Willamette University Top Questions

There is an exercise science major that works very well for premed students and there are a myriad of performing opportunities including open mic nights.

How expensive tuition and books would really be. Also, I wish I would have been more aware of all of the majors available.

You get last dibs on the classes you want to take for spring semester. Now I know that this should have been expected, and I sort of did expect it, but it really is frustrating when your first, second, third, and fourth choices get taken, so you have to find a random class and turn your schedule around 8 ways to Sunday.

I wish I had know just what it means to go to such a small school. If you do something good, everyone knows. And if you do something bad--everyone knows. Its's a little claustrophobic at times.

I wish that I had known more about how their system works. As this is a liberal arts school there are a bunch of general ed requirements that are required for graduation, I wish I had known more about those so that my first semester would have been set up better.

Willamette is a very friendly, engageing school and fairly academically motivated. If I could go back, I would a apply to schools that were fairly friendly and very academically motivated. Willamette is a great school for anyone who would like to be socially and academically balanced. However, intensely academic students might want to look elsewhere.

I wish I had known about the train that ran parallel to the campus at all hours of the night. I also wish I would have known that after move-in weekend the food quality on campus takes a steady decline until parent's weekend when they amp it back up again. I really love the freedom and the fact that I do not have the burden of parents dictating or controlling my decisions in terms of my major. I didn't know beforehand that I was finally in complete control of my future.

Before I came to this school, I wish I had known about the many transportation options available to students at the school. The train station is literally across the street from campus and the bus station is just a short walk down the road. I was very worried about how I was going to get around in college, being a freshman without a car, but I have found that it is and extremely simple task. And with Portland just a short train/bus ride away, there is always stuff to do.

My high school academic experience can be summed up in one word: easy. I knew that college was going to be different than high school, but I was not expecting it to be that overwhelming. I had to get used to the extremely different workload while trying to manage it with the new found freedom I was experiencing. I wish I knew how much harder it would be to maintain your grades in college. It took me a while to get the hang of college academics, but I finally figured out the best way to balance studying and playing.

I wish I had known that most professors at Willamette expect full and dedication towards the course. I wish I had known that because the classes are so small, you can't "hide" from your professors and therefore each student needs to come prepared and ready to be challenged.