University of Oregon in Eugene

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Reposting this as I've improved my SAT score.</p>

<p>Can you tell me about the campus, the life, the academics? This is my first choice but I have never been to the school. I plan on majoring in political science and economics. I would eventually like to go to law school. I am from Los Altos, California so I am out of state. I have a 3.9 uw gpa, 2300 sat, 31 act.</p>

<p>My older brother goes to U of O, but I still haven't been able to visit :&lt;/p>

<p>Also looking at Udub, but if I can get into the honors program at Oregon, I'll go there.</p>

2

<p>If you like a big city and hate hippies, then don't go there! Eugene is in love with UO so you don't have to worry about finding friends easily. If I had your stats though, I would set my standards higher than UO honors. Do UW and UM-Ann Arbor instead. I'd even try UVA.</p>

3

<p>If you're in-state in California and have the stats to get in at any UC, why would you consider going OOS to Oregon or Washington? Maybe it sounds exotic, but it's kind of like "well, a Lexus for $10,000 is a great deal but everyone around here seems to drive a Lexus - I think I'll pay $30,000 for an Accord."</p>

4

<p>A 2300 SAT and you want to waste that on University of Oregon?</p>

<p>I completely agree with gadad - you should be looking at the UC's, if not more prestigious colleges, with your stats.</p>

5

<p>I gotta agree with gadad and GM. Both UO and UDub are great schools, but the UCs for in-state tuition, are a much cost:benefit ratio. As an Oregonian, you should be aware that we do not have a great track record with supporting higher ed, so there's no guarantee that the opportunities at UO currently will remain throughout your stay. That said, you should have no problem being admitted to the UO honors program.</p>

<p>I see from one of your other posts that you don't want to attend a small private. If you're set on a large OOS public, how about UMichigan, UVA or UNC-CH? You would have a very good chance of receiving merit aid at UM and some posters say that UVA gives good FA, even to OOS students.</p>

6

<p>Seriously, how big of prestige whores do we have on this forum? Someone comes out and says "I really want to go here, it's my first choice" and your replies are "Psh, why do you want to go there? It's not a top 25 school!"</p>

<p>It's their decision. Maybe the OP loves the big time sports appeal of Oregon, the outdoor aspect of Oregon, wants to go away for school, doesn't want to be somewhere where 95%+ of the students are in-state, or maybe the older brother being there has some kind of an impact. You shouldn't be saying "why do you like that" rather encouraging students to go where they want to. </p>

<p>Someone coming from Los Altos (a city with a median household income over 130,000 and home value over 1,500,000) isn't going to qualify for financial aid anywhere. The OP is essentially going to be paying full price for any education, minus scholarships that he/she receives. </p>

<p>Oregon is a "waste"? Oregon is an AAU member (one of the top 60 universities in the country), has a beautiful campus, an amazing athletic department, is located in Eugene which is a great college town, tons of great outdoor activities. </p>

<p>Being from California and having good stats is even better - they can qualify for the WICHE program (linked below) where they receive reduced tuition that is cheaper of what they would pay at most of the UC's (5,616). Not to mention that cost of living (Room and Board) is about half of any UC as well, making total costs before scholarships around $14,000/year for Oregon and $21,000/year for UCLA/UCB, and that's before scholarships where the OP is likely to receive money at Oregon and nothing at the UC's. But you knew that, when you made the comment that it was paying $30,000 for a Honda, right?</p>

<p>Honestly, I can just see some of your kids coming up to you guys and saying "Mom, Dad, I want to go to Iowa State! I know I will really like it there, Mark is there, and it's affordable" but you guys shunning them and saying "That's not an Ivy League school! You can't go there!" Aren't you as parents supposed to be encouraging students to follow their heart and go where they want to? Isn't that where they are most likely to succeed?</p>

