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Sort By: [Date] [Major] [Rating] Biology  Major Salary, Salary Trend, Satisfaction, Unemployment Quite Bright I came to Whitman sort of by chance, and I'm really glad I ended up here. The quality of your education here depends on how well you choose your classes. There are amazing professors, and there are disappointing ones; however, you quickly find out which is which, and by second semester freshman year you can generally plan a good schedule. A good example is Core - the year long "Antiquity and Modernity" class that all freshmen take. First semester you read ancient texts (The Odyssey through Sallust, my year) and second semester you read philosophical texts, Shakespeare and "modern texts" (Descartes through "Beloved"). An unfortunate side effect is that the only women you read are Sappho and Toni Morrison - Sappho evidently also representing the homosexuals, and Morrison the minorities. All others are dead white males. And if your professor is bad, you get stuck with essay topics such as "Pick 5 important vocabulary words that Nietzche uses, and discuss them in context of his work." The biology and chemistry departments are surprisingly good for a liberal arts school; I love my major, and am taking more than the minimum of classes required for it to challenge myself more. As Whitman does not charge extra for overloads (I've overloaded 3 of the 4 semester I've spent here so far), it's a good way to challenge yourself and get more out of the tuition. The Chinese department, while small, is really good. You only attend class 4 hours a week, so you don't learn at as fast a pace as programs in other schools, but if you apply yourself you get a lot out of it. Whitman also has a Summer Studies in China program every other year, where for $4,000 you spend 6 weeks in China, traveling and taking classes in Chinese and some China studies class taught by a Whitman professor. I was surprised that such a small (1,400) school had such a program. The other languages offered are pretty standard - French, Spanish, German, Greek, Latin and Japanese. The Japanese program is reputed to be rather picky, easy, and slow. Whitman has 3 sororities and 4 fraternities; the sororities have various "cliquey", "catty" and "slutty" reputations, and the frats have their unsavory reputations too. Some of it is true, and some is just good gossip. There are parties though, but not nearly as many as in bigger schools. The alcohol policy is deliciously lax - basically a closed-door policy - but whereas the school is chill, they do nothing to shield you from the actual police. Which is fair. So stupid people get MIPs. The social life is good if you like student-run activities and hanging out in library group study rooms with coffee or Vitamin Water and your unread books. There are a lot of music performances, generally students, and many are of good quality. There's an Interest House Community that puts on activities in the houses' various themes (Environmental, German, Spanish, French, Asian Studies, Writing, Japanese, Multicultural, Community Service, and Fine Arts), and there are many clubs. Whitman also invites performers to come (we've had a mentalist, Flogging Molly and Girl Talk, among others) and it's free for Whitman students. The music department at Whitman leaves much to be desired - unless you play piano or sing, in which case it's good. Instrumental music is kind of unfortunate. Nobody cares about band, and the orchestra is at the level of a "pretty good" high school orchestra. However, non-majors are warmly invited to join, as most of the musical ensembles are formed of non music majors. So it's a nice community. The most negative thing about Whitman is its painful political correctness. You must get angry at anything that could be construed as offensive to any group. And if you don't, you get looked down upon. Also, the school being small is good and bad. Reading the review of the 2010 student, I immediately tried to figure out who it was. I am the only bio major affiliated with both the Chinese department and the music department. Gossip runs rampant, since you definitely know someone who knows the person in question, and you've probably heard of their name anyway. And Walla Walla? Well, if you like Starbucks, Subway, pizza, burritos, a cute main street and a couple of public parks - it's awesome! If you want more of a life, you'll feel stifled. Me? I feel stifled a bit, but love Whitman anyway. Campus Aesthetics: A+, Surrounding City: B- Have a Question? Your Response/Question:     To be informed when someone replies to your comment. (private)  More →  Aug 21 2008 2nd Year Female -- Class 2010    Forward  Blog it! Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account: Just copy and paste! <script src='sr_comment.js?sckey=53730&uid=1469'></script> <a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a> Rate this comment: Useless (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Helpful       Save   History/Histories (art history/etc.)  Major Salary, Salary Trend, Satisfaction, Unemployment Super Brilliant I was thrilled about first coming to Whitman, and part of me still loves it here. I was convinced that this place was paradise, and that I couldn't have found a better place to be. All the ratings and what people said about it made it seem truly wonderful. Everyone is fairly happy, and everyone is fairly smart. Unfortunately though, I became incredibly sick of hearing every other person saying "I'm an Environmental Studies major from Portland/Seattle." Being from Washington, DC with no particular interest in environmentalism (I mean, I wholeheartedly support it, but I sincerely don't care or know about it), it's hard for me to find common ground. Academics are good, but I was never blown away. Everyone says how hard it is here, and how "It's hard to get an A here" but I found it much easier than high school. I'm taking the maximum number of credits allowed, and I'm involved in at least 7 extracurriculars, 2 of which I have leadership in. I have a 3.6 GPA and I'm not really working very hard. I basically just don't feel satisfied. Everyone is really friendly and wonderful and there are certainly people I would miss if I left. The school often sets up lectures and activities and there are things that are going on all the time, which is nice. There's usually parties on weekends but every now and again, there's literally nothing going on, usually around the time of Greek initiation. I don't like that people with