 |
| Author | Post |
|---|
hummingbird
Member
|
Posted: Fri Jun 1st, 2007 02:20 pm |
|
We visited the University of Oregon on a Friday afternoon in late May. Oregon is on the quarter system, so classes were not yet finished for the year.
I arranged the tour and information session via the internet. When we arrived, we told the man at the parking booth that we were there for a tour, and he said there was a track meet going on, so not much parking available - so he gave us a "service vehicle" pass and let us park in a primo spot. Nice!
Our tour guide was a 3rd year student, double-majoring in Political Science and Economics. He is in the Honors College, with a minor in Math. Busy guy! He was extremely friendly and enthusiastic about his school. He explained that he is from Corvallis (home of the Oregon State Beavers) and was a die-hard "Beaver Believer" before he chose U of O - and now he is a Duck through-and-through!
He took us on a tour around the campus. Oregon is fairly compact for such a large school, and we saw quite a bit on our hour-and-a-half tour. He took us first to a residence hall, referred to as their "Bed, Bath & Beyond" room since everything in it looked like it came from BBB. It was decorated nicely, with two twin beds, desks, and built in closets. This hall had about 10 rooms in this one hallway, with several hallways in the building. He explained about their meal point system, and how when he lived on campus he ate really well and never got bored with the food. He said now that he is off-campus with a roommate, they eat mac & cheese and frozen pizza most of the time. Not so healthy! He explained that he thinks it's a nice transition for freshman, going from "home with your parents" to "on your own" if you live in a residence hall and eat on campus, and not have to worry about shopping and cooking at first.
He pointed out the Student Health Center and the track field. Because of the big track meet going on that day, lots of people were milling about. We walked past some other residence halls; one of them with a car out front BLARING hip-hop music. Nobody seemed to mind. We visited the Student activity center where they have a huge rock climbing wall, workout facilities, tennis, basketball courts, etc. It looks like a very nice facility. No excuses for the freshman 15 there!
Our tour continued with the guide explaining about safety at the campus. They have an escort program to take students safely home at night - or during the day. U of O has the blue light boxes scattered around campus, as well. He says he feels very safe there, and so do his female classmates, but he said the #1 problem is stolen bicycles. There are a lot of bikes on this campus.
We walked through a student union, where they have a food court, and took a peek at the offerings there. He explained that this building is where parts of the movie Animal House was filmed. Then we passed some other buildings, one of which was the original building of the University of Oregon. They used to separate the men and woman, and in fact this particular building has two staircases: one with lower treads for women, so that the men wouldn't see the women's legs or ankles as they climbed the stairs!
We went into the business school. Gorgous building! Makes me want to go to school there. Our guide explained some of the artwork here and there around the campus, including the art in one of the science buildings that depicts the different areas of science: physics, biology, chemistry, etc. He told us that the campus is also an arboretum, with thousands of trees in hundreds of varieties. The rhododenrons were in full bloom while we were there, making for a very beautiful setting. There was some construction going on (a good sign), the construction of a new building. I didn't catch what the new building was going to be, but it looked like it is going to be large.
Our tour ended at what might be the main quad area. A group of students were playing music and dancing in the grass, having a great old time. Then our guide said goodbye, and those of us attending the information session went into the art museum where an admissions representative talked with us about the application process, financial aid, residency requirement, and other admissions information.
We could have skipped this part since our son is not interested in attending the U of O. We made this visit as a "practice" visit before we head to the east coast to visit some schools in a couple of weeks. Also, I think it's important to see one of our local state university campuses, just to know a little more about it. Overall, I was quite impressed and would be pleased for my children to attend the University of Oregon.
(I took pictures and can post them if anyone would like)
|
scoop
Member
| Joined: | Wed Oct 4th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 556 |
| Mana: |    |
|
Posted: Fri Jun 1st, 2007 03:36 pm |
|
hummingbird,
I would love to see the pictures. What schools are you planning to visit?
|
hummingbird
Member
|
Posted: Fri Jun 1st, 2007 04:41 pm |
|
We are visiting U of Maryland - College Park, American U, George Washington U, Ohio U - Athens, U of Missouri - Columbia, and Indiana U - Bloomington. I'd like to visit some LACs too but son is not interested. We will also visit Lewis & Clark here in Portland when daughter goes to a 2- week writing program there this summer.
His prospective major is Journalism.
Last edited on Fri Jun 1st, 2007 08:03 pm by hummingbird
|
hummingbird
Member
|
Posted: Fri Jun 1st, 2007 05:46 pm |
|
Hope you enjoy the pictures:
http://s203.photobucket.com/albums/aa12/oregonhummingbird/University%20of%20Oregon/
|
CarolynLawrence
Administrator
| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 3216 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Fri Jun 1st, 2007 07:37 pm |
|
Great review, Hummingbird. Thanks for posting it. 
|
safisher
Member
| Joined: | Sun Apr 1st, 2007 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 28 |
| Mana: | |
|
Posted: Sun Mar 30th, 2008 12:31 am |
|
Third tour stop U of O on Duck Days (admissions open house):
- President Dave Frohmeyer (ex Oregon Attorney General) gave excellent opening remarks. UO is very welcoming to out-of-staters. Make up one-third of student body.
- Campus is very walkable for flagship state university. Facilities in great shape, well endowed by alumni donations (think Phil Knight - Nike) and state legislature.
- Pretty much have to move off-campus after freshman year.
- Eugene great college town. Everything a student and visiting parent would ever want within close proximity.
- S is looking for small school, so is primarily interested in Clark Honor College, a great liberal arts option within the university. Very high admissions standards.
- Barack Obama was speaking that night in the basketball arena. We were assured the heavy media and police presence was not related to campus safety.
- S will apply to Honors College.
|
Current time is 11:16 am | |
|
|
|
|
