Willamette Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Willamette University
1

<p>Hello all. I've done a lot of reading here, thanks everyone for all the great information. </p>

<p>My son is considering several schools and has taken a liking to Willamette. He is a very good student (ranked 19th in his class of 400+ students). He is also an athlete that wants to continue playing as long as possible. He will be submitting his "leader application" this week and we plan on making a visit in the near future. </p>

<p>Questions: 1. What other schools did Willamette students consider? 2. Regarding our visit, can anyone give me a hotel recommendation? 3. We live near Sacramento and are toying with the idea of taking the train. Any comments would be welcomed.</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>My daughter attends Willamette. She was partial to the smaller schools but applied to a wide range of schools- private, public, big, small, jesuit, just in case she changed her mind between October and May. Other schools she applied to included Cal Poly SLO, UCSB, Santa Clara, LMU, University of the Pacific, Seattle University.</p>

<p>I recommed the Phoenix Grand hotel. It is very nice and within walking distance. She usually travels back and forth to Ca. Via southwest airlines. Took the train once and it was delayed three hours.</p>

<p>Daughter is very happy at Willamette. Merit aid brought the cost down to that of a UC. She has never had a problem getting classes. Class size is in the low twenties for majority of her classes. Overall, the students are described as smart and friendly. It is not a cutthroat competitive atmosphere.</p>

<p>Definitely take a look at it. I recomment the open house days in the beginning of november.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the reply. Son is also considering a couple of the schools you listed, plus a few other D-IIIs, both in the PNW and so-cal. But based on everything I’ve heard and read, WU sounds like a great choice.</p>

4

<p>kellie I sound very similar to your daughter and am considering a lot of similar schools. I"m happy to hear the good report from WU! I’m going up in november for the open house and an overnight :)</p>

5

<p>Other similar schools: Pacific University (the one in OR), Lewis and Clark, U of Puget Sound. Actually any that are in the Northwest Conference (Athletic Conference for Willamette). What sport does your son play? Be sure to have him go for a recruiting visit if possible-- That way he can see what the school and team are like. My daughter is at Willamette, son at Puget Sound if you have other questions. Son is an athlete there. Good luck!</p>

6

<p>Hi there idahomom. Son is a baseball player. He met the Willamette coach at a showcase over the summer and liked what he heard. Willamette was not totally off of our radar - a local kid just graduated WU and played football for the Bearcats.</p>

<p>We’ll be visiting on Friday. Campus tour, interview w/admissions and a meeting with the coach are all on the agenda. Thanks, all, for the suggestions. I decided to fly after hearing about the train delay.</p>

7

<p>Like Kelliebeff, I also like to stay at the Phoenix Grand. If you tell them you’re visiting Willamette, they’ll give you a discount. They offer a nice buffet breakfast and it’s a pleasant walk from the hotel to campus. We really like the train, and although I’ve never experienced a delay, it did happen to my son on a return trip last year. </p>

<p>My son is now a sophomore at Willamette. We’re Californians, and Willamette was the only Oregon school he considered. He applied to the following schools–with results:</p>

<p>UC Berkeley (rejected)
Middlebury College (rejected)
Whitman College (rejected)
UC San Diego (accepted)
UC Santa Barbara (accepted)
Emory University (accepted)
Trinity College, CT (accepted)
Grinnell College (waitlisted)</p>

<p>He ended up choosing Willamette and loves it there. I hope your son has a great time visiting. Will he spend a night in the dorms?</p>

8

<p>My son is a senior majoring in Biology at Willamete and has enjoyed the small classes and paid research internships (VCU his freshman summer and OHSU this past summer). </p>

<p>He was accepted to the following:
Whitman - waitlisted
UO/OSU - Honors
Tulane - accepted
U of Portland - accepted
Gonzaga - accepted
U San Diego - accepted
Occidental - accepted</p>

<p>For us and him it came down to the cost. All the above schools except for UO/OSU offered him money to attend. Willamette awarded him very generous merit scholarship and grant moneys. So for him and us, it was less expensive for him to go to Willamette than to attend UO/OSU with no scholarships other than the ones he recieved in HS. </p>

<p>He loves Willamette and is doing very well. He really wanted to go to Tulane, but as it worked out, he’s very happy at Willamette. Salem is a small town – but the opportunities offered at Willamette vastly outweigh the small town nature of the area.</p>

9

<p>My other son is a freshman at Pomona College this year. He wanted to play football in college and was recruited by Willamette, Univ of Puget Sound, Occidental and Pomona College. </p>

