University of Portland

Just came by to take a look at the campus along with some of my friends who are alumni at UP, but from what I saw of the campus this place is beautiful! Set in the northern section of Portland, the campus looks like it went through a bunch of new additions and renovations and really caters to its student population! I only hope I’ll find myself around this area again!

Ah college life. I had the opportunity to return to the University of Portland this last weekend and reminisce with some current and former students. If you are in high school and can’t figure out for the life of you where to go to college, I highly recommend UP. Grad of 2009 talking here.
The University has about 3500 undergrad students where most all Freshmen and Sophomores live on campus. The University does a great job of building a sense of community within the dorms as well as on campus. Even a majority of upperclassmen live off-​campus but stay between the University and Lombard street.
Academically, I really enjoyed (most) of my classes. I was a Global Business major from day 1 and never changed. The facilities and technology are up-​to-​date and the professors are great. Shout out to Gary Mitchell. Highly recommend his classes.
They just built a brand new library and currently finishing a new athletic facility for students. The dorm meal plan is actually really good too, so don’t complain!
It’s a great place to come into your own and highly recommend looking into it.

This is not at all a comprehensive review. I went to college elsewhere and have not taken any classes at U of P. However, I have a lot of friends who attended U of P, and I know of several generations of one family who graduated from the school and did graduate work there as well, and I’ve had reports of an excellent educational experience and ability to get great jobs because of U of P.
I think U of P is one of the prettiest campuses in the Portland area, really classic for what one imagines a campus to look like, and for my money (and probably a ton of tuition money from the students), the campus rates right up there with Lewis & Clark and Reed College. And seriously how do you resist a carrillon ringing at noon — there’s a real campus must! The buildings are beautifully maintained as are the grounds, and there’s a lot to look at and enjoy in terms of outdoor artwork.
I had the pleasure of attending a function at U of P yesterday and enjoyed meeting some of the professors and students. Of course, it was relaxed and fun because it was a social situation, but I think the function and staff and students represented the University well. I walked away with a great impression that we’re lucky to have an institution of such quality in Portland.

I thought the University of Portland was my dream school, turns out not. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Pros
Beautiful campus and mostly new buildings
Great teachers (friendly and well educated)
Good reputation nationally
Great ROTC program for those interested
Very small, safe, community
Cons
Expensive (aren’t all schools though?)
No real social life on or off campus
Stiflingly conservative (ask about dorm life)
Small size = high school-​like cliques
No shuttle or way to get downtown
Very unfriendly toward LGBTQ community
«Liberal Arts» includes 3 mandatory (and repetitive if you’ve been in Catholic school before) theology classes

I did love going here some decades ago, it was a delight. President Fr Otto was a sincere, sweet, approachable fellow, and the staff and students (at that time) were very sincere, approachable, welcoming. I never once felt judged or discriminated against because I wasn’t catholic. The painting teacher, Dente, really built community, very gregarious, and provided, unknowingly, art therapy for many stressed students. I thought the quality of the classes was very good, very detailed, professors took the time to make you push yourself, and they CHECKED on you. The required classes on Philosophy & (your choice of world-​religions) were actually quite interesting, and have been useful all these years later. SAVE MONEY: Keep costs down by transferring here & working while going to school. Push for frequent advice from your advisor, see how many of your credits you can perform at the community college before finishing the BS/​BA.
CON: At any college — Be smart, research BEFORE the massive debt by finding out how employable a degree is, and how much that field will make. Some of my peers decades later have NEVER made much money, and had massive debt. Also, I see many of the sports-​stars let slide into bogus very-​hard-​to-​employ degrees – this is possibly exploitative, steals their time/​money, university resources, and does not end well. Where is the data on their career performance after graduating?

My alma mater. Best four years of my life plus another year of graduate school. Had awesome professors and learned life lessons that cannot be taught in a classroom. The friendships I built here are the strongest I’ve ever had and have shaped who I have become. I absolutely loved my college experience.
The degrees I earned at UP definitely have a high ROI. Immediately after graduation, I received a senior level position job.
The only thing to be aware of is Res Life. They are out to get you. Oh, and cafeteria food sucks.

