This Week’s College: Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington (A College That Changes Lives)
Whitman College was the first college in the Pacific Northwest to install a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the first in the entire USA to have comprehensive exams before granting degrees. It’s located at the foot of, ironically for us, the Blue Mountains in the city of Walla Walla, Washington which is both in the middle of nowhere (3 hours to Spokane, 4 to Portland, 5 to Seattle) and also in the middle of somewhere completely gorgeous with a mild year round climate and totally amazing landscape (student to tree ratio is 1:1).
The 1500 students at Whitman come from 42 states and 31 different countries. And they like it that way. Though they all have certain things in common (this is a pretty outdoorsy school so you kind of have to like the hiking, trekking, woodsy world but more on that later), Whitman is a place that looks out while encouraging students to look in as well. It’s a classic liberal arts school with a 9:1 student faculty ratio, where they emphasize the kinds of critical thinking, analysis, communication and engagement. But at the same time, study abroad is popular here (88 programs in 40 countries) and a little more than 40% of juniors alone study abroad.
Whitman has some very interesting academic opportunities for people who want to forge their own paths. Not only can you have an Individually Planned Major (which is becoming more and more common these days), but there are also a number of different opportunities you can take advantage of. There is a 5 year program for people interested in engineering and computer science which will allow you to graduate with a BA and a BS, a 6 year program which ends with a BA and a JD (law degree), another program in Forestry and Environmental Management (5 years, BA and MA), and one in Oceanography (5 years, BA & BS).
And that’s not all. They also have a number of super progressive area studies opportunities as well. There is a the Global Studies Initiative, the Encounters program, Science Outreach, Outdoor Program, State of the State for Washington Latinos, and also Semester in the West. They put on the Whitman Undergraduate Conference and also have a Summer Read for freshman so that all students entering share a common text when they first matriculate.
Whitman is also a super healthy school with 80% of students playing intramural sports. It’s a DIII school with 15 varsity sports, 15 club sports, and a variety of other sports (Nordic Skiing is big actually). In addition, Whitman has something they refer to as “Scrambles” which are a series of short trips where seniors take a group of freshman into the surrounds and they do all kinds of things: sea kayaking, backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing. Participants don’t need to have a lot of experience, but there are trips for those that have. And the destinations are amazing! Hike the Olympics. Backpack at Glacier peak. Whitewater raft down the Lower Main Salmon River. Rock climb Mt. St. Helens. Believe me when I tell you, community is made on journeys like this.
So what’s it like to go to a school with smart people who like to do cool things and have a good time? It’s pretty good actually. Whitman has a lot of things you might be looking for. It’s 44% Greek so it’s neither overwhelming nor is it missing. There are 8 residence halls which are all co-ed except for one, and there are Interest Houses as well. The Interest Houses are 11 actualy houses (for 4-11 students) in the neighborhood where students can choose to live based on a shared interest (French, Spanish, Chinese, Environmental, Fine Arts, etc.). About 75% live on campus (the rest more or less live in the neighborhood right around it, often in Hellenic housing).
And then there are clubs. So many clubs. Japanese cooking? That’s a club. Unpretentious comedy is a club. So are Tap Dancing, Campus Climate Challenge, Outdoor Program, Adopt-a-Grandparent, Philosophy, Backcountry Ski and Snowboard, Cycling, Slam Poetry, Feminists Advocating Change & Empowerment (FACE), Model UN, GLBTQ, and Fencing. But this is by no means all of them. And I would estimate about ⅓ of them have to do with great things to do in and around the campus taking advantage of the environment.
Because Whitman’s campus has some unusual features. First it is in Walla Walla, which while fun to say, actually is a great city! Like C’ville it’s often voted one of the best small cities, healthiest cities, great cities to live in, etc. And Whitman is one of the reason it gets that distinction. The campus is on about 77 acres in the middle of the city and it functions as both a school grounds and also as an Arboretum at the same time (1:1 tree to student ratio, remember?). In addition, the campus has many art installations all over it and so it’s also a sort of walkable art museum and people come and see it just for that as well.
Is Whitman for you? It’s far from here and it’s not necessarily easy to get to even from major cities (you can fly into Walla Walla though). The education can’t be beat and there are some huge bonuses to be had there (I didn’t even get into the paid internship program). If you are a serious lover of the outdoors who is interested in a great school in the west which can help you to do great things it could be!