<p>He had several choices and strongly considered Willamette, but Pomona meets 100% of your financial need. Willamette offered him a good merit based scholarship, as did the following good private schools: </p>

<p>U San Diego - honors
U of Portland - honors
Occidental - accepted
Santa Clara Univ - accepted</p>

<p>Again, it came down to cost to attend. Based on the salaries of both parents, Pomona College covers 100% of financial need. And we have 2 boys in college this year. And my son wanted to play football and go to a good school. For him, Pomona – while the same size as Willamette @ 1500 students is part of a consortium with 4 other colleges directly adjacent to Pomona. As each college has 800 to 1500 students, its like attending a larger university. </p>

<p>Willamette is a great private college. Having had 2 kids go through this process, and if money was not an issue, it would be wonderful to let them each go to their dream schools. If $$'s are an issue, in my opinion parents need to balance what is a good fit for your child and for you financially. However, as it turned out, I think both are going to their dream schools.</p>

<p>PS: Yes, if your son/daughter is interested in playing athletics in college I strongly encourage them to go on a recruiting visit!! Meet the coaches; spend a night in the dorm with a host player; eat in the cafeteria. Although my son really enjoyed his visits – it really made him feel more comfortable to meet the players and coaches (Helped mom and dad too!!) </p>

<p>Recruiting visits don’t have any impact on admissions at the top schools. Most operate under a blind admission policy – meaning they look at the students application and qualifications first, and don’t take athletics or financial need into account when making their admission decision.</p>

10

<p>What kind of non-athlete student would be a good fit for Willamette ?
How is the student culture different between Willamette and Lewis and Clark?
For the parent who has the student at Pomona: With the emphasis on internships would you see Willamette being somewhat similar to CMC?
Thanks!</p>

11

<p>"Questions: 1. What other schools did Willamette students consider? 2. Regarding our visit, can anyone give me a hotel recommendation? 3. We live near Sacramento and are toying with the idea of taking the train. Any comments would be welcomed.</p>

<p>We live near Sacramento too, and we flew. I stayed at a hotel about three miles away, (while son stayed with the soccer team) in an area that reminded me of Sacto! I will have to get the name. We also visited University of Portland, Gonzaga and Whitworth up that way, but not in the same trip. Son is now a freshamn at LMU, but Willamette was REALLY hard to let go. One negative was, not as much diversity as we were looking for.</p>

<p>It was The Grand Hotel.</p>

<p><a href=“The Grand Hotel in Salem | Salem, OR”>The Grand Hotel in Salem Oregon;

12

<p>Greeting from the Grand Hotel! Great visit so far. Thanks for the suggestions!</p>

13

<p>My son has applied, so now we wait. Looks like a great school.</p>

14

<p>Just returned from a short visit to Willamette with my daughter. She pronounced herself “charmed” within about 15 minutes on campus. She loved the beautiful fountain just at the entrance of the college near the admissions office. Then we walked a few feet into the campus and saw the stream, with water fowl sauntering alongside it and Adirondack chairs situated on its bank (it was not really a day for sitting stream-side, though it was quite fair as fall days in Oregon go). If you look at the university’s entry on the U.S. News site, you’ll see at least two pictures featuring the stream, facing the Mark O. Hatfield Library, where I spent a few hours of wi-fi time while my daughter toured, went to class, etc. There’s a funky “bistro” (I’d have called it a coffee shop, myself) in the student center that serves coffee, tea and light fare. When I walked in, I was surprised to hear “Sweet Home Alabama” playing; that was followed by a pure country number and, later, some contemporary bluegrass. The guy behind the counter was quizzing people about whether they liked country music, which I assume was a rather bold choice for a coffee shop in the Pacific Northwest. It was one of the coolest, most comfortable coffee shops I’ve seen on any college campus I’ve visited. (Lots of squishy couches.) My daughter sat in on one of the “college colloquium” courses and loved it (focus of the course is television series “The Wire”). Everyone we met was welcoming and hospitable, from admissions personnel to cafeteria staff. By day’s end, the school had earned a place on the top tier of my daughter’s list.</p>

15

<p>I’ve always lived in Oregon and probably will end up living in Portland for my life (I think that’s the first time I’ve ever acknowledged that.) I’ve visited 38 states, not necessarily for colleges, and I always find myself wishing for Oregon’s weather and culture. Northern California is nice, and some of the Northeast reminds me a bit of Oregon, but I always find other states falling flat to Oregon… in my mind at least.</p>

