<p>Since we have a Willamette vs. Lewis and Clark thread, I figured why not a Willamette vs. U of Puget Sound. That CC board is too quiet!</p>
<p>Here are some benchmark comparisons, taken from the common data sets of all three schools. Willamette gives the largest average merit scholarships, though the other two schools provide larger average need-based scholarships. Willamette has the highest freshman retention rate, which seems to suggest that students there are happier (and thus willing to return the following year).</p>
<p>Average merit (non-need) scholarship:
Willamette = $12,932
Lewis & Clark = $7,014
Puget Sound = $10,172</p>
<p>Average need-based scholarship
Willamette = $25,061
Lewis & Clark = $26,130
Puget Sound = $28,277</p>
<p>Admission rate, freshman class
Willamette = 42%
Lewis & Clark = 58%
Puget Sound = 63%</p>
<p>Number enrolled in freshman class
Willamette = 427
Lewis & Clark = 533
Puget Sound = 302</p>
<p>Freshman retention rate (percent of freshman who return the next year)
Willamette = 90%
Lewis & Clark = 83%
Puget Sound = 86%</p>
<p>Sources: <a href=“http://www.pugetsound.edu/about/offices--services/institutional-research/general-information/”>http://www.pugetsound.edu/about/offices--services/institutional-research/general-information/</a>
<a href=“http://www.lclark.edu/livewhale/download/?id=4134[/url]”>http://www.lclark.edu/livewhale/download/?id=4134</a>
<a href=“http://www.willamette.edu/dept/ir/cds/by_year/2010/index.html[/url]”>http://www.willamette.edu/dept/ir/cds/by_year/2010/index.html</a></p>
<p>Some more stats:</p>
<p>Yield rate (% of admitted students who enroll), freshman class:</p>
<p>Willamette: 12.9%
Lewis & Clarks: 13.7%
Puget Sound: 20.4%</p>
<p>SATs (mid 50% Range)</p>
<p>Willamette: 570-680 CR, 570-660 M, 570-670 Wr
Lewis & Clark 600-700 CR, 580-670 M, 580-680 Wr
Puget Sound 570-680 CR, 560-680 M</p>
<p>Latest Lewis & Clark CDS: <a href=“http://www.lclark.edu/live/files/7196-cdsc2010pdf[/url]”>http://www.lclark.edu/live/files/7196-cdsc2010pdf</a></p>
<p>The number of freshmen at Puget Sound this year was 721 and is usually close to that number</p>
<p>^Thanks for the correction; my error. I neglected to add male and female students! Puget Sound’s freshman class is the largest of the three schools by far.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! Fascinating.</p>
<p>We toured all three schools and I (speaking as a parent) liked all three for different reasons. I liked L&Cs proximity to vibrant Portland and campus beauty is a real draw. I forgot about the poor retention rate, and I think prospective students need to do a bit more homework in picking schools since L&C draws a certain type of student. I like Willamette for its location next to the Capitol, a law school and a hospital for research or volunteer opportunities. Our tour guide said all one had to do to get government internships was to be breathing - the school has a great relationship. I liked their study areas right outside the professor’s offices. I think Puget Sound has an advantage of a slightly larger student body (hence more depth across their departments), proximity to opportunity-rich Seattle, and is an up and coming diamond. Too bad their merit aid isn’t better, that would give Willamette a run for their $.</p>
<p>My daughter is a Junior at Willamette and my son is a freshman at Puget Sound . My son received more money than my daughter with very similar grades/scores. So while UPS might give less merit money on average you never know. If anyone has questions about either school I would be happy to help based on our families experience. Both of them love their schools!</p>
<p>Hi idahomom,</p>
<p>I’d love to hear your impressions regarding the similarities and differences between Willamette and UPS. What types of kids do they both attract (or not)? Do both draw mainly from the PNW, or is one more “national” in its student body? Any differences in campus life? What are the respective strengths and weakenesses of academic departments? Any pleasant surprises or disappointments at either school?</p>
<p>Hoping to take S2 to visit some colleges in the PNW in the spring. Right now we’ve got Lewis & Clark, Willamette, and Whitman on the list. Would love to also swing north to see UPS, but don’t know if it will be logistically possible.</p>
<p>Yes idahomom please go with sunmachine’s questions!</p>
<p>sunmachine, consider Linfield as well if you are in that neck of the woods. Reed…thats another animal.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Some of this information is in the common data sets:</p>
<p>Percent of freshman class from out of state:
Willamette = 72%
Lewis & Clark = 82%
Puget Sound = 74%</p>
<p>Percent of undergrads that are males (relates to “types of kids they attract”):
Willamette = 44%
Lewis & Clark = 40%
Puget Sound = 41%
Note: The national average of a liberal arts college is now close to 40% male</p>
<p>Average high-school GPA of admitted students:
Willamette = 3.70
Lewis & Clark = 3.69
Puget Sound = 3.50</p>
<p>It’s interesting that Puget Sound offered a larger scholarship to a young man than to a young woman with comparable scores. I wonder if that has anything to do with a desire to recruit more male students?</p>
<p>Hi All–
Some of the similarities/differences I have found based on my 2 kids (more similarities than differences)</p>
<p>Location:
