<p>Your gpa and test scores are higher than the mean for Willamette, so chances are great. Just apply; Willamette provides merit scholarship information with the acceptance letter.</p>
<p>I had a 3.93 GPA when I applied and a 32 on the ACT and they gave me 16k/year in the admission letter, so Iād say you have a really good chance of having a good scholarship too. Probably close to what I got if not the same. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Would love to see this thread revived for the Fall 2013 admissions round. DS is considering UPS, Willamette, L&C, Whitman (reach, but it has his Geology major).</p>
<p>ok, so I thought a bump was in orderā¦</p>
<p>hereās another bump to get this thread re-started. Anyone?</p>
<p>My sister applied to UPS last year and it was about 5k more per year than any other school she applied to. I decided not to apply because of their poor aid and got a lot at Willamette. Going there is around the same price as UO making it a good deal. UPS not so much.</p>
<p>Impression from a father who visited both:</p>
<p>I found the two schools very similar in feel. Of the small liberal arts schools we visited, these were the top two (my son liked them better than L&C and Whitman, and probably Oxy, although the last one may have been due to an odd visit ā for some reason, we just didnāt run into many students).</p>
<p>My sense - and this could be off ā is that Willamette might have more pre-professional students, while UPS is a little more artsy. UPS also had more vocational type majors. I thought UPS had a prettier campus, but Willamette was in a better location.</p>
<p>My son has been admitted to Willamette. If he goes to a small school, this will likely be the one, but he is waiting to hear from several larger schools and may go that route.</p>
<p>Hmm I havenāt visited Willamette but I have Whitman and I am pretty sure I like Whitman better!</p>
<p>Thanks to all who have posted here. Even though this discussion is almost two years old, I am getting a lot of useful information. We toured Willamette & UPS last year, and my son liked them both very much. He just got admitted to both schools with Willamette giving quite a bit of merit money. UPS gave him merit money, but about $2K less. My son will definitely struggle to choose between the two. He loved the Willamette campus, the hearth system, and the proximity to the Capitol and downtown. At UPS, he liked that many students do minors or double major. He is going to study history, but he has a strong love of theater and might want to pursue that to some degree.</p>
<p>@thirrdplant: Last spring, we visited a handful of northwest schools. Willamette was not on our radar until we got a mailer from them. We did a little research and decided to check it out. Absolutely fell in love with the school. Donāt rule it out!! We talked to people we know in the northwest and around here (Bay Area, CA). I was astonished at the number of people who just raved about Willamette. Also, they offered my son, who is a good but not over achieving student, $20,000 in merit money! Definitely visit Willamette or do a little more research. It has a lot going for it.</p>
<p>@ craig643 : This is a reply to your message. (Your settings are such that I cannot reply directly to you privately.) </p>
<p>My son had pretty much decided on Willamette until he got into Reed. He visited both schools over spring break, sat in on classes, etc., and decided on Reed. I personally was still pulling for Willamette, but he is extremely excited about attending Reed in the fall. </p>
<p>I hope your son has a wonderful experience at Willamette. Congrats to him.</p>
<p>@bayareamomof2: Congratulations to you and your son!</p>
<p>Iād like to bump this thread, and others regarding Willamette. My son was just accepted there, with an attractive merit scholarship, but we havenāt visited the campus yet. Weāre from NJ, and have never even been to the Pacific Northwest. Iād appreciate any insights. Itās not a top choice, but it might eventually be a finalist.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son! My D just got into a Willamette today as well. We have visited both schools and honestly both are terrific. UPS is in a really nice part of Tacoma. Most of the city is less than perfect but the UPS neighborhood is great. The school is beautifully maintained and is actively adding and upgrading facilities. UPS star is rising and it has solid liberal arts programs and some strong professional programs. All of us, though, loved Willamette. It is a very compact college with a stream running through it and it is immediately across the street from the State Capitol. A hospital is down the block. Both present great internship opportunities. Salem is a nice little working class city only about 40 minutes from Portland. A train runs directly from campus to Portland (a fabulous city if you ask me). The programs seem academically strong and many members of the faculty have won the Oregon professor of the year award. We have met professors, students and staff and were impressed by all. There is something homey and welcoming about this campus that appealed to my D. I think both are terrific and I am sure you donāt want to hear this but itās probably best to visit both.</p>
<p>My daughter applied to Reed, L&C, Whitman, Willamette, and UPS. So far she has heard back from UPS and Willamette, receiving decent merit aid from both (but significantly more from Willamette). We visited them all last summer, and were impressed by all of them. It has been interesting to read all of these comments and impressions. I think we would be inclined to agree with most of what I have read. I see Willamette as a rising star in the pantheon of PNW schools. The new President seems to be working hard to increase awareness of the school and to encourage high-achieving students to apply. Since the quality of the educational experience can vary depending on who your classmates are, I think Willamette is becoming more attractive and competitive than its historical numbers might imply. Whitman was her favorite after visiting all of the campuses, and L&C probably her least, but she isnāt confident that she will be accepted to Whitman, nor Reed, so it will probably come down to one of the other three. We plan to do an overnight at Willamette in a couple of weeks.</p>
<p>S was accepted to both Willamette and UPS, both offering almost identical amounts in merit aid. We toured L&C this summer and he was really turned off by the guide (itās unfortunate she was so bad at selling the schoolāshe acted like she could care lessābut I blame that on L&Cās admissionās staff) so he didnāt bother to apply which is ironic since I thought he would like L&C the best of all the small colleges in the PNW, mainly because itās in Portland. The campus was in disarray with construction, and it didnāt seem cohesive. And there was the guide who, Iām afraid to say, seemed high as a kite during the tour.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the guide at UPS was great, but the guide at Willamette was fantastic. The admissions staff was equally charming at both schools (L&C, however, seemed like they were doing us a favor by spending 10 minutes with each kid who visited that day). Heās leaning heavily toward Willamette, however, primarily because of that indescribable feeling of belonging on the campus. He loved the stream, the buildings, the trees, everything. He sees himself at Willamette. UPS was beautiful, too, but there was just something more intimate about Willametteās campus. Another plus in Willametteās favor is that it was the first school to accept him, and he also liked the āpodsā outside the professorsā offices. That approach to learning reminded him of his school (independent prep school in the SW), which he adores.</p>
<p>So far weāve been very impressed with Willamette and heās joined the Facebook page and has gotten to know some of the other kids whoāve been accepted, who all seem really smart, talented, and, most importantly, nice. </p>
As between W and UPS, which has more going on in terms of arts, theater and student music?
Can anyone compare them to LACs in other parts of the country?