<p>WICHE</a> - Student Exchange Programs</p>

7

<p>In response to A2 - Here's a concept that I can't understand. You're 17, you've not lived a lot of places, you're going to college to be exposed to new things, to develop new interests, to learn things about yourself that you never knew. Great! Now, where to go? OK, tell me in what type of setting you will or won't live, list all your interests and rule schools out on the basis of that list, analyze the self that you're going off to discover and label yourself so that you can pick a matching college on the basis of its stereotype. If Mick is going off considering law, he may wind up passionate about environmental science or philosophy. That's the great adventure of college, and whatever is making OU or UW so attractive to him could change in the next four years.</p>

<p>But one thing won't change - UC-Berkeley and UCLA will continue to attract some of the top students and faculty in the world, who would inspire and challenge Mick, and provide the frame of reference that would help determine his goals and aspirations. UW less so, OU probably less than that. That doesn't mean that he necessarily belongs at UCB or UCLA, it just means that the effort he's invested in compiling those world-class credentials entitles him to a peer group that could be a major positive influence on his life.</p>

<p>BTW, the best college football prospects in the country typically head to USC and Florida, less often to Baylor and Purdue. Are they prestige whores, or are they seeking the top level of athletic peer rgoup they can find to best prepare themselves for the next level?</p>

<p>All that said, if CA residents get a special tuition rate at UO that's less than their in-state rate, that's a perfectly valid answer to my original question.</p>

8

<p>^ ******* lol</p>

9

<p>Don't try the college football analogy, it doesn't work. Football team recruitment is so vastly different than college recruitment that I don't want to go into it. I work in a football recruiting office for a BCS conference, there's no comparison. </p>

<p>UCLA, UC-Berkeley provide a TOTALLY different atmosphere than what Oregon provides. You can find this out by talking to different students, reading reviews of the schools online, etc. The fact that the OP, who is from the Bay Area and is well aware of Berkeley and most likely UCLA, and comes out and says "my first choice is Oregon" means that Berkeley is NOT the place for them. You go where you feel is the right place, why would you invest what would likely be near 100,000 in somewhere you don't want to go? How is that a wise investment?</p>

<p>There's nothing that a graduate of Oregon can't do that a graduate of California can do. You should know this, you're in the real world, you've interviewed for jobs. The prestige of the college degree is limited to very finite sectors of the real world. Outside of those industries, very few care at all about where you went to school. </p>

<p>Here's another thing that won't change - the perception that one has about a certain university. You will ALWAYS hold it against a certain school if it's not the right one. When a student gets their admission offers, they know which the right one is. If they choose another one, you'll be living with the whole "grass is greener on the other side" mentality for 4 years. How can you advise someone to live like that? Always wondering "what if" everyday, going through college thinking of transferring - that's not what college is about. It's the best 4 years of your life - spend it where you want to be.</p>

<p>You're acting as if Oregon is a podunk school that has nothing to offer. It's accredited by the Association of American Universities - same with most of the UC's. It's in the Pac 10 which by association, will be grouped with UCLA and UCB to the common public. Believe me - more people know athletic conferences than academic rankings. Oregon is a fantastic institution in so many areas. You aren't going to get a bad education by going there. There's 2618 universities in the U.S., Oregon is ranking in the top 60 by the AAU. That's the top 2.5% of all universities. It just amazes me how people on this site seem to believe that if you aren't in the top 1% of universities in this country, you aren't worth talking about.</p>

<p>Why is it that people keep talking about peer groups on this site? To me, that's the second most baffling thing, when everyone throws around test scores and uses it to justify one school over another. You're talking about schools that enroll tens of thousands of students and freshmen classes of thousands every year. People find their niche at these big universities. The OP has already stated that they want to go to the Honors College. There is anyone from any background at any good school in this country. I go to a school that one would classify as similar to Oregon in student selectivity, yet most of my friends are scoring 30+ on their ACT, coming in with a 3.5+ GPA in high school.</p>

10

<p>I have absolute NO interest in Michigan and Wisconsin. Those schools have atrocious weather and Oregon is far more scenic. I am a big hiking enthusiast and I love to ski. You guys are acting like Oregon and Washington are Podunk State College. I want to stay on the West Coast. The winters in the Midwest are miserable - I would freeze to death there. Other than the rain, Oregon's winters are quite mild. I have been to Portland many times. I also don't want to go to college in a big city (other than Udub) because city schools tend to also be commuter schools.</p>