rather average high school transcripts, or even below average, can get in here. I find it pretty embarassing, actually. I want to not only be surrounded by brilliant people, but i want these people to be able to know how to apply themselves as well as take their futures seriously. Right now I'm in the process of looking at other schools, especially ones closer to home because traveling is a huge pain out here. The isolation can get to you. Whitman still ranks higher than any of the other schools I would possibly want to go to, but I think they're rather deceiving. For example, The Princeton Review reported that the most popular majors here were Biology, Psychology, and English, which is FAR from true. Almost everyone I know is an environmental studies major and EVERYONE loves outdoor activities, which I would like to try but feel slightly intimidated in trying. Also the lack of geographic diversity is exceedingly frustrating. If your favorite food is granola, your favorite activity hiking, your favorite academic subject is rocks and trees, and you are from portland or seattle then you should come here, no question. Other perks: People are super nice and great, and all are averagely intelligent. Dorms are sweet, food is good. Parties are fun and the school has a lot of activities to offer that many other schools don't, unfortunately, if you aren't that type of person, chances are you probably won't utilize them. Faculty Accessibility: A+, Social Life: C+ Have a Question? Your Response/Question:     To be informed when someone replies to your comment. (private)  More →  Jan 29 2007 1st Year Female -- Class 2010    Forward  Blog it! Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account: Just copy and paste! <script src='sr_comment.js?sckey=35606&uid=1469'></script> <a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a> Rate this comment: Useless (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Helpful       Save   History/Histories (art history/etc.)  Major Salary, Salary Trend, Satisfaction, Unemployment Super Brilliant Social: Whitman can be a great school for the right type of person. If you're a laid back, earthy-crunchy sort primarily planning on being involved with on-campus extracurriculars, you'll have a good time. Most of the students here are genuinely good, friendly, and idealistic people. However, the happy-go-lucky feel and homogeneity can get to be frustrating at times, and if you're somewhat intense or cynical you will tend to stand out, not necessarily in a good way. Also, think carefully about the isolation before you attend. Coming from a school with only 250 students in grades 6-12, I did not expect to be bothered by Whitman's size, but felt decidedly claustrophobic after my first few months in Walla Walla. The town, at least the area around the school, is fairly quaint and comfortable, and the campus is pretty, but it can be disconcerting to spend all day at class and "home" staring at the same quad. The school definitely does have a sense of community, which can be a great source of support for those who fit in but can also make you uncomfortable if you'd rather have some space to yourself. Academics: There were some positives about academics here, mostly having to do with class size (great for discussion) and a faculty that genuinely cares about teaching. However, for the most part I did not get the feeling that my professors were really brilliant. I came here under the impression that Whitman was a great academic school that had been underrated due to its relative obscurity and location. This is probably true to a certain point, but even taking 20+ credits with some junior level classes, I did not feel challenged here and in some cases felt like I had taken a step down from my AP courses in high school. Admissions people like to tell you that regardless of how easily you were able to do well in high school, you will be challenged once you start your first college paper. This isn't always true. In fairness, most of my classmates had a very different experience from mine, but if you had the grades to get into a more rigorous school, you may owe it to yourself to give it a shot. There are also some problems stemming from the school's size. Even for a liberal arts college, Whitman does not have a great deal of breadth in its course offerings, and if you aren't sure what you want to study (overall or within a field), make sure that there are going to be enough classes to satisfy you. For example, in the history department there's a sizeable hole in the curriculum where Eastern Europe and Eurasia are supposed to go. I'm transferring out after a year to attend a larger school in an urban setting, and while there are some friends I'll miss, overall I'm not sorry to go. Again, Whitman is a friendly place and it's possible to get a good education there; I would just encourage all prospective students to think carefully about whether they'll be able to get everything they need from four years of college despite the size, isolation, and lack of diversity (I used to think this was unimportant, but that's definitely not the case) among the student body. Extracurricular Activities: A+, Surrounding City: C- Have a Question? Your Response/Question:     To be informed when someone replies to your comment. (private)  More →  Jul 30 2006 1st Year Female -- Class 2009    Forward  Blog it! Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account: Just copy and paste! <script src='sr_comment.js?sckey=23227&uid=1469'></script> <a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a> Rate this comment: Useless (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Helpful       Save   History/Histories (art history/etc.)  Major Salary, Salary Trend, Satisfaction, Unemployment Quite Bright I loved my experience there and I highly recommend the college to anyone who wants a challenging academic experience in a fun environment. Preparedness: B, Reputation: A Have a Question? Your Response/Question:     To be informed when someone replies to your comment. (private) May 30 2006 Alumna Female -- Class 2000   Forward  Blog it! Blog about this comment from your webpage or Blog, or MySpace account: Just copy and paste! <script src='sr_comment.js?sckey=22567&uid=1469'></script> <a href='http://www.studentsreview.com' style='font-size:8pt;'>Data Source: StudentsReview!</a> Rate this comment: Useless (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Helpful       Save      Prev    Select Page:  1    Next

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