Willamette-- In downtown area right across from the capitol. Lots of coffee shops, restaurants, bars etc within a few blocks of campus. Not too much else exciting in Salem (according to daughter) About 1 hour to coast
UPS-- In residential area. Lots of very close houses to rent. Farther walk to restaurants, coffee shops, etc. But prettier area, more trees. Also only about 2 miles to Puget sound. Lots of recent upgrades in Tacoma especially along the water in the north part</p>
<p>Student type-- This is a little harder-- son has only been in school one semester. And some is based on types of students my kids are friends with
Willamette-- more “artsy” students. Very strong theater dept. Daughter is double major in psychology and creative writing. Creative writing is a new major there. Greek life is a somewhat big factor in students social life
UPS-- more pre-professional students, has a physical therapy grad school there. Son is exercise science major, thinking of PT. He says Greek life not as big a factor as Willamette in social scene</p>
<p>On Campus Living
Willamette: Students must live on campus 2 years. Daughters freshman dorm very old, not very nice. Sophomore year was nice
UPS: Students must live on Campus 1 year. SOns freshman dorm very nice-- small rooms, but the building has been renovated very recently. Plans to move to a nearby house next year</p>
<p>Food:
Willamette: Meal plans have some number of all you can eat meals (7 per week) plus points. Daughter doesn’t like the all you can eat meals very much-- but she is pretty picky
UPS: All on points. Son likes the variety. Of course he hasn’t been there long enough to get tired of it</p>
<p>Students from other places:
Both have friends from all over-- all over US and other countries. SO I don’t think there is a noticible difference. Neither school has the type of students who all go home every weekend</p>
<p>Weather:
UPS has more rain than Willamette. Temperature probably about the same</p>
<p>Clarification on Financial Aid</p>
<p>Daughter (Willamette) Slightly higher test scores, lower GPA (test scores about 1880, gpa 3.6)
Son (UPS) Test scores about 1800, gpa 3.75. </p>
<p>Son-- also an athlete, recruited. Schools are both D3, but still maybe he got more aid due to the coach putting in a good word</p>
<p>Feel free to ask more questions-- both are very happy.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Just to put this in context, 25% of Willamette’s student body is involved in the Greek community. This information came just yesterday in a letter to Willamette parents about Greek Life on campus. All of Willamette’s fraternities and sororities “reside in on-campus housing.” This is a higher number than at Puget Sound, where 18% of men and 21% of women live in Greek houses located just off the campus.</p>
<p>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>My son is a freshman planning to minor in Japanese and possibly major in economics or English. He’s not at all artsy, so I’ve probably not heard much about Willamette as an “artsy” place because of the kinds of friends he’s making. He’s very involved with the backpacking club, so I’ve heard more about the outdoorsy, environmentally conscious types who like to get out to the mountains every weekend for hiking, climbing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, etc. etc. On the other hand, he’s described Willamette as a school with all types of students, from intense math types who enjoy getting together every week for puzzles and games, to vocal performers who practice in one of the 3 or more acapella groups, to pre-business and pre-law types who throw themselves into internships in Salem.</p>
<p>In terms of student majors, there are some similarities with Puget Sound. For instance, according to Puget Sound’s Common Data Set (“Degrees Conferred), 9% of students there major in English and 8.5% major in Foreign Languages & Literatures, which is only slightly lower than at Willamette. At Puget Sound, 7.48% of students major in the visual and performing arts, close to the percentage at Willamette (7%) </p>
<p>There are some fairly significant differences as well. At Puget Sound, no students major in environmental science, and around 16% of students major in business marketing, which Willamette doesn’t offer as an undergraduate degree. At Puget Sound, only about 1% major in mathematics (compared to 3% at Willamette), and fewer than 2% major in the physical sciences (compared to 6% at Willamette). </p>
<p>Most common majors at Willamette </p>
<hr>
<p>Here are the most common major areas, starting with the most popular:</p>
<ol>
<li>Social sciences (anthropology, archaeology, business, economics, geography, political science, sociology, international studies) 26%</li>
<li>Natural Sciences (biological, physical, environmental) 15% </li>
<li>English 11% </li>
<li>Foreign languages and literature 10%</li>
<li>Visual and performing arts 7% </li>
<li>History 7% </li>
<li>Psychology 6% </li>
<li>Interdisciplinary studies 5% </li>
<li>Area and ethnic studies 3%</li>
<li>Mathematics and statistics 3%</li>
</ol>
<p>Source: J. Degrees Conferred</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all this great info on these three PNW schools! My DD #3 recently toured and interviewed at Willamette during her winter break. This fall, she also visited Linfield, Lewis & Clark, Pacific U and U of Portland. We had previously toured Whitman and UPS a few years ago, when her sisters were exploring schools. Willamette was sort of an after-thought, as neither of her sisters had had any interest in it. But, Willamette turned out to be her favorite! It is definitely her #1 now, so we shall see . . .</p>