<p>Sure Berkeley is a great school academically, but the social scene is below average. One of my friends went there and hated it. The environment at Berkeley is incredibly competitive and stressful. I've visited Berkeley many times and while the campus is impressive, the town is dirty, sketchy, and quite expensive for a college town. From what I've heard, Eugene really caters to the college students.</p>

<p>What I'm looking for in a school
-On the West Coast
-Public school
-Good honors program
-Reasonably close to the mountains
-Good hiking in the area
-Good athletic programs (football, basketball, track)
-Friendly, laid back atmosphere</p>

<p>My parents are giving me free reign with this decision. Both of my parents went to public universities and my brother is currently in the honors program at U of O and loves it.</p>

<p>A2Wolves6, thank you for backing me up....</p>

11

<p>Dude I live in Oregon, but I'm going to USC. My twin sister is going to U of O though, and she's ecstatic. I do know, aside from Oregonians, californians are the 2nd highest population at U of O. So there are a lot of people like you who are drawn to U of O. Eugene is a wonderful college town. The place is beautiful, and people are friendly and laid back. Everything you listed about wanting in a school, describes U of O. What's your major?</p>

12

<p>UO has a killer Honors program. As to weather--six months of rainy cool weather is not all that great either. I might go for the cold with more sun. I'd say as of late UO is getting better football players than UCLA and UCB. If they have a QB they could win it all this year.</p>

13

<p>I want to double major in political science and economics.</p>

<p>I lived in Bellevue, Washington (suburb of Seattle) for 2 years and didn't mind the weather. I'm pretty sure that Oregon's weather isn't any worse than Seattle's. I've been to Detroit and Chicago in the winter and I didn't like it all.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
I'd say as of late UO is getting better football players than UCLA and UCB.

[/quote]

Sure...the athletic facilities at UO are some of the best in the country...</p>

<p>Having Phil Knight as a donor and the Oregon teams as a Nike test factory doesn't hurt...;)</p>

15

<p>2300 and you want to waste that with university of oregon? i dont care if people disagree with me but i certainly think you are being unwise when you consider oregon over such fine institutions in california.</p>

16

<p>lol these people are full of bull. Oregon is in my top four schools of choice, right up there with Northwestern U and Stanford, because of how great their journalism/comm programs are - and their Honors school is fabulous. I support your decision entirely.</p>

<p>I hate to break this to you all, but there ARE GOOD SCHOOLS that are not in the top 25!!! God almighty. It's really not that obscure a fact.</p>

17

<p>Oregon's weather isn't too bad since when it rains, it's mostly at night. There's also no humidity. I would still apply somewhere else though, like Colorado College. I know it's not on the weest coast, but it's close. I have no idea about their sports, but besides those two things it seems to have everything you want.</p>

18

<p>adding to my criticism, oregons mascot is a fricking duck for gods sake. no way would i want to be a duck.</p>

19

<p>Oregon is a great school and Eugene is a nice town, but keep in mind when thinking about the weather, that it can really rain there. In November of 1973, it rained over 20 inches. In one month. It never stopped raining, day or night, the entire month.</p>

<p>Other than that, I loved it. You could bike just about anywhere and it's just the right size for a college town.</p>

<p>Not all majors are open for WUE students for the 2008-2009 school year, economics is but political science isn't. I don't know how that might affect the tuition. And different programs might be eligible next year anyway.</p>

20

<p>I live in California, and I've been seeing a steady stream of kids of coworkers going to Eugene for college. They've got decent and more-than-decent stats, and had UC acceptances in hand, but chose to go up north for many of the reasons mentioned upthread. They, and their parents, are very happy with the school. The only downside that people mention is the cost of going from SoCal to Eugene; since the area really is a college town, airfare is really pricey during vacation periods. One family decided it would be cheaper for their student to have a car and make the drive, perhaps with another student or two to help cover gas money.</p>

<p>Wish I could help more; my 10th grader has been thinking about UO for several years, so I'm always interested to read opinions about the campus.</p>