NORTHWEST REGION SCHOOLS

University of Oregon
Students at the University of Oregon say their school boasts "the world's coolest Web site." But they're not referring to the university's virtual presence on the Internet: They mean Autzen Stadium, home of their football team, the (Mighty) Ducks. Six of Oregon's seven professional schools - journalism, architecture and allied arts, education, law, business, and music - are highly regarded, with journalism and business drawing the most student praise. Freshman seminars introduce students to top professors in small-group settings and profs have to apply to teach them, a process students applaud.

Highly motivated undergraduates may join the Honors College, a small liberal arts college with its own courses, and outstanding liberal arts majors may spend five years on campus to earn their master's degree in the Graduate School of Management. The student-run ESCAPE (Every Student Caring About Personalized Education) program provides credit for community volunteer work.

Twelve percent of the men and the same proportion of women join Greek organizations, which provide living space along with some interesting social activities. Major events include the Eugene Celebration, the Oregon Country Fair, the Martin Luther King Jr. Festival, and weekly street fairs attended by local vendors. With UO's caring faculty, excellent academics, and abundance of social activities, it's easy to see that UO is "all it's quacked up to be."

Reed College
At Reed College, a haven for nonconformists and individualists, the emphasis is on learning rather than athletics or social activities. The school offers unsurpassed intellectual opportunities for its size. Although the college works within a structure of personal freedom, the curriculum is highly traditional. All undergraduates must complete a full-year course or the equivalent in semester courses in each of the following areas: Literature, philosophy, and the arts; history and the social sciences; natural sciences; mathematics, logic, linguistics, or foreign languages. Reed is one of a handful of colleges that requires all students to write a senior thesis to graduate, which students claim is a "long and arduous task."

Interdisciplinary programs and opportunities to design an individual major abound, and several 3-2 engineering, business, forestry and environmental science, visual arts, and computer science programs are also offered at Reed. Over the years, a quarter of Reed's grads have gone on for Ph.D.'s, the highest percentage of any liberal arts college in the country.

Just about everyone goes to the campus socials, which feature a wide variety of Northwestern alternative bands. Movies, coffeehouses, television, and dinner out take up the rest of weekend time. The students attending this unique liberal arts college look upon its high-caliber, rigorous academic program as a challenge, not a chore.