the place. She is born and raised in Santa Fe, NM and being so near the water and in such a beautiful area is such a draw for her.
Thanks again!
@rfm512, Good luck to your daughter making her decision! Let me know if you have any other questions.
@rfm512 You asked for my impressions- but I think @berkeleymom4 has been able to fill you in more than I could! We visited once, and we agreed it is a really nice school. We toured several around the PNW, all driving distance to our home, and thought UPS stood out in that their facilities were especially nice, and the student body felt balanced…not especially artsy or nerdy or sporty or political, but a little bit of everything. The location has great access to urban adventures as well as natural world settings. I could totally see my son there, but its his choice to make and it is still TBD. We plan on coming in early April for one last look.
@daisychain Thank you for adding your thoughts as well. I keep hearing and finding more good info on UPS so we will be visiting again in April too. Thanks again and best of luck to your son in his decision!
Does anyone have any thoughts about UPS and diversity? From the outside looking in, the school looks great. A healthy and welcoming environment for POC would put it at the head of the class.
@seabay, I don’t have a lot of information about diversity. The student body is primarily white, but I don’t think that’s for lack of trying by UPS. The current president is African-American. I’d recommend a visit, if you haven’t already.