Pros:
Cons:
Whitman College was the first college in the Pacific Northwest to install a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and the first in the entire USA to have comprehensive exams before granting degrees. It’s located at the foot of, ironically for us, the Blue Mountains in the city of Walla Walla, Washington which is both in the middle of nowhere (3 hours to Spokane, 4 to Portland, 5 to Seattle) and also in the middle of somewhere completely gorgeous with a mild year round climate and totally amazing landscape (student to tree ratio is 1:1).
The 1500 students at Whitman come from 42 states and 31 different countries. And they like it that way. Though they all have certain things in common (this is a pretty outdoorsy school so you kind of have to like the hiking, trekking, woodsy world but more on that later), Whitman is a place that looks out while encouraging students to look in as well. It’s a classic liberal arts school with a 9:1 student faculty ratio, where they emphasize the kinds of critical thinking, analysis, communication and engagement. But at the same time, study abroad is popular here (88 programs in 40 countries) and a little more than 40% of juniors alone study abroad.
Whitman has some very interesting academic opportunities for people who want to forge their own paths. Not only can you have an Individually Planned Major (which is becoming more and more common these days), but there are also a number of different opportunities you can take advantage of. There is a 5 year program for people interested in engineering and computer science which will allow you to graduate with a BA and a BS, a 6 year program which ends with a BA and a JD (law degree), another program in Forestry and Environmental Management (5 years, BA and MA), and one in Oceanography (5 years, BA & BS).
And that’s not all. They also have a number of super progressive area studies opportunities as well. There is a the Global Studies Initiative, the Encounters program, Science Outreach, Outdoor Program, State of the State for Washington Latinos, and also Semester in the West. They put on the Whitman Undergraduate Conference and also have a Summer Read for freshman so that all students entering share a common text when they first matriculate.
Whitman is also a super healthy school with 80% of students playing intramural sports. It’s a DIII school with 15 varsity sports, 15 club sports, and a variety of other sports (Nordic Skiing is big actually). In addition, Whitman has something they refer to as “Scrambles” which are a series of short trips where seniors take a group of freshman into the surrounds and they do all kinds of things: sea kayaking, backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing. Participants don’t need to have a lot of experience, but there are trips for those that have. And the destinations are amazing! Hike the Olympics. Backpack at Glacier peak. Whitewater raft down the Lower Main Salmon River. Rock climb Mt. St. Helens. Believe me when I tell you, community is made on journeys like this.
So what’s it like to go to a school with smart people who like to do cool things and have a good time? It’s pretty good actually. Whitman has a lot of things you might be looking for. It’s 44% Greek so it’s neither overwhelming nor is it missing. There are 8 residence halls which are all co-ed except for one, and there are Interest Houses as well. The Interest Houses are 11 actualy houses (for 4-11 students) in the neighborhood where students can choose to live based on a shared interest (French, Spanish, Chinese, Environmental, Fine Arts, etc.). About 75% live on campus (the rest more or less live in the neighborhood right around it, often in Hellenic housing).
And then there are clubs. So many clubs. Japanese cooking? That’s a club. Unpretentious comedy is a club. So are Tap Dancing, Campus Climate Challenge, Outdoor Program, Adopt-a-Grandparent, Philosophy, Backcountry Ski and Snowboard, Cycling, Slam Poetry, Feminists Advocating Change & Empowerment (FACE), Model UN, GLBTQ, and Fencing. But this is by no means all of them. And I would estimate about ⅓ of them have to do with great things to do in and around the campus taking advantage of the environment.
Because Whitman’s campus has some unusual features. First it is in Walla Walla, which while fun to say, actually is a great city! Like C’ville it’s often voted one of the best small cities, healthiest cities, great cities to live in, etc. And Whitman is one of the reason it gets that distinction. The campus is on about 77 acres in the middle of the city and it functions as both a school grounds and also as an Arboretum at the same time (1:1 tree to student ratio, remember?). In addition, the campus has many art installations all over it and so it’s also a sort of walkable art museum and people come and see it just for that as well.
Is Whitman for you? It’s far from here and it’s not necessarily easy to get to even from major cities (you can fly into Walla Walla though). The education can’t be beat and there are some huge bonuses to be had there (I didn’t even get into the paid internship program). If you are a serious lover of the outdoors who is interested in a great school in the west which can help you to do great things it could be!
Pros:
- Progressive programs and individualized education
- Lots of opportunities to be outside and active
- Small school but still Greek life and sports
- Great programs that compact college/grad schol
Cons:
- Location is tricky from C’ville
- You might not have to go so far to find similar programming
- It’s still a small school
- It’s really outdoorsy and that might not be your thing