My daughter has been accepted at Willamette University…and they have been nice enough to add some significant financial inducements. We have never been there (it is a long haul from Ohio) and my daughter does have her eye on some other places, but the financial aid the school’s reputation is making it quite attractive. So, any comments? Any advice?
We send quite a few students there (I teach at a big public high school in Montana). Its a very good school with some good programs, but no Stanford. Pretty diverse (some hippies, more preps, more rich kids than not). I think Salem is pretty lame, though. As far as NW private schools, I have always thought more highly of Reed, Lewis & Clark, Gonzaga, PLU …
Its a nice school and pretty campus. But salem is a dive (the armpit of Oregon). You can drive to some nice places to play though.
The grads have a good reputation, and I agree the students are bit more diverse than other private options such as Reed.
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My sister went there. Loved it. She is in grad school now, and just got a job in Australia. The campus is beautiful. Some areas of Salem are a little strange, but no different than any other big city.
At least go check it out. My sister was deciding between Willamette and a couple other schools and decided upon Willamette after visiting. Oregon is great place to live, and it is a DIII school, so you can walk onto almost any sports team. (My sister could have played DI soccer, but decided to pursue education and still play soccer - it worked well for her.)
Send me a PM and I can put your daughter in touch with her.