Important note: This is from a transfer student perspective, and mostly based on very subjective feelings.
Sometimes I felt that… during new transfer student registration… the administration could care less about what classes you wanted to arrange. It’s sad because you’re paying all this money, and then they act like they can’t put you into the classes that you want. when other classes have 3 – 5 people over the limit. I don’t know… so far I feel like a number rather than a person, unlike the philosophy «you will feel like a person instead of a number» that smaller universities tend to carry. My transfer student acquaintances told me that the administration signed them up for all these classes that were all over the place and at annoying times like 8 AM (which is difficult for someone who is not a morning person).
The university definitely has a different vibe than the surrounding Portland. There is a large population of preppy white people, while the hipsters, alternative types, mountain-​men, and hippies are more rare of a kind. I feel like diversity is lacking when it comes to ethnicity and lifestyle. But, students are from all over the U.S., and there’s a small (but slightly significant) population of students from outside of the U.S.
Most students (98%) are from straight out of high school. I’m not used to this, and I’m trying to adapt, even though I am just as young as many of these people. I miss having a wide variety of people of all ages and all walks of life. UP has more of a «high school vibe», but many people like this over a commuter school with more diversity and maturity.
Transferring in is different because you’re used to people who are not cliquish – the «junior» and «seniors» already have their cliques formed over the years, and then whats left are some cool freshmen, and then many immature freshmen. At a community college, you’re used to all types of ages and people and moms and commuters and part-​time job holders, who all enjoy engaging with each other on an adult-​level, and most people are more familiar with their own identities, so they can relate to one another more easily and hold conversations more fluidly, I guess you can say. I feel that it’s more difficult for a transfer student to fit in because they don’t have a group that they can identify with yet, and it’s more difficult to break into the ice.
Classes range from easier to more difficult, not much different from any university. You will find easy classes and difficult classes at any university. So far, I’m not swayed by any «prestigious academia», but I wasn’t expecting that here anyways.
I will update this review as (hopefully) my experience becomes brighter. Sometimes, I question if Portland State University would’ve offered me more of the «comfortable fit» I was looking for as a transfer student.
I felt more «at college» at my community college than this 4-​year university so far… I almost feel as if I am back in high school. *shudder*

I am a student and I love it here!

Yes, I am a Pilot. Although I am biased, I believe the education I received here was second to none. Coming from Hawai’i, there were a bunch of us from the islands that gravitated towards the preservation of all things Hawai’i and joined the Hawaiian Club. However, I gradually strayed away and branched out to meet people from other areas of the country and learn about their experiences that were so different than my island mentality. I did not enjoy the growing pains and immaturity of high school, so I hated my time previous to coming to UofP. Here I blossomed from the nerdy, reclusive and ambiguous boy to becoming a better man. I made friends easy and made girlfriends even easier (I digress).
Besides excelling academically, I made huge gains socially by becoming involved with the campus newspaper, The Beacon; hosting a radio show with friends at KDUP; and joining the campus chapter of Amnesty International, eventually becoming its president my junior year. My friends and I were also an active part of intramural sports (i.e. water polo and volleyball) at Howard Hall. I miss the intellectual excitement a college campus usually exudes and discovering concepts I never knew existed. The plethora of knowledge ripe for the picking I guess.
So many fine moments of growth too lengthy to mention here. Trips to downtown Portland perusing the likes of restaurants and cafes that never existed in Hawai’i (and still don’t). Exploring the seedy streets of Burnside and exploring artsy-​fartsy movies at KOIN Cinema. My years in PDX made sweeter by the experiences had here. A rather beautiful campus that I recall filled with green space that allowed the mind and body to roam. Since I’ve graduated, UofP has expanded at lightening speed with exciting new buildings, dorms and land purchases that continue to secure the university as a top-​notch destination, further enhancing the value of my degree.
Sophomore year I was accepted into their prestigious Salzburg Program, a study abroad program that landed me in Salzburg, Austria for an entire year. What a life changing opportunity that exposed me to the politics of living in close quarters among forty college students who ranged from cerebral scholars to pot headed hippies (I settled somewhere in between and maybe a bit more towards the later). This single study abroad experience had huge impact on my life and infected me with the lust for international travel that has since taken me as far as St. Petersburg, Russia to Mae Hong Song, Thailand and many places in between. A ripple effect that continues to reward me with the promise of future travel.
An amazing experience that may have played out differently if I attended elsewhere. However, I am glad of the choice I made and the lasting friendships I still have today. Grateful memories and forever proud to be a Pilot.
#Yelp 365: ⁰⁹⁶⁄₃₆₅