<p>Thanks so much to everybody as I just read from the beginning and would have had many similar questions which were already asked and answered…My son is from Northern California…and we just visited four small LAC in the Pacific Northwest. In general we noticed diversity was not so high relative to what we are used to here, and that’s just good to know. So it feels important to find out about how kids blend and are accepted amongst different groups…and how they integrate…All the schools we saw were great, and for the purposes of this thread I am specifically referring to Puget Sound and Willamette. We had lunch at both places because it is a great way to feel out the student body (and check out the food!). At Puget Sound, during lunch, I noticed and saw two seperate groups of African American kids sitting together…I didn’t see any African American kids mixed in individually with the main body of students and the lunch area was quite full…so I wondered if ethnic kids or other sub groups (football players, artsy kids, etc) separate out socially or really integrate in. I know that like interests can bring people together of course, but I am not talking about that per say but more about true integration and intermingling socially amongst the students…Also don’t mean to focus solely on any ethnic groups it just happened to be what made me wonder that day and it stayed with me to remember to ask…Would like to know about Willamette student body too.</p>
<p>D attended Willamette. Her roommates are Hawaiian and Hispanic. Many of her close friends were students of color (she isn’t). There seemed to be no problem mixing.</p>
<p>Just thought I’d say that after visiting, Willamette and Lewis and Clark both went way up in my son’s estimation. The Willamette campus was extremely nice, a mix of old and new buildings, lots of trees, and Salem, though not Portland, has what you need. The people were friendly, and my son really liked the class he visited and said the students were really engaged. The students at Willamette also didn’t appear to me to be as straight laced and conservative as I’d been led to believe - plenty of edgy looking kids at the Bistro, more so than, say, at Whitman, which we visited the day before. I still think Whitman’s a great school, but the vast majority of the kids there looked like they came from the same mold - that is, really smart, wealthy, suburban white kids. Not much racial diversity at Willamette either, but the kids looked more socially and economically diverse in the way they are at a public high school as opposed to at an expenseive private. Just my impressions. Bottom line is that Whitman, Willamette, and Lewis and Clark are all on S2’s list, and we’d be thrilled to get an acceptance letter from any of them.</p>
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<p>Willamette is a great school and I wistfully think of the terrific financial aid package that they offered my son. I’m sure he would have had a fine time there, he has a couple friends who go there and absolutely love it, but in the end made that very subjective choice to go to Whitman. </p>
<p>I agree that I have never heard the adjective “edgy” applied to Whitman students, and my S fits with your description of being smart and white, as do most of his classmates. However, you’ll find a bunch of kids from small towns and rural public high schools there, including my son, we live in the boonies. Sure there are plenty of kids from the Seattle and Portland 'burbs, as well as Californians from the LA and Bay areas, but I was interested to meet so many kids from places way off the beaten track, and S wouldn’t be attending if he hadn’t gotten significant merit aid. Socio-economic differences are harder to detect than ethnic diversity, and I do wish there was more of the ethnic kind at Whitman, but there is more of the socio-economic kind than you think. Less urban edge is definitely true.</p>
<p>Thanks for post sunmachine. We felt the same after visits. Lewis and Clark–good faculty (but terrible financial aid package). D and I also really liked Willamette on visits (I on first one, she on second one that was overnight). Great faculty, interesting students. Amazing outgoing president (and new one looks interesting!). She chose Willamette in the end, though an acceptance off waitlist from Macalester last week has us second-guessing. Willamette gave decent aid/merit. Better than Macalester, so we are waiting from them for a reconsideration of that, but honestly, it’s a hard choice. Willamette may not have the national prestige or the concentration of “bright and quirky” students that some of the more well-known schools have (like Mac), but it seems plenty attractive and stats keep going up as well. And, as a college teacher myself, I know they’ve landed incredible new faculty the past 5 years while the state schools (and many LACs) have frozen hiring…</p>
<p>Hi, what are my chances of getting a merit scholarship if I have a gpa of 3.882 and an ACT score of 31? Would the scholarship be higher? And are there forms that need to be filled out in order to receive the scholarship?</p>