<p>I agree with much of what Scualum had to say regarding UPS. I grew up in the Tacoma area (a suburb that is now a separate city called University Place BECAUSE it was where UPS was supposed to be located until the land deal fell through, south of the Narrows Bridges (yes bridges, have to get used to writing that, there are two now, side by side.)</p>
<p>While it is true that Tacoma has its grittier areas (avoid the Highland Hills area), there are some very nice suburbs (University Place, for one, and they are turning an old gravel pit into a championship golf course with fabulous views) and thereās been a lot of money spent in the downtown area on pedestrian walkways, various museums, nicely designed bridges. It will take the city some time to break away from its more industrial past but efforts have been made to do so. How it will fare in this economy is uncertain, but probably harder hit than Seattle, which has a more diversified economic mix.</p>
<p>Guess whose directions to UPS got him lost driving around in what must have been Highland Hills :)</p>
<p>I should have added - there was a great little restaurant row down along the waterfront. Views were incredible and for once the food was nearly as good as the views (my theory is that restaurants with good views have mediocre food - the two we ate at were exceptions)</p>
<p>scualum and FindAPlace, Thanks for the information on UPS and Tacoma. UPS is on Sās long list, although we havenāt visited yet. From what I have read elsewhere, it sounds like it might be a bit too laid back or āgranolaā (?) for him. I may be way off base thereā¦ But at this point, it is one of his many safeties. </p>
<p>I have heard that Tacoma has been really working to improve the downtown area, and improve itās reputation. We used to live in the Seattle area many years ago, but never visited Tacoma.</p>
<p>I would say that granola is an apt description for UPS. It is definitely an environmentally focused, politically liberal college. But then again, so are all of the other LAC in the PNW :)</p>
<p>Seriously, I would have put them in the middle of that scale - with Reed, UC Berkeley, and Lewis & Clark on the lefthand side and Willamette and Linfield to the right - probably lined up with the politically moderate. </p>
<p>Linfield was so bold as to even had a young republican club banner in the student union. :)</p>
<p>pugmadkate - I thought of you yesterday - D got mail from Manhattanvilleā¦lol. </p>
<p>How great that would be if your S and your niece ended up at the same school - to give both moms a sense of comfort.</p>
<p>Queenās Mom - thatās very cute! Did you give your friendās S a list, or did you tell him youād keep him posted once itās finalized?</p>
<p>Youdonātsay - I tend to agree with you about staying out of the scheduling meeting - I think the final decision should be your sonās, since heās going to be the one doing the work!</p>
<p>I just wonder how my S would handle living in the Northwest (at least the very ādampā areas.) He has grown up in a very dry climate where we see the sun much of the year. Western OR or WA may send him into a tailspin, although he knows and likes the area. He just hasnāt spent months and months there in the winter. :)</p>
<p>QueenāsMom ā thanks for the description of Diplomacy. I may have to find that for D. She is interested in diplomacy, international relations and politics, although her major is about 180 degrees from there.</p>
<p>A fun picture I have of her is when we visited Madame Tussaudās in London. āWā was standing beside a UN podium. She stood behind the podium, shook her finger at him, and had a very angry expression on her face. She really enjoyed doing that. :)</p>
<p>Not sure I trust the brochure - the guide who gave us the tour had webs on his fingers and gills on his neck :)</p>
<p>Seriously, one way we used to check on real impact of rain is to look at the baseball teamās schedule. How many rainouts? Since DS played baseball we were looking at the schedule anyway - and for non baseball players, it is the one sport that cancels or postpones games for rain.</p>
<p>UPS has a fabulous āyear abroadā program in Asia for those internationally inclined. One of our DDās best friends is doing it now; her blog reports are fascinating. One word of caution: Do it only in the senior year; juniors reportedly have a really hard time readjusting to the āless interestingā campus life when returning as seniors.</p>
<p>Year (or semester) abroad is a point of emphasis with all of the Pacific Northwest and CA LACs (at least on their tours). Are they a major point of emphasis in the rest of country? Seems like a really cool idea - but definitely added expense to consider.</p>
<p>Ditto on the UPS year abroad program. We have friends who live in Homer, Alaska and their daughter attended UPS to study Chinese and had a fabulous year abroad.</p>
<p>Yes yes, the waterfront past downtown Tacoma does indeed have some very nice and cozy places to eat. My Mom lives in a senior living facility near Pt. Defiance Park and visits these places regularly. The walk along the waterfront is wonderful as well, even in the rain, just dress for it. People even dress their dogs for the rain so they can get their walks in. </p>
<p>You just learn to deal with the rain. Buy lots of Gortex clothes. Iām no Imelda Marcos, but did discover I owned more dress shoes when living in the PNW, since the shoes need a chance to rest and dry out (slowly, if youāre going to keep them any length of time) between āsoakings.ā Hooded rain jackets often keep you drier than umbrella and if bought big, can also be used to pull over books while walking across campus, although a rain repellant back pack would be a better bet. (I got two degrees from the UW-Seattle.)</p>
<p>Ah, I knew the kidding about the PNW weather would be coming. Moisture and gray skies are good for the complexion. Mineās much nicer than SoCal people I know, who spent too many early years in the sun. I used to joke that we really didnāt need to use the green eye shadow up here during the rainy winters if we failed to bathe even for a day.</p>
<p>Baseball or softball? I moved to upstate NY (Albany) right after grad school and joined a co-ed softball league. I remember the first time it began to sprinkle rain and people started walking off the field. I asked why and they said, āBecause itās raining.ā I was stunned. If weād have done the same thing in Seattle/Tacoma, weād have never got the season started!</p>
<p>I spent several days in Seattle at a conference, and, while I loved the mountains and green, it did indeed rain every day I was there. Not a lot, but something every day. I think this Texas girl would get seasonal affective disorder if I lived there.</p>
<p>Oh, and I made the mistake of seeing what has the '09 group so chatty, and I am sorry I did. There are sad tales of how people broke down upon seeing their kids off to college. Iām seriously crying here. I remember how my dad cried when my brother left for a vocational school in Arizona. Iād never seen him cry before. I was 10, but I remember it like it was yesterday.</p>
<p>There was snow on the ground when I was in Seattle on business in December. As I recall, on our college visit (in Feb) there was snow around, under bushes and the like, but nothing falling.</p>
<p>Of course, that was the same trip where Lewis & Clark was 24 degrees for the tour so Tacoma looked great.</p>
<p>Itās really started to hit me that this whole process is about my little girl going away. I love all of my kids madly and have different relationships with each. The oldest is my rock, the youngest is my cuddlebug, but this one is my soul mate. She is more completely like me than anyone Iāve ever met, which means we donāt always see eye-to-eye, but we understand each other in a very personal way. Iād like to freeze-frame the process at the moment of the first acceptance.</p>