<p>i had my eye on lewis and clark's environment, but i got deferred there. i applied to willamette simply because i loved oregon and planned to move to portland eventually(i know willamette isn't in portland, but it's closer than where i'm at now) and got in with a rather generous scholarship.</p>
<p>i'm not sure if i would fit in at willamette. i wanted a hyper-liberal, intellectual, quirky-type school. i don't really know much about willamette, but the scholarship offer has made me curious. i spoke to a current willamette student on the phone about the college for a while, but it was not very informative. </p>
<p>any current attendees want to attest to what campus life is like? dorms, study abroad, the drug/party scene, surrounding town, is it a 'suitcase school', music on campus, etc?</p>
<p>You should try a search; there are about 3 threads comparing pacific northwest and/or Portland area schools. Our family visited last weekend, be we don’t know any students personally</p>
<p>My son and a close friend of his both are freshmen at Williamette right now, and a niece of mine studied at Lewis and Clark. Obviously, I’m not a current student, but here are a few things I’ve observed:</p>
<ol>
<li>Campus life is busy. You’ll have more things to choose from than you can cram into a day. The backpacking club, for example, scheduled trips every weekend fall semester, and there were weekly meetings related to these. My son’s dorm also hosted “floor events,” from parties to “just come around tonight and eat fresh-baked cookies and play board games.” There are so many campus groups offering things to do that your greatest problem will involve trying to decide what NOT to do. </li>
<li>More Willamette students study abroad than at most universities. I believe the number is close to 60 percent, but you can check this by searching under “study abroad” on the Willamette website. My son’s close friend is planning to study abroad in Perth, Australia his sophomore year (a group from Willamette goes each year), and my son is planning to study abroad in Japan.</li>
<li>It’s not a “suitcase school” – undergraduates generally live on campus.</li>
<li>Music – there are many musical groups on campus; you can check these out on the university website.</li>
<li>Drug/party scene: I’ve heard that there’s a fair amount of drinking, but little drug use. The school has several substance-free dorms for those who wish to avoid this altogether. Lots of parties, however, including substance-free raves. </li>
<li>Surrounding town: Well, Salem isn’t Portland. Nevertheless, it offers little cafes, movie theatres, coffee shops, etc. </li>
<li>Quirkiness: You can definitely find this at Willamette, because there is a Boffer Club at the school (simulated WOW-type battles on the field), Anime, club, various arts clubs…and I think there’s a Quidditch team. </li>
<li>Intellectual: You can definitely challenge yourself at Willamette. The classes are small, so there’s no place to hide in a group discussion.</li>
<li>Liberal vs. conservative. Compared to a school like Reed College, Willamette students are far more diverse along the ideological spectrum. My son is a liberal democrat/atheist, and he can certainly find others like this at the school. However, some Willamette students are conservative republicans. If you want to enroll in a place where everyone believes the exact same things you do, then Willamette isn’t for you. But if you want to come to a place with more ideological diversity, where classroom discussions will include some serious debates on all sides of the issue, then you should give Willamette a close look. The school has a well-established reputation for very friendly students, so no one will shun you for your difference of opinion!</li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks for the question, and calalum, for the thoughtful answer. The more I read and hear about this school, the more excited I get for my daughter, who was lucky enough to have been accepted early action. I hope others add their insights to the thread. How great would it be if it is “the one”?</p>
<p>wow! thanks for such an in depth answer. i truly appreciate it! i’m honestly beginning to prefer willamette TO lewis and clark, going from what i’ve read.</p>
<p>the rising status of willamette doesn’t hurt either ;)</p>
<ul>
<li>72% of the students in the current freshman class come from out of state</li>
<li>2% live off campus or commute</li>
<li>The student-to-faculty ratio is 10 to 1</li>
</ul>
<p>The school has the following musical groups on campus (in addition to student-run bands): </p>
<p>Concert band
Jazz band
Marching band
Musical ensembles
Musical theater
Choral groups
Symphony orchestra</p>