<p>Willamette has always been nice looking to me, and the people I’ve met there have been quite nice. It seems like a smaller-city college because it is. Meanwhile, L&C is graduate-student heavy and seems less into recruitment and attracting students because students seem to go to them. It is not in the middle of the city like Reed or UofP, but it isn’t as far from downtown as Salem is. Meanwhile, UofP is an urban environment, and Reed is in Eastmoreland, a place I find quite pretty.</p>

<p>On a side note, the Phoenix is quite nice. I’ve stayed there three times for Debate state championships and have always been extremely satisfied with the service.</p>

16

<p>I just realized that I totally confused UofP with PSU. Oops. UofP I know far less about… some Portlander I am.</p>

17

<p>I think most posters are away for the summer, but for those who are starting to create lists of colleges to consider, are there any other questions about Willamette?</p>

18

<p>Aloha CalAlum, Thanks for fielding questions…We just finished my D’s Northwest college visit circuit (Wilamette included). My D was very excited to visit this school because of the sheer number of kids she knows that are going there (’11 and ’12 grads from her school). On our drive back to my sister’s house in Portland, she wrote down her first impressions.<br>
Positives: The tour guide and councilor were great and the limited number of students/staff we did meet were super nice. The river was cool and campus feel was good. In was also in the capital’s backyard.
Negatives: Surrounding area appeared run-down and a little grungy. No flights directly into Salem. The train whistle every 15 minutes was really loud and even caused our tour guide to pause until it passed.</p>

<p>I think my D will still keep Willamette on her list, but are you able to speak a little about the immediate area surrounding the campus as well as the disturbance of the train? Specifically, (1) are there destinations off campus that the kids can easily AND SAFELY walk to that are extensions of campus-life (eateries, shopping, etc.) and (2) does the train keep kids up at night, cause distractions in studying, and/or disrupt lectures?</p>

19

<p>The immediate area surrounding the campus:
You can walk 7 blocks west all the way to the Willamette River, through a nice area of downtown Salem. If you walk south, you’ll encounter the hospital and then McCulloch stadium…if you continue, you’ll encounter some very charming neighborhoods (as I recall). Going north, you’ll walk through the grounds of the state capitol, and I suppose if you go four blocks further, you’ll encounter some residential neighborhoods with some run-down houses. East of campus are some little eateries the students frequent, and then about four blocks further east from campus you may also encounter some neighborhoods with run-down houses. I’d characterize the neighborhoods around Willamette as a mix, and definitely far safer than some of the neighborhoods around UC Berkeley or the University of Chicago or MIT – or any other university located smack in the midst of a city. But this may be something to consider – unlike Wellesley College, Willamette is not located in the rural countryside near a small middle-class suburban town.</p>

<p>You can access the campus safety report (the Clery report) on the campus website, and you’ll see that it is extremely rare for a student to run into trouble off campus. At least, I can’t remember a single incident over the past two years when this occurred. Once you’re on the website, just Google “campus safety” and look for the Clery report – every school is required by federal law to report school safety statistics on a regular basis, and these are also published in the Collegian, the student newspaper. </p>

<p>My son noticed the train whistle when he visited Willamette too – but after a few weeks, he stopped paying attention. I will be quite honest here and say that I am a full-fledged train fan, so I am probably biased when I say that the whistle can sound quite beautiful (truly!!!). I never heard my son say that you could hear the whistle in a classroom, and since he has slept through his alarm clock on occasion, I’ve concluded that the 7:30am whistle never is loud enough to wake him up. Too bad – I had really hoped that the train would provide a reliable alarm mechanism! If your child ends up matriculating at Willamette, it might be a good idea to select a dorm on the side of campus furthest away from the train – I’ve heard it’s particularly quiet in dorms like Lausanne and Doney.</p>

<p>There is no flight directly to Salem. However, the school arranges shuttle transportation up to the Portland airport during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring break holidays, and students sign up. There is also a regular shuttle (called the HUT shuttle) that leaves from a local Salem hotel, and riders can go online to make reservations and buy tickets. Unfortunately, the hotel is about 2 miles from the campus, so it involves either a long walk, catching a ride with a friend, or taking a $5 cab ride to the HUT shuttle. The good news is that by the sophomore year, students have developed circles of friends who will offer to drive to and fro to the airport. Also, there are “zip cars” for rent across the street at the train station, and any student with a driving license and rent one and shuttle a carload of friends to the airport.</p>