<p>In Forbes' annual rankings of colleges with the most satisfied students, Whitman places #16, outranking high-powered colleges such as Dartmouth (#30), Penn (#36), Duke (#41), Brown (#45), and Cornell (#70).</p>
<p>It is clearly an indisputable fact based upon impeccable methodology that Whitman College is at least the 16th best institution of higher learning in the Country. Of course, the methodology with respect to whether Whitman could be higher is inherently flawed, so it is quite possible that Whitman deserves an even higher ranking. 
Go Missionaries! Given that I am taking my son there to begin his freshman year in about two weeks, I am glad that it did not appear on the ten colleges not worth the money list that appeared on line recently.</p>
<p>^^ Love it!!!</p>
<p>I have to admit that I like the Forbes list! My soon to be freshman S is leaving Tuesday morning for Walla Walla to go on a Whitman Scramble before school starts. He’s been pouring over the class catalog with great intensity, deciding which classes look intriguing. I don’t doubt he’ll have an amazing experience.</p>
<p>It is such a great school. It’s nice to see a list that includes variables related to quality of life, both during school and after. Whitman was also highly ranked by Washington Monthly [“The</a> Washington Monthly College Rankings” by The Editors](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.libarts.html]"The”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.libarts.html)</p>
<p>your link led to the 2006 Washington Monthly Ranking, although they are only 4 spots lower in their latest ranking at: [Washington</a> Monthly](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/liberal_arts_rank.php]Washington”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/rankings/liberal_arts_rank.php)
I like the Washington Monthly rankings. They seem to be more concerned about what kind of citizens come out of our colleges.</p>
<p>The rankings are nice, but what convinced us to look was the Loren Pope book. Once we looked, I was hooked and my son was interested but still enthralled with Bowdoin (first place he visited overnight). Once my son visited Whitman over night, he was very interested. He was disappointed to be turned down by Bowdoin E.D.I, but then decided to go for Whitman E.D. II. He is leaving lots of friends and is sad about that, but he is a social kid, so I am optimistic that he will make lots of new friends in short order. I am starting to get a little bit freaked out that he will be out of the house in two weeks, and the reality that things will never be the same is hitting me pretty hard right about now (the only parent for the last 8 years since his mom died). I suspect that it will be much harder on me than him, which was the same when I left my folks for college (easy for me, hard for them). I am hoping that the reports of a warm and welcoming Whitman community are true, and that he is enveloped by it quickly.</p>
<p>oh, good luck to the both of you Bogney. That’s a pretty touching story. My D turned down higher ranked schools for Whitman and says she has no regrets. She’s found the social and academic life to be beyond her expectations, and I hope the same for your son.</p>
<p>Bogney, I’m right there with you. My son and his friends are scattering to the four winds and are mostly thrilled about it, as they should be. I, however, am realizing how dramatically my life will be changing. I’m very sad that all that wonderful fun energy will be going somewhere else, and I’m fighting feeling depressed and old. It’s a pretty normal feeling, but knowing that doesn’t help. </p>
<p>My son is social, smart, kind and curious. We’ve met several incoming Whitman freshman from the Bay Area and they all share those traits. I’m sure that our sons will have the time of their lives.</p>
<p>As an aside, my son was accepted to Bowdoin and we went there so he could attend an accepted student’s day and overnight. As he explored campus, I went to the financial aid office to appeal the need-based aid offer they had given him, which was substantially lower than the offers from the other colleges (Colby, Tufts, Macalester, Whitman). The man I spoke to was not AT ALL receptive and I’ll always remember the tear that rolled down my 6"2" hockey playing son’s cheek as we drove away.</p>
<p>The following weekend was the Whitman’s accepted student’s program, and my son came back glowing with enthusiasm. In the mean time, my husband and I decided that if we implemented big budget cutting measures we could send him to Bowdoin. Instead of being happy, my son went into a deep funk saying we’d given him an impossible choice. In his anguish, he starting making endless lists, rereading guide books and pouring over the websites again. Finally, the day before he had to give the schools his decision, I told him to stop being rational and to try to remember how he felt when he was on campus at both schools. Half an hour later he appeared at our bedroom door and said that he was choosing Whitman and was really happy about it.</p>
<p>Since then there has not been a moment of regret. He is totally stoked, and I’m sure he will have an awesome college experience. I imagine I’ll survive.</p>
<p>^^ We must’ve spoken to the same guy at Bowdoin! S got great financial aid offers from Brown, Carleton, Grinnell, and Whitman, and not a thing from Bowdoin. Son ended up choosing Carleton, but I still have a soft spot for Whitman. My younger son is a HS junior this year, and I sure hope he looks hard at Whitman!</p>
<p>I have always thought that Whitman would be a great fit for my son, and I am glad he agreed after missing out on Bowdoin. I like that it is highly academic but without a rep for being highly competitive among the students. My son is a good athlete, but more ready for DIII than DI, and Whitman is very strong in his sport. He has had a late growth spurt and is exhausted all of the time - he just grew another 3/4s of an inch last month to almost 6’, 5" in bare feet (basketball is not his sport!) and may not be done. He will definitely have to figure out how to handle rigorous academics (his high school was a breeze), sports, socializing, and sleep in relatively short order - no more rising at the crack of 11:00. Yikes!</p>
<p>Bopambo, others, thanks for the support. In a class so small, I am sure that our sons will run into each other before too long. I have a daughter left at home for two more years, and she is a great kid, but the energy level (once he is roused anyway) will go way down without son and his friends riffing on guitars, jokes, physical comedy, etc. It will be wierd without him around. Oh well, it is a good thing, right? Good luck to you both.</p>
<p>6’5"!!! You must have to special order shoes. We were grateful when ours seemed to stop at size 12 because he can still find his size in stores. Airplane seats are another matter.</p>
