<p>Okay, well, I was just fully looking at my options because I've been realizing more and more how hard of a job my parents will have paying for my education if I go to Reed. :/ Now, they're very willing to and in fact, they are now saying that they feel I've worked hard and that I deserve such an education. However, I was just looking at my options again. For some of you who have been following my plight, you know I've talked about how bleak my options really are. However, I do have one item of interest within them.</p>
<p>Western Washington University is a 12,000 person school, something that sort of scares me. However, I was accepted into "Fairhaven College", a four-hundred person interdisiplinary program that is very interesting. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this, since it seems like an excellent opprotunity if Reed doesn't work out.</p>
<p>Here's a link that they put on their site too, in case anyone's interested.</p>
<p>My sister is finishing up her 1st year at WWU and loves it there. Bellingham is a perfect sized city because there is lots of things to do (movies, shopping, etc.) but not to big that it is unsafe like a big city might be. Its gorgeous in Bellingham with the mountains and all, plus its close to the Canadian border:) I'm sorry that I don't know much about Fairhaven College but I just wanted to tell you how great WWU has been for my sister.</p>
<p>We looked at Western- my daughter is @ Reed.
Umm- I know several people who are at Western and they like it very much. We didn't like Fairhaven- we liked the concept and Evergreen College was her 2nd choice if she didn't get enough aid from Reed, but Fairhaven seemed too small, too limiting and too flakey.
( I actually think 12,000 is a decent size for a school- Reed is too small it is smaller than many high schools nowdays & I think that detracts from both social and academic interactions)</p>
<p>zpmqxonw~ Thanks! I'm glad that your sister loves WWU!</p>
<p>emeraldkity4~ Thank you! I was actually kind of worrying about that. I was talking it over with mum and she says if I like Reed then I should go there. Period. XP I guess I'll know on Monday. Thank you for sharing your D's experiences witht eh place!</p>
<p>Several of my son's friends ended up at WWU, although not at Fairhaven. It seems to be a good school and they've liked it.</p>
<p>BUT: it's really different from Reed. I can't imagine the same person liking both schools for the same reasons. But Western certainly would be less costly. And I can imagine situations where Western would make more sense--like if you're planning on teaching in WA or OR and Reed would require major loans.</p>
<p>Westerns live journal
actually my daughter felt Western was too big- but then her graduating class was 18!
The main difference would be- public vs well funded private
Classes at Western may be overenrolled- and you may find that your dorm was made for 2 people but now holds 3. We loved the area- very beautiful- but when we went for accepted students weekend and sat in with a biology prof who compared Western to Yale- but in a way that Yales academics were lacking we thought that perhaps they took themselves a little too seriously. I don't have any trouble with a school saying that "we provide a good balance of education- of academics- recreational opportunities- and social opportunities" , for instate students especially it is a fantastic deal, but there just wasn't any comparision to the intensity of Reed.
I don't know what your finaid package is- but workstudy is available- you can earn $3,000 during summers for tuition, and take out loans- my daughter has also been taking a CC class summers to add to electives just to take some of the pressure off during the school year.
I have to say that while I think Western is a great school- if you are looking for really challenging academics and function better if you are in the middle of the pack rather than at the top, you may be frustrated at Western- ( however you also might find that you thrive getting to lead the way)
good luck</p>