As an incoming freshmen I can't exactly give much experience yet, but I can give you the facts, which is all you really wanted anyways right?
The University's campus is located in Tacoma, Washington; and is composed of many small liberal arts colleges, all within close proximity of each other. Although the northwest coast does tend to have fairly rainy weather, it does make for some very lush and green forests and parks. Campus is only thirty-two miles south of Seattle, Washington, which makes for some easy access to big city fun.
Activities:
Puget Sound has lots of stuff to do, or so I'm told. There is Point Defiance Park within walking distance, as well as the Tacoma Dome and Seattle both accessibly via shuttle or (should you be so lucky) car. Hiking trails and backpacking possibilities are abundant at Mount Rainer National Park, and mountain bike trails can be found all over the Sound. Socially, I personally really enjoy the northwest because everyone out here is so outgoing and generally friendly, despite the gloomy weather. On campus there are tons of opportunities to join clubs, theatre groups, or sports. And if you can't find a club that suits you, you can just start your own!
Academics:
As a liberal arts college there are requirements that have to be met before just diving into a major; which is great for those of us who don't exactly know what we want to do yet. These requirements include one "unit" (a semesters worth) in the following fields: Fine Arts, Humanistic, Mathematical, Natural Scientific, Social Scientific, Interdisciplinary Experience Connections. Other than that though you can basically feel free to take what you want. So far I have heard that the biology, business, and physical therapy programs all have mad props. The orientation program for beginning school has actually won national awards and I can certainly see why. We started with a Passages Program, in which we chose which activity we wanted to do whether it be backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, or base camping. Then when we returned there was a preliminary class called Prelude, in which we brushed up on our reading/writing/thinking skills. Finally, Perspectives was a series of activities in which we became aware of some of the issues on campus (rape, drinking, etc.) and then topped it all off with a little community service project, called an Urban Plunge. All around it was super rad and I would recommend to everyone as a possible deciding factor in the college decision process.
So far I have been invited to nearly a dozen parties and actually gone to two... three if you count a little run in I had with some newly made friends while we were camping during orientation *good times*. Haaa, anyways, the parties were alright, no movie-like frat throw downs or anything, just people kickin' it to start out the year. Some really nice features about this school are that A. Girls outnumber guys 3:2 and B. There is a significant lack of asshole football jocks, mainly because Logger football flat out sucks. Seriously, they are ridiculed even more than the nerds, it's awesome. Oh, and you did hear me correctly, we are the "LOGGERS" what you gonna do bout' it? Huh punk? **Chant** "Once a logger....ALWAYS A LOGGER" - "We are the loggers...HACK HACK CHOP CHOP *With accompanying hand chopping motions*. **End Chant**
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