<p>I’m inserting a quote I found in another thread that resonated totally with me. It expresses in a very articulate way why I’m so happy that my son chose Whitman. At first, I was still a little worried that he was going to miss out on priceless opportunities if he didn’t go to Bowdoin, but after I read this post all my trepidation evaporated. I hope it’s kosher to cut and paste like this! The poster is Islanddad.</p>
<p>“Better Environment Overall
Sometimes a decision is made for a better environment overall. Our child decided against Claremont McKenna for Whitman in Washington state. Claremont McKenna is much more difficult to get into, but Whitman is a much more beautiful environment, and equally rigourous curriculum. More to do overall with a better balance overall of academics, leadership opportunities, incredible outdoor sporting opportunities (skiing, kayaking, etc.) and a new swimming/sports facility. You have to remember that extremely gifted, bright kids are everywhere, but they are still teenagers entering a new environment; they know how to excel at school, but need an environment that is conducive to growing. After all, a lot of these kids are graduate-school bound, and the undergraduate experience should be meaningful as well as challenging, not burn them out! The stress at some of the competitive schools can be demoralizing for some young kids, and ultimately not healthy.”</p>
<p>The Forbes list is a pretty weird methodology, but it is fun to see the school getting more attention. I think if it were located in the NE, it would get top 10-20 LAC attention.</p>
<p>Size 14 shoes, we do a lot of ordering over the web. The transition from large, to xx-large, to xxl has been expensive but we have provided lots of clothes in great shape for Goodwill, etc. Now, I get his handmedowns in little-worn sweatshirts / tee shirts he grew out of. Airplane seats are torture for him, so we are trying to avoid flying small panes to Walla Walla. My brother lives in Seattle, so S will probably hitch a ride west for Thanksgiving break, and only fly home over Christmas. If healthy and playing well, we are hoping he will be playing with teammates over spring break, but who knows.</p>
<p>Our relatively small car is okay when he leans the seat way back. The rest of us can’t reach the steering wheel without readjusting the driver’s seat after him. The scary thing is that his growth plates are still open - though the doctor’s estimate is that he is near topping out (I hope).</p>
<p>We have about a 15 hour drive to Walla Walla in an old minivan (our big car) with about 170k miles on it to deliver him to Whitman, and are going to spread it out into a three day leisurely father / son road trip north. Assuming that the van holds up, I’m looking forward to that, just not the trip back</p>
<p>Whitman’s isolation is its strength and its weakness. Presumably, students do not go there unless they really want to, because closer options abound for nearly everyone - even in the Pacific Northwest with Reed being a superb college, Lewis and Clark a good one, Evergreen College an interesting alternative and good state universities and Catholic Schools closer to major populations. Certainly, the Claremont Colleges and Occidental are very good LACs an easy plane flight from where we live in NorCal, plus all of the U.C.s for lower cost alternatives. </p>
<p>I am guessing that the students, faculty, and administration have to make the college the center of their intellectual, cultural, and social experience because it is a trek to the big cities in the Northwest, doable but not easily. I suspect that if it clicks for a student, it can be fantastic. Here’s hoping that it clicks for all of the freshpersons heading there!</p>
<p>The amount of respect Whitman is getting in the various publications is heartening, and somewhat surprising. I had never heard of it when I was applying to colleges back in the stone ages, but am glad that Lauren Pope took a liking to it and got the name out. The campus is beautiful and the facilities are amazing - especially the spanking new athletic facilities. Anyway, my significant other and I hope to get involved in the Whitman community over the next four years, and perhaps meet some interesting parents of interesting kids over the years. Good luck to all embarking on this adventure!</p>
<p>Check into the cost of renting a car so that you don’t have to worry about the reliability of the mini-van. Go up the east side the Cascades through OR–so much more enjoyable than I-5.</p>
<p>I would have loved to have sent S1 to Whitman. The wife and I are are alums, class of Dark Ages. We started donating back to the school even before grad school loans were paid off. S1 was admitted, the Whitman stiffed us on aid. Only offered an unsubsidized loan, even when comparable/better LACs in the mid-west were offering $15k in grant aid. The COA difference was just unjustifiable, and I was very disappointed. I always nursed a little dream about him going there. They get another chance with S2, who is applying this year, and I fear the same outcome.</p>
<p>UT84321, I guess no place is perfect. Dang, the financial aid thing is mind-boggling and seems arbitrary. Each institution having their own twist on the formula. Just makes my brain hurt.
Bogney, we’re in norcal, western Sonoma County. Where are you?</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. We have not decided the route. The last time we took wild detours for sight seeing (Mt. Lassen National Park was amazing) and have not decided whether to be efficient and easy or creative and crazy on this trip. We turned down money from another college on the east coast in Pope’s book to go to Whitman with no help but an unsubsidized loan, so we will be penny pinching (too wealthy for help, not wealthy enough to do it without pain). Strange as it may seem, Whitman’s athletics made the difference, so that college was a distant third behind Bowdoin and Whitman. </p>
<p>I do not doubt that Whitman’s tightfisted approach to aid cost them an excellent student in your son’s case - hope they are more generous this time around. It must be tough for them deciding how to divide a limited pie, and tough for those of us who do not get any. I am hopeful for some relief when my daughter goes to college in two years, but who knows.</p>
<p>You may be right; it may cost us less to rent a car than to risk breaking down the van, so I’ll look into it. My son is sentimentally attached to the van, which he does not get to keep at Whitman, so I may have an argument. Can’t decide arguments in my favor by armwrestling anymore. :)</p>
<p>We are Norcal, Placer County, so we are virtually neighbors! Are you going up for orientation or is your son starting out solo? I hope that there is a little Norcal corner at some of the receptions so that families can meet.</p>