<p>I was thinking of starting a new thread: Salem pro or con, but thought my question would fit in here as well. Willamette is not a huge campus (81 acres, I read?) and it is really in the middle of a city sometimes described as fairly high crime. On the other hand, you read that it is near the state capitol, which benefits students, and some say Salem itself is a nice town. In my experience, state capitols are not usually located in the safest areas, particularly after close of business. We’re going to visit, but I’d love to hear some input.</p>
<p>Salem is no more dangerous than Portland, Tacoma, or any other large or mid-size urban town. Colleges and universities are now required by federal law to report crime statistics for their campuses. Reed College and Willamette University have the same size student body. Puget Sound is about 80% larger. Reed is in Portland; Willamette is in Salem; Puget Sound is in Tacoma.</p>
<p>Number of cases of reported crimes, 2007-2009:</p>
<p>Hi tealeaves
My DD3 has been accepted to Willamette and we visited spring of jr year. My BIL who lives in Portland made fun of Salem but I thought it was fine–not the urban center of Portland but not “bad” either. The hospital and state capitol are really in walking distance but right around campus seems safe. I did notice a few streets 4 or 5 blocks away which looked a bit sketchy but I have a high tolerance for that anyway as I live in a city (not a suburb) and so does my DD. Willamette does have more of an urban feel than most LACs even though it’s not in a big city area. Now, we are going back because she is serious about Willamette and she is spending the night and visiting classes–I may have more to add to the thread. I did get the impression from our tour that other than some restaurant/cafe visits, most students don’t really frequent Salem that much.</p>
<p>I went to Willamette and I have to say, it doesn’t sound right for you. It’s really not terribly quirky. There are some quirky people but they are a big minority. For the most part it is very based around the Greek system since about half the people who go to WU are in frats or sororities.</p>
<p>Safety at Willamette doesn’t seem to be a terribly big issue. D graduated from there and never reported any problem other than someone stealing the dollar out of their good luck frog doorstop. The alleys have artwork painted on their walls and other decor and kids wander through them at all hours.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the great info! Willamette keeps sounding better and better. One more question–how do students generally get back and forth from the Portland airport?</p>
<p>^ My son and friend have done it three ways:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take the Max train from Portland Airport to Portland’s station, then take the train to Salem. The Salem train depot is just across the street from Willamette.</p></li>
<li><p>Take the HUT Shuttle from Portland Airport to the Red Lion Inn in Salem. Just Google “HUT Shuttle Salem” to find out how to reserve a ticket. From the Red Lion Inn, it’s two miles to the university, which is either a 5-minute cab ride or a 30 minute brisk walk.</p></li>
<li><p>Sign up with various on-campus groups running shuttles to the airport; have a friend with a car drive you to or from the airport. This option’s only viable when you’ve settled in on campus. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>@thecollegesenior: yikes, that’s kind of scary to me. i didn’t know most people are a part of greek life. is it like bad movie style rushing or is it kind of quiet? if you don’t mind my asking, what did you major in, and could you give a general recount of your experiences at WU?</p>
<p>This is comparable to a Puget Sound, where 18% of men and 21% of women live in Greek houses located just off the campus. Still, Willamette’s figure is a relatively small percent compared, say, to Whitman College, where 42% of men live in fraternities and 25% of women live in sororities (source: “Student Life”, Whitman’s common data set).</p>
<p>Just a couple of days ago, we received a letter from Willamette about the Greek system. It stated that 25% of Willamette’s student body is involved in the Greek community. This number is higher than the most recent information in the Common Data Set (which schools are required by law to report), but it’s still a far cry from “half the students are in frats.” All of Willamette’s fraternities and sororities “reside in on-campus housing.” </p>
<p>The best thing to do is to visit the campus, spend the night with a host, if possible, and see for yourself.</p>
Hey so in response to the post with statistics for each school I feel like its important to note that Reed has a very safe environment in regards to reporting sexual assaults. So their statistic is higher, not because there are more sexual assaults but because people feel safer about reporting them.