Okay, so I’m a little biased as a former student, but, this is an amazing university. You fall in love with the campus itself with the blooming cherry trees that you see when you drive onto the campus in the Spring and the views of the river from the Bluff as well. The nursing and business schools are great and are just the tip of the iceberg, and there’s nothing like a women’s soccer game at UP. Plus, there is the city of Portland with McMenamins nearby, taquerias, Cannon Beach, etc. It’s all good.

Gayle and I came back to Portland last weekend for the graduation of her niece from the University of Portland. It also turned out to be a most enjoyable family gathering that included the graduate’s parents, brothers, and many other relatives and friends. This was also my first appearance at a larger family gathering since Gayle and I had become engaged.
I was first impressed with the physical beauty of the University of Portland Campus, especially all of the trees that were in bloom. The people were also nice and you could tell that the faculty and staff here had created and continue to nurture a special academic and spiritual community here.
We first attended the School of Nursing «Pinning» Ceremony. Gayle’s niece was publicly recognized for her achievements and her parents had many reasons to be proud of a job well done.
I also attended the Baccalaureate Mass and although I’m not Catholic (or Christian), I thought that the music and the pageantry of the service was uplifting and was perhaps one of the best religious events I had attended in a long time. In addition, the somewhat dryly delivered drash (homily) was an appropriate and meaningful message to the new graduates, especially in this economy. But who was the guy up front with the pink kippah? He turned out to be the Bishop of Spokane.
Amongst all this joy and celebration, these ceremonies can also be bittersweet in terms of the new starts awaiting the graduates. I also have my own thoughts and prayers regarding other friends and family and their possible future graduations…

My dear beloved Alma mater, you don’t know how much you mean to me. You make my heart swell up and begin to throb. You get my trousers twisted.
But wait, I know you’re wondering, what is a Greek Orthodox public school-​er doing going to a private Catholic school on the bluff? Well I’ll get to that.
I made the decision to attend UP on a late August afternoon after returning from a magical visit to Portland. Ahhh, summers in the Pacific Northwest, it doesn’t get much better than that. Especially in Portland, when you’re in the heart of downtown and it smells like you’re in the middle of a forest? Really? YES. Paybacks a bitch and that’s what you get for putting up with 9 months of straight rain and gloom.
Let me get back to the school. I couldn’t have asked for a better place. I had the opportunity to go to other schools… Yale, U Pen, Harvard, Cornell… but for some reason I chose the small yet distinguished University of Portland.
I met the most amazing people, the most profoundly tolerant people you could ever imagine from the most interesting backgrounds. One of my best friends, who from the minute I heard his voice (in our first bio class –I knew we’d have to be friends), was raised on a co-​op in New Mexico, became a Ford scholar, went to UP, went on to work in a P.O.W. camp (got tortured by the Israelis) in the West Bank, then worked at one of Mother Teresa’s hospitals in Somalia (had HIV + blood squirted in his eyes on accident there), is now a 4^th year med student at Harvard and will go on to make everyone’s lives he touches better. He will never own a car (only a bike) and will own 4 pieces of clothing his entire life… this is just one example of a student. I have a cha-​billion others if you have time.
The professors: extremely intelligent, yet approachable and incredibly holistic. In fact, I just heard my finance professor being interviewed on NPR last week! I started twitching like a had a turrets attack with excitement! The professors remember all their students like we are their baby chicks on Easter. All of them.
And what else? Well I played volleyball here — a full four years of division 1 athletics. That’s how I ended up here. It makes me shiver (again). Blood, sweat, and tears. From waking up at 5AM for hell raising practices to surgeries (no one makes it 4 years in D1 without surgery) to the highest of the highs making school history with wins and statistics that are in the books as I write this. The 12 or so girls I played with during my 4 years will forever be a part of me. Out of this group I have made the best of friends. Literally, their names are on my right kidney, if they should ever need it. UP is the smallest D1 school in the NCAA. My senior year, we (ok, it was the woman’s soccer team, not the volleyball team) won our first NCAA championship. All 2000 of us students went bizzzerck!
I couldn’t have asked for a better place. Go Pilots!

