Oregon Colleges (Portland, Corvallis: credit, loans, dorms)

[Radio Flyer]

Tell me about your college experiences...Where did you go and are you glad that you attended? Any regrets? On paper, both UO and OS look pretty good to me, but I'd like to know what the real dirt is....How about Portland State? I hadn't even heard of this school until I stated researching.

Also, are you an Oregon native, or were you an out-of-stater that attended school and then stuck around?

Or...if you're a native Oregonian and decided to attend elsewhere, where did you go and why?

(Private college info. is appreciated too, but they look to be way out of our league financially.)

[Larry Caldwell]

The tuition gap between private colleges and state colleges is narrowing, and you will have many more options for financial aid at a private college. The state is in a budget crisis, and state universities are already announcing tuition increases.

[Radio Flyer]

Unfortunately, there seem to be tuition increases just about everywhere...Larry, when you say "financial aid", are you referring to grants and scholarships or loans?

[Larry Caldwell]

Private colleges have trust funds for student aid. They provide grants, scholarships, and direct tuition relief. The rule of thumb is that if you can put in one good year at a private college they will find the means to get you to graduation. Also, it's becoming more rare for students to graduate in 4 years because of limited class sizes and sessions. There's a good chance you will have to do a 5th year because you could not get the classes you need in 4. If you are comparison shopping, don't forget that not only do you have to pay for a 5th year of college, but you lose the income you would have earned while sitting around for 9 months trying to get those last 18 credits. Budget constraints at state schools are a nightmare. I have a nephew who could not graduate in his chosen major because he had to wait around that 5th year, and the department canceled that major.

State schools continue to be a popular choice for tens of thousands of students, but don't dismiss private colleges just because you think you can't afford one. Go talk to them. Meet with financial aid counselors. Do the math.

At both state and private schools, get your associate's at a CC first. Get out from under all the lower division credits they will want you to take.

[Radio Flyer]

I'm asking for my sons. They are currently in 10th and 11th grades. We'll be checking out some schools this summer. We currently live on the east coast and both of my sons want to attend school on the west coast. Mr. Flyer and I will be moving back too.

I've considered the CC route, but from what I've gathered, state to state CC credits don't always transfer.

Thanks for the info. On another board, several folks that were looking in the PNW never even mentioned UO or OS and I found that odd, BUT they did mention getting generous aid offers from some of the privates, just as you said. Hmmmm.

Concerning your nephew...What a mess! Was it a CA school, by chance? I ask because the budget cuts and massive impaction there seems like such a headache, but we'll probably look at some schools there as well.

If I had my way, the whole family would end up in Oregon, preferably with the sons being a couple hours away from Mr. Flyer and me.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Radio Flyer

I'm asking for my sons. They are currently in 10th and 11th grades. We'll be checking out some schools this summer. We currently live on the east coast and both of my sons want to attend school on the west coast. Mr. Flyer and I will be moving back too.

I've considered the CC route, but from what I've gathered, state to state CC credits don't always transfer.

Thanks for the info. On another board, several folks that were looking in the PNW never even mentioned UO or OS and I found that odd, BUT they did mention getting generous aid offers from some of the privates, just as you said. Hmmmm.

Concerning your nephew...What a mess! Was it a CA school, by chance? I ask because the budget cuts and massive impaction there seems like such a headache, but we'll probably look at some schools there as well.

If I had my way, the whole family would end up in Oregon, preferably with the sons being a couple hours away from Mr. Flyer and me.

No, it was Oregon State University.

[GeorgiaTransplant]

Originally Posted by Radio Flyer

Tell me about your college experiences...Where did you go and are you glad that you attended? Any regrets? On paper, both UO and OS look pretty good to me, but I'd like to know what the real dirt is....How about Portland State? I hadn't even heard of this school until I stated researching.

Also, are you an Oregon native, or were you an out-of-stater that attended school and then stuck around?

Or...if you're a native Oregonian and decided to attend elsewhere, where did you go and why?

(Private college info. is appreciated too, but they look to be way out of our league financially.)

Oregon State here. I was a native Oregonian who relocated *after* college.

Absolutely no regrets. If you are into business, engineering, or agriculture, OSU is THE place to be. I have been back numerous times and it has absolutely stepped up its game. The dominant majors have excellent newer facilities, dorms are better, and so forth. Corvallis remains one of the best small to medium college towns, anywhere. The only problem is getting housing, which can be a challenge now.

The school is large enough to have pretty much any activity you need. By and large, the professors I worked with were professional and personable. It's not Harvard, but you can get a really solid education there if you apply yourself. You can also screw off for four years, but you can do that in almost any large state school.

If money is a concern, second the community college idea. LBCC is perfectly adequate and I did take some classes there, and had many friends from high school do a 2-year program and transfer to other Oregon schools. It's easy to get lost in community college, as your classmates may not always be serious, but if you're a good student, it's perfectly fine.

U of O is a great school, no doubt about it. But where 30 years ago I would have absolutely said UO was THE flagship for Oregon, I don't think that's really true anymore. Objectively, I think OSU and UO are now sharing that title and it depends on the program which is better.


I know little about PSU other than it's urban, in the fabric of Portland, and its engineering school was given a very generous gift by Mr. Fariborz Maseeh, an alumni, which has allowed them to significantly improve their engineering, math, and computer science offerings to a point where they are competitive with OSU's programs.

[Metlakatla]

Third generation OSU here, Oregon native, no regrets.

[Larry Caldwell]

I don't think academic archaeology is going to help an 11th grader. I went to Oregon State too - Class of the Century, 1969. I doubt very much that my college experience is in any way relevant to a current student.

[CAjerseychick]

Hi OP.
to clarify what I said about attending community college- I selected a major I wanted to graduate in, and did the prerequisites for it at a community college- saved a bunch and finished an accelerated degree at state school- in SF- in 2 years. It worked for me-
but only after I had already done 4 years at private college--

(the first time around I felt pressured to go to school by my parents, at a time when I had no idea what i wanted to do, and to finish out for preLaw, which, although I did well on the LSATs I did not want to go into, and ultimately didn't, hence the do- over , in college education)...