<p>Hi, any University of Portland parents out there? Any thoughts on the school?</p>
<p>Not a parent of UP.
Have a friend who's a maintenance guy there. We had a common supervisor who was a UP EE graduate. Amazed that a small school has a professional school. </p>
<p>Pretty campus, located on bluff overlooking Portland. About the same distance to Dwntwn as Reed is to dwntn. More open space where as Reed is more treed and park like. Atheletics is excellent with womens soccer #1 in nation for any school.</p>
<p>We visited the U of Portland last winter. I came away very impressed. </p>
<p>The admissions staff treated my daughter and her friend very well, and really made them both feel welcome. Afterwards, both the admissions rep and the two tour guides sent very personalized HAND WRITTEN thank you notes to my daughter that were quite impressive and unlike any we have received from any other school after a visit. </p>
<p>The campus is quite pretty - on a bit of a hill overlooking the water, you can see Mt. Hood in the distance, a few historic old buildings, many newer buildings, but all are red brick so it seems very coherent. </p>
<p>Academically, they have very diversified offerings for a smaller school - engineering, and pre-health sciences strong, but they also have good business, social work, education and liberal arts majors. They have a cadaver lab in the science department, rare for a smaller school. </p>
<p>It is also one of the smallest Division I athletic schools in the country.</p>
<p>The kids we met seemed geniunely nice in a kind of clean cut wholesome sort of way - this is definitely not Reed or Lewis & Clark. There were lots of kids out playing football in the grassy areas of the school. The dorms seemed to have a lot of group spirit - they have all sorts of inter-dorm competitions and rivalries.</p>
<p>The student body is more liberal than the administration which really toes the party line --- for instance, when we were visiting, there were editorials in the student newspaper complaining that the administration had banned students from working on an OFF CAMPUS production of the Vagina Monologues. There is a religion class requirement for graduation, but our tour guides said most kids aren't all that religious - I think only 56% are Catholic, which is very low by most Catholic school standards.</p>
<p>UP seemed very generous with merit money - the admissions rep looked at my daughter's transcript (our h.s. sends several kids there every year) and immediately said she'd automatically qualify for some merit money. My daughter's guidance counselor confirmed this when she heard that daughter and her friend had visited. </p>
<p>I can't remember who it was but there was a parent here on CC who had told me that her son visited L&C and UP on the same day, just like my daughter did. He was turned off by L&C - thought the kids were too quirky - but fell in love with UP. She said he has been very happy there, even though (if I remember correctly) they are not Catholic. My daughter had the opposite impression - she loved L&C but felt, even though she liked UP, that it just wasn't her cup of tea. I do, however, think it would be a great place for middle-of-the-road career oriented kids looking to be in a great city.</p>
<p>A bunch of people from my high school have gone to UP and they all like it as far as I've heard (and none of them are catholic). It's well-reputed around here and seems pretty affordable too. It's definitely worth looking into if your son/daughter wants to go to college in Portland.</p>
<p>I have not gone there, nor have my boys, but my aunt worked there for many years until her retirement, and I have known people who went there, and they all seemed to think highly of it. I have been there with my boys for Science Bowl and tennis lessons (They have a highly rated tennis program, from what our high school coaches said.), and it is a very pretty campus. I know their engineering program is quite good, not sure about other departments. Definitely worth looking into.</p>
<p>Hi! I'm the parent to whom Carolyn was refering. Good job keeping my story straight, Carolyn, you had it right. It was the same thing for us with the merit aid. The admissions counselor just looked at our son's stats (which were definitely not in the ivy league category we often see mentioned on this board) and said he'd be in line for merit aid. We were shocked and delighted with the amount that was offered in the end. </p>
<p>One of the great things about U of P seems to be the contacts the kids make in Portland. One friend's daughter went there after being one of the valedictorians at our high school (there were 22 or something!), had great internships during school and stepped right out into a high paying engineering job. In fact, this is a word that seems to come up in stories of U of P grads--employment! I wouldn't go here to major in English, but for business etc., yeah. Most of our son's friends seem to be majoring in Business and he's thinking about law school. </p>
<p>Again, if the place is right for your kid, it might be really right. But if it's wrong, it could be very wrong. Our S's twin sister went to Smith and would not have been comfortable at all at U of P. Although she might have had fun hollering around about the Vagina Monologue thing!</p>
<p>Another thing that came up on an earlier thread a long time ago was the U of P neighborhood. People heard "North Portland" and thought crime. Not true at all in the University Park neighborhood. The whole area there is quite up and coming. Portland is basically cool.</p>
<p>Enjoyingthis, ah, it was you. I was hitting my head yesterday trying to remember who had a child at UP. To be honest, I still wish it had clicked with my daughter. It was one campus we've visited where the kids seem geniunely down to earth and just all around nice.</p>
<p>Hey Carolyn, I know the feeling. I felt that way about Whitman. I thought it looked like a neat place to visit as a parent and had good vibes about the school. I guess the only thing you can do (and I know you know this!) is remember that the kid has to like it too. The good vibes probably wouldn't continue if your kid wasn't enjoying the place. My feelings for U of P have gotten even better as I see my son thriving there. Just got back from dropping him off, sans car, for the start of classes.</p>
<p>Not a U of P parent but I know several people who teach there and they are all first rate - one in the English dep't., someone in Communications, a third in Psych and another in Accounting. If the majority of the profs there are like them, it is a solid place with first rate teaching.</p>
<p>Anyone know anything about the Philosophy dept?</p>
<p>I agree with carolyn. I loved the campus and the "feeling". Guess it will be a safety for our S.</p>