Willamette University Top Questions

The worst thing about Willamette is simply the lack of things to do around campus. It is a small school, so there is not a very large social scene. When it comes to weekends, most students end up drinking simply because there is nothing else to do. I have not found the students to be very focused, so the intellectual discussions I had hoped for are nowhere to be found. It seems to be a pretty shallow culture, and I am not fond of the drinking and partying, just for lack of anything to do, or any intelligent ideas.

The worst thing about my school for me is that the school is not too big into their varsity sports as are larger state university schools.

The lack of diversity at this school. There is a lot of racial/ethnic/cultural tension because of that.

The small size of our school makes four years heere really difficult to find new minds or talent. We do have avery talented body, but we all tend to do two or more activities because in order for them to run we need to do them. Everyone seems to know everyone's business. I'm not sure where they would expand, but with a bit more expansion, I believe they'd be able to keep the integrity of the school intact. It is sometimes difficult to compete with other schools when we have such a small pool to draw from.

Unfortunately, the worst thing about Willamette is unequivocally the price tag. At just under 40,000 per year when all is said and done, many students are forced to take out large amounts of student loans in order to complete their education. However, the school uses it's funds quite well, offering a myriad of opportunites for students of all interests. In addition a Willamette degree combined with its supporting structure of faculty and alumni make it relatively easy to find a job that will help you to pay back even a substantial amount of student loans.

The Salem area is not my favorite. I came from a slightly larger city, and its frustrating to me that there is very little night life here, or really any activities for those under 21. However, some of this is balanced out by the fact that Portland is only about an hour away by car, bus, or train, so if there's a concert going on, you can get up there pretty easily.

I can't think of a "worst" thing about this school.

It's a toss up between the rainy season (which lasts from October to May usually) and the struggle to find a balance among school, social life, and sleep.

Lack of racial diversity.

It's almost too small. Most people have one circle of friends that they associate themselves with and are not too enthusiastic about oping their circle of friends. I think that if the school was a little bigger it would broaden people's groups of friends or atleast give them the opportunity to do so.