Okay, I went there, so I might be a little biased, but it was probably the best four years of my life… thus far. The campus is beautiful and the students are friendly. The class sizes are small to moderate — definitely small when you get into upper division classes. The professors are very approachable and most, if not all of my professors, held PhD’s. I also attribute them for getting me into law school because the professors remember you, even after taking four years off before applying to law school. I also believe that they gave me a great foundation regarding the intense analytical writing and research skills you need to do well in law school.
The curriculum is more rigorous than most schools, and they expect a lot from their students. I know this because I studied overseas during college, and took classes at Portland State after graduating college, and neither school I attended compared to the expectations that the University of Portland placed on us. And the class I took at PSU was not even supposed to be easy. It was premed biology!
They require more core classes than most other schools because they have a 4 semester theology requirement due to the fact that the University of Portland is Catholic. At first I was weary because I was not Catholic nor religious, but nobody ever shoved religion down my throat. The theological courses are more focused on the study of the theological and philosophical theories, rather than having a religious agenda. The way I put it, is that there is a religious presence for those who want it, but that religious presence most likely won’t affect anyone who doesn’t want it. It was honestly a very educating experience and I am so glad that I have extensive theological knowledge. It has definitely benefited me in regards to defending political issues and legal arguments, when any sort of religious issue is put on the table. Class debate is highly encouraged and only about half the student body is Catholic so you won’t get completely pounced on. But just know that St. Thomas Aquinas is great and don’t try to say otherwise. Ha ha!
The student body is not very diverse, and it is mostly middle to upper class kids that dress preppy. Although the overall attitude is conservative, there is definitely a liberal edge, being in Portland and all. Think granola trust-​fund kids. The off-​campus extracurricular events, aka parties, were pretty fun as I remember even though they have no sororities or fraternities. UP is Notre Dame’s sister school and whatever they do, UP does, so when ND eliminated frats, so did UP. But I liked it better that they didn’t have them anyway. They don’t have a football team, which is kind of a downer. The big sport on campus is women’s soccer, and that is mostly because they are consistently really good. They have been NCAA national champions several times and sent several people to the World Cup and the Olympics. It’s one of the smallest D-​1 schools in the nation, but the soccer program (both men’s and women’s) is one of the best, and that’s exciting.
I have many life-​long friends from there and their alumni office has been really generous. I live in So Cal now but they pay for UP alumni events all around the country. In fact, I recently attended a UP sponsored event and reconnected with some old friends — all on my alma mater’s tab. Not bad! I highly recommend the University of Portland if you want a top-​notch, classic, liberal arts education.

UP’s got decent academics, involved professors, and a kick-​ass campus to boot. Though I’ve only gone here for grad school, I’d assume the undergraduate education is even more comprehensive. As a non-​religious person, I am a little put off by the giant crosses hanging conspicuously in some offices and every classroom, but students aren’t preachy. The mood is definitely more conservative than say Lewis and Clark or Reed, but this is no Liberty University. Sports aren’t huge (except for women’s soccer) but that’s what you’d expect from a small liberal arts uni. The class sizes are small to moderate and the price is decent for a private university (while the MBA program cost is about equal with PSU). I’d recommend it to anyone who is considering other colleges and universities.