<p>Accepted to all but having a hard time choosing.</p>
<p>Whitman will offer you the strongest academics among the smaller schools and a much warmer community and more access to faculty than you may find at UW.</p>
<p>There are some rankings that put Whitman ahead of UW in academics also, but of course the relative sizes and locations are very different. Have you visited any of these places? It sounds like you live in the NW, try to get to admitted students days and get a feel for the individual schools. That’s the best way to decide. Since this is the Whitman forum, do you have particular questions about Whitman?</p>
<p>Congratulations on having so many good choices.</p>
<p>My D has almost the same choice – except she did not apply to UW, and has just about eliminated Lewis & Clark. </p>
<p>Some questions to ask yourself: what about finances? What do you want to major in? Take a look at the online course catalog and distribution requirements. Do you have a sport or hobby? Check out the opportunities to pursue it at each school. And visit if you can.</p>
<p>Watching thread with interest, since S2 is interested in all of those schools, save UW. BTW, why is your D eliminating L&C?</p>
<p>Also going to keep an eye on this as I’m looking at Whitman, L&C and WU.</p>
<p>Well, with all these eyes on this thread, I hope something happens. LOL.</p>
<p>Of course, I think you should all go to Whitman because that’s the choice my son made. He’s very happy there. It’s academically challenging, and fits him socially. The administration is responsive and caring, and the faculty is very involved with the students. My son is progressive politically, loves outdoor activities, plays club sports, and is social but also a serious student. He loves his fraternity, but has friends who are independents. Whitties seem to do a lot of bonding. The atmosphere is relaxed. My son is ever so slightly preppy, in a west coast sort of way. You don’t see a lot of dreadlocks or piercings. People look healthy.</p>
<p>Whitman offers many ways for the students to get involved with the inner workings of the school and they pick students who are willing to get involved. S is running for sophomore class senator and has been picked as a scramble leader for an incoming freshman pre-orientation backpacking trip this summer. He prepared for that by taking a Wilderness First Responder (first aid and rescue training) course over the holiday break for 2 college credits.</p>
<p>Walla Walla is a nice little town, with shopping and necessities within walking distance. There are some nice restaurants and coffee places, as well as an ice rink, a bowling alley, movies and a local symphony. It’s wine country, so the town puts on cultural events. The farmer’s market is popular with students. Because there are not the big city attractions of Portland, the school brings in a huge number of visiting scholars, authors, and interesting people. Students support each other’s plays, concerts, games and art shows. Walla Walla is probably why students become so close to each other.</p>
<p>Someone else will have to sing the praises of the other schools because I’ve never been to them. My husband and son visited L&C and Willamette, but they didn’t have the draw that Whitman did for our son.</p>
<p>It would be interesting if someone else offered why they are attracted to the others. Anybody?</p>
<p>Looking at the same schools. Wondering what people think about Whitman for the shy kid…who warms up especially with nice kind people. Does choir, Lit. Mag, Tutors…would do the greek system. This is are first choice.</p>
<p>MOMbaritone, I think you’re son would do just fine at Whitman. The kids ARE nice and they won’t stay strangers for long. The administration does a really great job of getting everybody acquainted in the freshman dorms. The dorms are divided into sections and each section has an RA and regular meetings. They think up fun stuff to do together to show their spirit and in the process become buddies.</p>
<p>
She says it doesn’t have the programs she wants – but I think there is some nebulous “feel” component. She liked it when we visited, but I don’t think she pictures herself there.</p>
<p>bopampo, would you mind sharing your perceptions of the effect of the Greek system at Whitman? </p>
<p>What I always hear is that the Greek system at Whitman is toned down and non-divisive compared to other places. On the other hand, seems like every time I look at the Pio on-line, including today, I see an article that reflects that Whitman is polarized over the presence of the Greek system. I’m not so concerned about the content of these articles, as much as I am about the comments from students that follow them, many of which are pretty nasty (both from Greeks and Indies). I’m also less concerned about drinking and “animal house behavior” that might ocurr at frats (believe me, no one needs to be in a frat to misbehave), as I am with the fact that any college, especially a school as small as Whitman, would have a polarized student body. Mind you, none of this is to imply that the Greek system is good or bad; just concerned that the campus might be divided over it, and that the unity and bonding of dorm life comes to a screeching halt once some kids decide to rush. I know a Whitman grad, who was not in a sorority, and she tells me that this was not the case when she was there. But would like to get your view. Thanks.</p>
<p>
Hmm, this is actually a worry of mine. My daughter has plenty of piercings and a hair color not found in nature. 
