Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 21:10     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Colleges and universities in towns across Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York have more cloudy days than the PNW. State College and Pittsburgh, PA; Ithaca and Syracuse, NY; Cleveland and Columbus, OH. I lived in Seattle for a few years and was blown away by the gorgeous weather - sure, cloudier than the sunbelt where I grew up, but not nearly as dreary as people think and definitely better weather than PA, OH and NY. So many college towns in those states have waaaay more cloudy days than the famously "gloomy" PNW!
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 19:44     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:Everyone reacts to weather differently. I lived in the PNW for ten years (Seattle area) and it never bothered me. The light mist / drizzle is refreshing and invigorating for me, I found it energizing. It rarely pours like it does here. The consistent light rain is so much less disruptive than a heavy downpour. You can still go on your hikes and whatever other outdoor activities you want, without as much worry about thunderstorms and flash foods.

The short days did get a bit annoying, and by January I was always ready to start seeing daylight after work.


The tradeoff for the short winter days are amazingly long spring and summer days. I walk the dog at dusk...which is 9 pm this week.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 19:43     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are doing a tour of Pacific Northwest schools and I keep thinking I missed out! Schools are beautiful, weather is great, food is delicious, and generally friendly campus visits. I wish I had left the East Coast for college.


weather isn't "great".


I'd take "grey and a bit dreary in the 40-50s" over 10-20, grey and snowy/icy



This is how most of us out here see it. Plus, we have beautiful changing views of water and mountains and lakes at every turn so it's not just flat land and gray skies. I scrape my car windshield maybe 1x/year at most. And if I drive an hour, I'm skiing in the mountains and get all the snow I want. Then I return to weather in the 40s-50s, no winter boots ever, and a light puffy coat and get on with my work week.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 19:41     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What about university of British Columbia? That place is awesome.


Similar dreary weather. Many internationals or people from various ethnicities. Vancouver suburbs where you have different areas for each group one suburb is Chinese, another with Punjabis of India etc..


UBC is gorgeous and its position near the water means that the weather is changing constantly. It's not socked-in all day every day. Vancouver is an amazing city and the suburbs aren't really relevant to college kids. The ethnic makeup of different areas is no different than suburbs in VA, so it's weird that PP is harping on that. I live in the PNW and kids from around here go to UBC from our HS every year. It can be very affordable depending on the current exchange rate and admissions are more straightforward. UBC has a lot of alumni in the Seattle area so it is not a dead-end if kids want to return to the US for work.
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 19:09     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:I have mild seasonal affective disorder so couldn't deal. And unfortunately there are very few compelling schools in that part of the country.


Both very true.

We live in PNW and my engineering kid didn't find anything nearby they liked (UW is too large and won't attend somewhere you cannot select your major easily).
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 19:08     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is awesome for three months. Then it mists and rains for 9 months straight. Bigger issue for people is the lack of light in winter.


So like northern Europe but with humidity


Except you don't feel the humidity in those 6-9months (or the summer). It's different from anywhere else I"ve ever lived
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 19:07     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are doing a tour of Pacific Northwest schools and I keep thinking I missed out! Schools are beautiful, weather is great, food is delicious, and generally friendly campus visits. I wish I had left the East Coast for college.


weather isn't "great".


I'd take "grey and a bit dreary in the 40-50s" over 10-20, grey and snowy/icy

Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 14:15     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:What about university of British Columbia? That place is awesome.


Similar dreary weather. Many internationals or people from various ethnicities. Vancouver suburbs where you have different areas for each group one suburb is Chinese, another with Punjabis of India etc..
Anonymous
Post 07/29/2025 06:57     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
What about university of British Columbia? That place is awesome.
Anonymous
Post 07/28/2025 22:31     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:Everyone reacts to weather differently. I lived in the PNW for ten years (Seattle area) and it never bothered me. The light mist / drizzle is refreshing and invigorating for me, I found it energizing. It rarely pours like it does here. The consistent light rain is so much less disruptive than a heavy downpour. You can still go on your hikes and whatever other outdoor activities you want, without as much worry about thunderstorms and flash foods.

The short days did get a bit annoying, and by January I was always ready to start seeing daylight after work.


It's the grey days for 9months more than the light rain that will be a shock for most the first year
Anonymous
Post 07/28/2025 22:25     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Everyone reacts to weather differently. I lived in the PNW for ten years (Seattle area) and it never bothered me. The light mist / drizzle is refreshing and invigorating for me, I found it energizing. It rarely pours like it does here. The consistent light rain is so much less disruptive than a heavy downpour. You can still go on your hikes and whatever other outdoor activities you want, without as much worry about thunderstorms and flash foods.

The short days did get a bit annoying, and by January I was always ready to start seeing daylight after work.
Anonymous
Post 07/28/2025 22:08     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We are doing a tour of Pacific Northwest schools and I keep thinking I missed out! Schools are beautiful, weather is great, food is delicious, and generally friendly campus visits. I wish I had left the East Coast for college.


weather isn't "great".

The weather in the Pacific Northwest is awesome. What are you bugging about?


You've got to love the rain, and I love the rain! I would never live on the East Coast again after living in Washington and Oregon. British Columbia is amazing, too.
Anonymous
Post 07/28/2025 22:06     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
West coast vibe is so different puts you in a laid back no need to rush feeling, beaware you freaking out about your kid's college list east coast parents.
Anonymous
Post 07/28/2025 22:06     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:How do you like Reed and Lewis and Clark?


Reed and Lewis and Clark are great options but there are quite a few very good schools in the PNW, especially if you are not caught up in the whole "hunt for prestige" nonsense.

Whitman is a great school modeled after the NE SLACs. Solid endowment, good teaching and a great campus backed by a string endowment. Willamette University is another PNW SLAC where you will get a great undergraduate experience as is University of Puget Sound. Whitman, Puget Sound, Willamette, and Reed are all among the CTCL schools and are effectively "unsung heroes" in undergraduate education.

Gonzaga is a great example of the Jesuit schools. University of Seattle is also a nice Jesuit school and University of Portland is a Holy Cross affiliated catholic school. You will get a great education at any of them.

UW is a super well known as a top public university, Oregon is strong, and both Washington State and Oregon State are fine schools for typical kids.

Whitman only has 700mil and could be going under soon. Very easy to get into and less students applying


Are you daft?

You are correct that Whitman does have an endowment of about $700M and that is the only part of your comment that isn't just ridiculous.

Whitman's endowment per student is higher than schools such as Columbia, Cornell, Harvey Mudd, Denison, CMU, Boston U, should I go on? They are a very wealthy school with almost zero debt and a high investment grade bond rating similar to the Ivy League or NESCAC schools.

They had an acceptance rate of 38% and a 1200 student waitlist that they only took 12 kids from. That is pretty healthy demand. They are thriving and they deserve much more attention than they receive.
Anonymous
Post 07/28/2025 22:02     Subject: Pacific Northwest schools
Univ. of Washington is an excellent school with a beautiful campus, strong programs in CS, business and engineering, and is right near everything that's great about Seattle (Lake Washington, biking/walking trails, etc.). The weather is milder than most places in the country, especially in the winter. I think of it as the west coast version of Northwestern. Better air and traffic than L.A. or S.F.