Questions regarding Pacific Lutheran University (Seattle: law school, universities, living)

[Thewalkindude]

Hello everybody!

This is my first post here, so please be patient with me if I'm posting this in the wrong section.

Well I might as well introduce myself, my name is Oskar and I'm an international student who is considering going to the US to pursue a university degree! One of the schools I'm currently looking at, is the Pacific Lutheran University as I have been offered an extensive scholarship to go there. Therefore I would like to hear some of your opinions on this college.

1. Is it a good university?

2. Is the school conservative? I don't mean to offend anyone, but I must admit that the name freaks me out a little bit. A conservative scool is simply not what I'm looking for seeing I would like to experience the full college experience, and that includes alcohol and parties.

3. Would I have fun there?

Thank you so much for your answers!

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[Dendrite]

Hi Oskar:

It's a little hard to answer your questions specifically as different people have different goals in mind when selecting a university. Good parties and good academics don't always coincide but I'll take a shot at your questions:

1) I think it's a good ("good" is such a relative term!), smaller, private, liberal arts university. I personally don't think it has the academic reputation of the University of WA but perhaps I'm biased as I went to UW.

2) PLU (Pacific Lutheran University) has ties to the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). Without turning this in to a lesson on denominational distinctives, of the Lutheran synods in the USA, the ELCA is generally regarded as the more (most?) "liberal" (e.g. least conservative) of the synods (vs. WELS/ELS and the LCMS). Lutherans "drink" and don't necessarily abstain from alcohol as some of the Evangelical groups do, so if drinking and parties are what you're after, I'm sure you'll be able to find these at PLU without too much difficulty. If it helps, there are many students at PLU who aren't Lutheran and (from talking to friends who have attended PLU) aren't even Christian in the remotest sense of the word. Thus I don't think you necessarily have to "freak out" as you say about the perceived conservatism of this school. It's not like checking in to a monastery or something! Personally, the question I'd be asking myself is: What does the school offer me in terms of my anticipated major or area of study vs. the other universities I'm considering? But again, that's just me!

3) Don't know. I think most students "have fun" regardless of the college they choose. This is more of an individual ability rather than a university offering. FWIW, PLU does seem to have a fairly large contingent of international students so I think you'd likely have the fun you're seeking and wouldn't feel out of place at all.

I hope this helps some. Extensive scholarships are nice!

[cabocurtis]

My niece is about to graduate there and is getting into law school. From what I hear you wont have too much difficulty to find a party. She rates the academic experience solid and has been happy with her choice. The surrounding area does not seem that great but the campus is nice. You are a one hour drive to Seattle and 2.5 to Portland in non rush hour commutes so can find many things to do.

[Thewalkindude]

Thanks a bunch for your answers guys! I appreciate it greatly.

And please, if anyone else would like to add something, feel free to do so.

[VeronikaW]

I just wanted to add that I went to Concordia University which is a Lutheran university affiliated with the least liberal part of the Lutheran church (Missouri Synod), and I wasn't ever without a drink in my hand on a weekend, so I don't think you have to worry about not finding a party!

V. =)

[Thewalkindude]

Thanks Verikona! That's a big relief, actually.

[Mark Matthes]

I graduated from PLU in 1991 and my sister in 1993. Neither of us lived as Christians at that time although we called ourselves Christians. Alcohol parties ran every weekend so if that's what floats your boat then you'll likely have various location options to choose from.

The good: Students, staff, and faculty are very friendly and it is easy to plug in socially. Being an introvert I was apprehensive about running for a student government position in high school, but felt encouraged and supported to do so at PLU. I was elected Senator one year and executive Comptroller the next year. I doubt that would have happened at a larger, state school. My best experience at PLU was participating in their study abroad program in Denmark.

The bad: Now for some negative points so that you have a balanced perspective going in. Make no bones about it, this is a liberal school. I never attended chapel. I never went to church. I never took a Christianity course. The closest religious experience was taking a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue class. A great class, but one that pushed me further toward agnosticism. I began PLU by thinking I was a Christian (even though I was not) and ended PLU by living immorally, getting lulled into pornography partly because 2 of my roommates had magazines laying around, being an agnostic confused about if God even existed, and embarked on the road of hedonism and destruction. I chased the "American Dream", lived for myself, my wife (also a PLU grad) divorced me after 7 years, and my life pretty much fell apart.

In all fairness, I don't blame all this on PLU. I take responsibility for my actions. But PLU did not serve as a marinade to live a healthy life. Quite the opposite. To my knowledge I didn't have a single Christian professor--at least nobody professed it. Christianity was not integrated into PLU's curriculum.

Yesterday in a meeting in Minneapolis on Aug 21, 2009, the 4.7-million member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), the largest Lutheran denomination in the United States and the closest religious affiliate of PLU, voted Friday "to allow Lutherans in same-gender relationships to serve as pastors of congregations and serve in other professional leadership roles." Until now, only celibate gay men and lesbians could serve such church roles. So if you are looking for a denominational school that is liberal, even what I would describe as secular, then this school might serve you well.

But it begs the question, if PLU is virtually a secular school, what makes it distinctive compared to other universities? I think its main distinctive is its small, but not too small, size. I like this. And I admit that it is a beautiful campus. But you can get similar size and parallel beauty at other nearby universities...University of Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark College, Willamette, Gonzaga, Seattle Pacific, Seattle University, Reed, etc. If you can't get a good Christian foundation at PLU, and don't really want to pursue a life with Christ, why not consider another university that will help you more in your career? I could elaborate on what I thought of my major classes (business), but that would require another essay. I'll just say that I was less than impressed by the quality.

In my opinion, schools like PLU that have a denomination in their title cause people to misunderstand what kind of place it is. I thought I was coming to a religious-rooted school...and I was, albeit the root was so far down that I could barely sense it. And some naive students and parents, myself included, actually thought PLU was a school with Christian professors and an integrated Christian curriculum.

After graduating from PLU I went on to attend 3 other schools: a big state school (Boise State University), another small "religious-based but not practicing" university (Marylhurst University--received MBA), and have spent the past 3 years working on a second masters degree at a legitimate Christian institution (Biola University--my favorite, by far).

If I had to do it all over again, for my bachelors I'd probably choose a school with the best scholastic reputation I could get into, OR a Christian institution like Biola or Wheaton, OR a top-tier specialty school to get an AA in a marketable trade (like The Art Center in SoCal). For graduate studies, I'd choose a school with top scholars in whatever field I was specializing in.

In conclusion, I do not recommend spending $80K or more for luke-warm. Choose a school that will aid you for life. Education is transformational either in a good way or bad way. Take time to choose wisely, and aim high. Remember that your school choices remain on your resume for your entire career. Where you went to school tells employers what kind of people and knowledge you've been immersed in.

It's one thing to leave off from your resume a particular job because you don't like it, but harder to leave off a degree.

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by VeronikaW

I just wanted to add that I went to Concordia University which is a Lutheran university affiliated with the least liberal part of the Lutheran church (Missouri Synod), and I wasn't ever without a drink in my hand on a weekend, so I don't think you have to worry about not finding a party!

V. =)

Must not have been Concordia in Portland, or if so, it changed a lot after the early 80s. I used to date a woman who was attending there (pretty stupid of me, considering how done I was with the LCMS), and I think if I'd have popped open a beer they'd have called security to eject me from campus. Maybe I just saw the wrong part of Concordia.