She got on well with her student interviewer, stayed with a friend and got along with the students she met, and obviously the school accepted her… but will she fit in and find “kindred spirits” there?</p>
<p>She will definitely find kindred spirits and also become friends with those who look completely preppy. One of the beauties of the community is that kids become friends with such a wide array of folks and somehow come to respect and enjoy even those they wildly disagree with. And I would not take Pio debates or commentary too seriously. College papers tend to draw the opining of the extremes and never give a very comprehensive/accurate view of the school. I’m all for using it as one sample of life on any campus…while also recognizing that there is often an essentially soph-moric quality to the “news”. After having 2 kids at Whitman I am convinced that the Greek system does not at all live up to my negative stereotypes of frats/sororities and that kids’ first year friendships readily endure even when one rushes and pledges and the other doesn’t.</p>
<p>I asked my daughter about that article in the pio. Although she herself has zero interest in joining a sorority, she has many friends who are in frats and sororities. The fraternity mentioned in the recent article is a group she is particularly close to and she was not aware of any disgruntlement over rushing. She also said that she has never seen any divisiveness on campus between greeks and non greeks.</p>
<p>seattle_mom, from what I’ve seen and witnessed among my D’s wide ranging group of friends, the students really embrace their differences with warmth and respect.</p>
<p>LOL, seattle_mom! No, dreads, purple hair and piercings aren’t the prevailing fashion statement at Whitman, but they probably don’t alienate anybody, either. Healthy looking just means that they get outside and run around, so pallid isn’t the normal complexion. How did your daughter like it? What would a kindred spirit for her be like? Is she concerned about this? </p>
<p>Sunmachine, I read the Pioneer article about hazing at the TKE house about a week after my son went through this very same initiation. When the article appeared in the Pioneer I called him, his view was that it was a tempest in a teapot. He actually thought that while difficult in some respects, the end result of the initiation was a positive trust building experience. He thought it was very mild compared to some Greek initiations, including his father’s Phi Delt experience many moons ago. </p>
<p>That was his opinion and that was obviously different than the one expressed by the student who complained. I know that the administration is taking the complaint seriously and TKE will have to reevaluate it’s initiation practices. It does point out that Whitman responds quickly and doesn’t take the student’s well-being lightly.</p>
<p>I have developed an opinion about college newspapers, they share some of the same attributes as media everywhere, they love the sensational story. They are written by students for students. I remember when S was looking closely at Bowdoin, I started reading their paper. The first thing that freaked me out was an article about the prevalence of the drunken hook-up culture on campus. I went on CC’s Bowdoin forum to ask about it and after a lengthy discussion came to the conclusion that some people do engage in drunken hook-ups, but not everybody, not all the time. My conclusion about the TKE incident at Whitman is that there was an unhappy pledge who complained and was taken seriously, some students felt strongly on both sides of the issue and expressed their opinions. I think a lot of self examination goes on at Whitman.</p>
<p>As far as polarization between Greeks and non-Greeks, all I can offer is my S’s experience. During spring break he took a road trip to Vancouver with his buddies, one fraternity brother and two independents. He told us that instead of living at the fraternity house next year, he’s hoping to get a four person suite with three friends. Again, it’s one fraternity brother and two independents. At least these guy aren’t concerned about Greek affiliations, they are all first year dorm section mates.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the thoughtful - and informed - responses on the greek issue.</p>
<p>seattle_mom, I’ve been thinking about your daughter. I was trying to paint a verbal picture of the typical Whitman student, but that isn’t really useful and probably not even true. I think that mmaah and kolijma say it best.</p>
<p>I’m trying to decide among UW Seattle, U Wisconsin, Whitman, and possibly UM for bioengineering/biochemistry. </p>
<p>From what I’ve gathered about Whitman is it emphasizes academics. It seems like studying is about the only thing to do around Walla Walla. Sure its great that Whitman is in a small town, but you’re bound to run out of things to do. That is why I am leaning toward UW’s social scene. There is so much more to do in Seattle!</p>
<p>If you like the outdoors, Whitman is a wonderful place to be at. They have a renown cycling team, a wonderful new climbing wall, and one of the best outdoors programs anywhere, with organized trips almost every weekend, including activities from kayaking to rock climbing, and opportunities to develop outdoors leadership skills. There’s a nice little ski area not far (Blue Woods, I think). So, If you are outdoors minded, or want to become, there’s LOTS to do.</p>
<p>If a college has a distinct campus, like Whitman or UW (as opposed to a school like NYU), students tend to stay on and around campus most of the time. I think it’s very common for high school students to be concerned about this when trying to make a decision about college. But, if you are like most students, you won’t run out of things to do at Whitman and in Walla Walla. My D is from a big city. She initially thought she would NEVER be OK going to Whitman because of where it was. She absolutely loved Whitman. She loved Walla Walla. She graduated last year and is still living there doing a year in an Americorps position. In choosing between UW and Whitman, there are many more substantive differences to think about, aside from the location. There are profound differences between the undergraduate experience each offers.</p>
<p>Of the other LACs, Whitman is definitely the most selective. I think the expectation is that this translates into a difference in the academics and education, but that can be hard to quantify. The others all have something to offer. Go visit, walk around, go to at least one class, talk to students and professors, stay overnight if you can, and just see how it feels. You will figure out which one is the best fit for you. If you can’t visit, and you don’t know anyone who attends that you could talk with, ask the Admissions Office to connect you with some current students who you can talk to or exchange emails with.</p>