University of Portland Top Questions

Before I came to the University of Portland, I wish I would have known my major. It is difficult as an undeclared student to stay on track, even though I came in with extra credits from high school. If I later decide to become a nurse, pre-med, or engineering major, I will be far behind my classmates. I wish my high school would have offered more opportunities for students to discover their passions before I came to college.

I wish I had known how much money I would need to attend school. If the cost of attendance was not high enough (50,000+ dollars) there are many other expenses related to living in Portland. Transportation is expensive. Outings are expensive. I wish I would have known to apply for more scholarships and to get a job the summer before attending school.

Before I came to school I wish I would have known how to mamage my free time. The difference between the amount of time you spend in class vs. out of class in college is drastically different than high school. It can be quite tricky to find ways to manage you time and get all course work done, while still having time to spend time with friends and in clubs/ orginizations.

Before choosing to attend the University of Portland, I wish I would have known about the lack of dorm community. Part of me really counted on making a lot of my friends through my dorms. My dorm feels like a hotel, where no one comes out of their rooms and not many people attend the dorm activities. A few of the other dorms have a more communal feel, but overall most students stay in their rooms. Thankfully, the University of Portland offers a required freshman workshop which really helped me make most of my friends.

I wish I would have known that the weekends are somewhat dead on campus, you have to make plans to ensure you have something to do.

I wish I knew how other people enjoyed the campus, food, and social life before coming here. There is a lot of free activities and are usually hosted every saturday. There are also free movies every Friday and many things to do on campus.

If I would have taken more AP exams, I could have gained credit for a lot of the core classes and then would not have to take the classes at the college.

I wish that I would have had a better sense of the community at the University of Portland. Community is one of the corner stones of the University contributes to the positive atmosphere on campus. The unique community is created in the small classes, through campus events, and especially in the dorms. I feel that the community at the University of Portland is one of the University’s greatest strengths and effectively compliments its innovative business curriculum.

That tuition gets more and more expensive every year and they still can't give out more financial aid. Almost every student at the University of Portland gets financial aid from the school and some private scholarships, but financial aid does not increase with tuition. I wish I had known how much work coursework is involved for engineering classes. A majority of high school is very easy and does not take nearly as much time as college homework. In college, you really do spend two or more hours doing homework for every hour you are in class.

I wish I would have known exactly what I wanted to study before I came to the University of Portland. I have switched majors a couple times and I am currently double majored but if I were to go back and start school over I would probably be in a different major/field altogether. Also I wish I would have known how important it is to establish productive academic and social habits from the beginning. It is important to extend beyond your comfort zone, to participate in activities, and meet as many new people as possible.